[Chapter 331: Life or Death]
Ocean Park Avenue, Twitter Headquarters. The windows of the conference room were covered in a thick layer of dust, blocking out the sunlight.
Hawke sat in a chair next to his chief of staff, Andrew Card. They watched as Caroline exchanged a promotional contract with the deputy campaign manager. The two won shook hands and posed for a photo.
Andrew remarked, "This afternoon, the initial advertising paynt will be transferred to the Twitter account. Starting next week, Twitter will proceed with the promotion as planned."
The advertising budget was a staggering $35 million. Hawke adopted an attitude suitable for dealing with major clients and stated, "We will cooperate fully with your team."
With the contract officially signed, Andrew and a few others needed to rush to Fox News to say their goodbyes. Hawke accompanied them to the lobby.
...
Caroline waved her hand to shoo away the flying embers and asked Hawke, "They're clueless about internet and social dia promotion. Their plan isn't great."
Hawke reminded her, "This is the client's request, and we have to follow their plan. When it cos to election matters, we don't have experience."
Caroline quickly reached over to brush so dust off Hawke's shoulder, saying, "I get it."
Looking up at the sky, she comnted, "The fire isn't out yet."
Hawke replied, "In a few days, once the surrounding blocks have burned down, the fire will naturally die down."
As they walked back, they arrived at the elevator foyer with no one else around. Caroline whispered, "Do politicians and capitalists not care about ordinary people?"
"If it doesn't generate value, they won't care," Hawke said casually. "If it does, they'll weigh the pros and cons."
He glanced at the increasingly mature, ambitious Caroline and said, "You'll be a businesswoman soon enough."
Once in the elevator, they erged on the upper floor. Peering out the window, they saw more smoke rising in the distance, prompting Caroline to exclaim, "It's like a hellish Los Angeles."
...
That afternoon, Twitter received a $20 million advance from the re-election campaign office. Hawke, who was ticulous about the money, imdiately ordered Caroline to assemble a skilled team to liaise with Washington.
...
Brian also called in, informing Hawke that the petition for Antonio's recall had been submitted to the state legislature, and under multiple legislators' efforts, the recall election had been expedited.
Many people had suffered losses from the fire. Everyone wanted a resolution from Antonio. Under normal circumstances, if Brian, as the candidate, won the recall election, he would beco the mayor of Los Angeles. If he failed, the mayor's seat would still belong to Antonio.
The recall election was a month away, and by then, the fires in Los Angeles would be extinguished, and water would be restored.
...
The Los Angeles City Council was initiating a review process to reassess the legality of Antonio's signed water resource agreent with the Wonderful Company.
In the local prosecutor's office, four prosecutors, including the chief, had their properties destroyed in the fire. Although they could not shake the interests of their powerful group led by Stewart Resnick, they could exploit loopholes to dismantle certain agreents.
...
With imnse pressure mounting, Antonio faced not only the risk of losing his position but also the threat of investigation. It wasn't just Los Angeles; the Democratic Party's montum was heavily impacted in Sacranto as well.
Over the years, their focus on environntalism and feminism had been primary causes of the forest fires spiraling out of control.
...
Hawke received word that soone in the Oval Office had unexpectedly added California to their agenda, planning to visit Los Angeles to comfort disaster victims after the fire was fully extinguished.
Since the mid-90s, California had shifted from red to blue over many years, and the Republicans saw another chance to reclaim so ground. There had been countless historical instances of political colors changing from red to blue and vice versa.
Maps of Arican elections often swapped colors. Politics had never been static.
Hawke was also taking advantage of the situation, stirring the pot to make Arica's political landscape even more thrilling while seeking personal gain.
As ti progressed and society developed, the rivalry between the two parties would deepen, leading to increased divisions in Arican society.
---
In Los Angeles, at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, in a business eting room on the top floor, forty-year-old prosecutor Kamala stared intently at Antonio, who had an unusually serious expression.
Commissioned by important figures from the Democratic Party in San Francisco and Sacranto, she had co to et with Antonio.
Kamala asked, "Do you have anything to say?"
Despite appearing confident, Antonio responded, "The outco of the recall election is uncertain, but as long as you support , I can keep fighting. Although my approval ratings have dropped significantly, the public is fickle. Once we strike at the opposition's vulnerabilities, their attention will quickly shift."
He emphasized, "My two major support bases, won and the Latino community, are still solid!"
Kamala shook her head. "The capital is already engulfed in fierce conflict. We were caught off guard, especially with several legislators feeling compelled to resign... These are all repercussions of the Los Angeles incident."
Antonio defended, "This was a natural disaster. Could anyone else in my position have done any better? Environntalism and feminism are fundantal to our base here in California. Should we abandon our strengths? Weather factors are entirely out of our control. Even with ample firefighting equipnt and water supply, under 50-mile-an-hour winds, could we have contained the flas?"
Not just Antonio, but Kamala and the Democratic leadership in California believed they hadn't done anything wrong.
They hadn't lost to the Republicans; they had lost to the climate.
However, with the situation at this point, stopping the downward spiral was crucial. Kamala had co with a heavy mandate: "The key issue isn't the process, but the outco. The outco is that we lost and it's severely affected our reputation. This fire, smoke included, has impacted millions, and the dia has gone into a frenzy with their negative coverage. Our base is shaking."
Her stern expression remained unchanged. "Now, we need soone to take the fall, to end the dia and public debate, and you are the best choice."
This statent caught Antonio off guard. "You want to take the fall to restore the party's montum?"
Kamala replied, "Soone has to sacrifice sothing."
Antonio closed his eyes but remained silent for a long mont before asking, "Is it just that?"
Kamala had been instructed to convey several conditions: "Pacific Gas and Electric Company's Southern California division needs an executive. Your wife, who works for Disney Studios, will be one of the production managers for two $50 million live-action film projects."
The deal was not bad, and Antonio considered it carefully.
But Kamala wasn't finished. "These will only happen after the incident settles."
Antonio remained silent.
Kamala added, "You and I are both part of minority groups; we have our advantages, but we face many inherent challenges."
"Thanks." Antonio understood that so people had no qualms about tearing others apart.
Kamala dismissed him with, "Think it over and get back to soon."
Antonio didn't leave. He sat on the couch, contemplating the potential choices before him. After so ti, he said, "Tell them I agree."
Kamala responded, "A wise choice."
...
After agreeing to that statent, Antonio felt an inexplicable sense of relief. He stood up and approached the northern window of the hotel, gazing out.
Unfortunately, the Los Angeles sky was filled with ash; all he could see was a haze of gray.
"I'm leaving," Antonio said, turning around and exiting the room.
On his way, he instructed his assistant, Gordon, to contact Brian. "I need to talk to that bastard face to face."
Gordon wasted no ti connecting with Brian through his campaign manager. They agreed to et the next morning at the Beverly Business Club.
...
That evening, Brian arrived at Silver Lake Villa specifically to find Hawke.
Erica had readied so tequila and poured a glass for each of them, sitting close to Hawke, eager to listen.
The LAPD had been incredibly busy lately, all thanks to these two.
Taking a sip of his drink, Brian said to Hawke, "Antonio wants to et with tomorrow morning."
Hawke replied, "Is he preparing to step back and use that as a bargaining chip for your commitnt?"
Brian nodded. "That seems to be the case. The situation in Los Angeles isn't just about the fire; the budget and accounting must contain a series of issues."
Erica interjected, "Isn't the last instance of this sort during Arnold Schwarzenegger's gubernatorial recall election when Gray Davis stepped down voluntarily?"
Brian said, "That ti, they caught them through the Venice Beach Club, forcing them to retreat. Schwarzenegger wasn't completely clean either, but he reached an agreent after his goals were t."
He looked at Hawke. "I'm facing a similar situation."
"No, your situation is different from Schwarzenegger's. No matter what he did, he could only reach the governor's level and couldn't run for president," Hawke replied thoughtfully. "Our final goal is the Oval Office."
Brian remarked, "You really have confidence in ."
Hawke brushed aside the comnt and continued, "Your predicant is entirely different from Schwarzenegger's. He was involved in a gubernatorial recall election, while this recall for the mayor of Los Angeles directly pertains to the presidential race in Los Angeles. It's not just about you; it's about the entire color choice for California."
Behind all these lofty argunts lay Hawke's ulterior motives; he wanted the two parties to fight it out fiercely in California.
If things settled, the situation regarding the Ackerman family would beco complicated.
Brian was deep in thought.
From any perspective, this political struggle was far from over.
Hawke thought for a mont and said, "Consult Paul."
Brian, erring on the side of caution, called Paul Ferguson and received the sa answer as Hawke's.
Hawke was exploiting the Democrats' core support to shape such a favorable situation.
Any elephant with ambition would never turn a blind eye to this.
*****
/Sayonara816.
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