Chapter 392 Elections are like drinking
"Who talks like that?" Alice Roosevelt actually wanted to say, who dares to talk to you like that? But she changed her words when the words came to her lips. The voice in the microphone was very steady, and he must be a very remarkable person.
"The boss of Standard Oil!" Sheffield put down the phone and rubbed his forehead. "He asked me if I was sure about this election and wanted to talk about the tone. That's it."
"It seems that my father is still not very popular." Alice Roosevelt asked with a self-deprecating smile, "You big companies seem to be very dissatisfied with my father, isn't that right?"
Sheffield nodded and told the truth, "If you weren't greedy, would you choose to be a businessman? There are leaders in many industries now, and they certainly don't like someone who is dissatisfied with big companies to be president. Forget it, there's no point talking to you. You can't make a decision for your father, and the final result will come out soon, so just wait."
In this era, there is no such thing as two candidates debating face to face. Otherwise, with Alton Parker's eloquence, this would only be another reason for the Democratic Party's defeat.
Most of the candidates from both parties communicated with each other through shouting at each other, which gave the media and newspapers room to play. In fact, compared with the pressure on the current Democratic candidate Alton Parker, Roosevelt was under a lot of pressure, but it was not reflected in ethnic issues.
It was the economic issues that were criticized. Both the Rockefeller family and the Morgan family bought newspapers to criticize Roosevelt's economic ideas. The last person to receive such treatment was William Bryan. Whether it was energy, steel or railways, negative articles against Roosevelt came one after another.
Accusing Roosevelt of being hostile to big business would inevitably slow down the economic development of the United States and even cause an economic depression.
These accusations were naturally heard by Alice Roosevelt, who was doing an intern, through Sheffield. She realized that her father was not in as good a situation as many people thought, and many large companies hoped to make a move in the election to drive her father out of the White House.
Even Alice Roosevelt didn't know what to say about Sheffield's honesty. The boss of a large company seemed to speak without thinking. He was too honest.
Election Day has finally arrived. American voters have endured two months of information explosion. The two parties have accused each other as the day begins to decide the fate of the presidential candidates, and voting in each state opens on time.
Evelyn Manor suddenly became busy. A room was specially vacated in the manor and filled with telephones for contacting farmers and livestock associations in various places. Alice Roosevelt followed Sheffield and had a more accurate understanding of the power possessed by this man.
Sheffield sat in this room, had several bottles of red wine brought in, and drank one glass after another. The slave owner drank to relieve stress, and waiting for the result was not an easy task.
In the vast territory, eligible voters came to the designated voting places to decide the president for the next four years. Even the local newspapers abandoned other news and sent people to wait at the voting places to get the first-hand results.
Compared to these voters who voted directly, some people were more nervous. Even Roosevelt felt nervous. This was his first formal election. The last time he ran as William McKinley's running mate, the pressure was mainly on William McKinley. Even though Roosevelt believed that he should have a great advantage, he was still slowly filled with nervousness during the waiting time.
The same is true for Alton Parker on the other side. Although he is prepared to lose the election, what if a miracle happens?
Sheffield was among those waiting, drinking while waiting to see which state would call first. This made Alice Roosevelt a little uncomfortable, so she patted the hand that was about to pour the wine and said, "You are already in Los Angeles, why don't you go out and see the citizens of Los Angeles vote instead of drinking like this?"
Sheffield stubbornly picked up the wine glass and stared at Alice Roosevelt's face with his drunken eyes. He didn't speak until the latter's eyes wandered, "Have you forgotten one thing? Our country is so big, but there are many time zones. The time in different places is different. The voting in Los Angeles has not started yet. If you are bored, you can go out for a walk. If you really want to stay here, why not have a couple of drinks?"
After two glasses of wine, the slave owner's eloquence improved further, and he chatted while waiting for the result. In the end, Alice Roosevelt also started drinking.
"Actually, my father and I are very unfamiliar. After my mother died of complications during childbirth, he left me at my aunt's house and remarried. He probably thought that if it weren't for me, my mother wouldn't have died, right?" Alice Roosevelt narrowed her eyes. "I haven't seen him much since I was a child. He is also a very strong person, but our relationship is not bad. When I grew up, I also understood the truth. A man so young would not focus his energy on me."
Alice Roosevelt recounted a story that few people had heard, and then asked in return, "You must have lived a very happy life, being born beyond what others could imagine in their lifetime."
"That's true, but there are other things that bother me. If I indulge myself and don't think too much, there are indeed not many people happier than me." Sheffield put the wine glass to his lips for a moment. He did not deny the questioning of the president's daughter, and still looked like Jesus possessed as Edith Rockefeller said.
If it was another occasion, when the two of them were drunk, maybe there would be a scene of going to Wushan together under the moonlight. Unfortunately, the phone rang at this time. The slave owner put down his glass and walked over to answer the phone, "William Sheffield."
"Boss, the Democrats won in Virginia!" A voice came from the microphone.
"Okay!" Sheffield put down the phone calmly. He didn't expect that the first call was good news.
"The Democrats won. Are you happy?" Alice Roosevelt's drunkenness faded a little, and she smiled a little stiffly. "In fact, it's good that my father lost. For a person like him, it must be very interesting for him to fail."
How could it be that simple? Sheffield shook his head secretly. Although the southern states had the same time for counting votes, different state laws had abolished the voting rights of black people. In addition, the Democratic Party's election this time was a play on white people, which made the Dixie people in the South feel very right. They didn't even need to count all the votes to calculate the results.
Immediately afterwards, waves of calls came in from Los Angeles, South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, and Alabama, with news that the Democratic Party had declared an early victory based on the votes that had already been counted.
Later, news of the Democratic Party's victory came from Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee. It seemed that from the very beginning, the Democratic Party had a domineering posture.
"Haha, the Confederate States of America?" Alice Roosevelt pointed at Sheffield who answered the phone and smiled foolishly.
Sheffield also smiled bitterly, as if that was what he meant. The South was the Democratic Party's iron base, and after the abolition of black voting rights, it gave voters more room to express their preferences. However, if the Democratic Party only maintained its base, it would lose. The entire South had less than 150 electoral votes.
Because of the special election environment, Sheffield received calls at the beginning, all of which were about the Democratic Party's victory. Then there was a blank period of time, and after the news of the victory of the entire Southern Democratic Party, no more news came.
This shows that the elections in other states are still in a tense situation. Sheffield hopes that this good start can influence voters in other places to vote. I wonder if God is busy today.
"The Republican Party of New York has declared victory!" "The Republican Party of Pennsylvania has declared victory!" The next two phone calls brought everything back to the starting point. Faced with this situation, Sheffield felt helpless.
New York has 34 electoral votes, Pennsylvania has 39. Although there is only news of Republican victory in two states, it has almost broken the advantages accumulated by the Democratic Party in the southern states in half. Nearly 80 electoral votes have fallen into the hands of the Republicans.
Immediately after the New Jersey Republicans declared victory, another 12 votes fell into the hands of the Republicans. In the three states where the Republicans had just begun to win, the Republicans had already won 85 votes. This was almost half of the electoral votes in the entire South, and the population advantage of the North was clearly revealed.
"Hey!" If Sheffield was just waiting in boredom at first, when he returned to his seat to pour wine, he really seemed to be drowning his sorrows in wine. But it didn't matter, because he had the president's beautiful daughter to accompany him.
"You're so dejected after only losing three states?" Alice Roosevelt was a little drunk and relaxed. Holding the wine glass, she said, "Didn't you say at the beginning that you knew the election was difficult? Or do you think my father is an opponent who is very easy to defeat?"
Sheffield raised his glass and clinked it with Alice Roosevelt's. He smiled helplessly, "I know it's hard to win, but who doesn't want to win? Do you know your father has a big advantage, so you won't vote? You have to give it a try."
"Well said, you are much calmer than other rich kids." Alice Roosevelt drank the wine in one gulp and said with some aftertaste, "Then I will stay here with you and see the final result."
"Another bottle!" Sheffield opened all the remaining red wine in front of Alice Roosevelt. "In fact, this election is like two people drinking. No one knows how much the other person can drink until the end."
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
