Forging America: My Campaign Manager is Roosevelt-Chapter 47 - 38: A Pledge of Allegiance

Facing Senator Sanders’s question, which cut straight to the heart of the matter, Leo took a deep breath.

This was the most important moment of the night, the moment he would make his pledge of loyalty to the political heavyweight before him.

At Roosevelt’s prompting, he began to speak. "Senator, you are absolutely right."

"Merely taking down a single Mayor Carter Wright is nowhere near enough. My ultimate goal is to completely change the political landscape of Pittsburgh."

"What I want to do isn’t just about renovating a few dilapidated streets or building a couple of nice parks."

"Through the platform of the ’Pittsburgh Revitalization Plan,’ I hope to establish a brand-new economic development model in this city that has been corroded by rust and capital—a model led by community residents and the working class themselves."

A flicker of interest showed in Sanders’s eyes.

Leo began to concisely lay out his grand vision for the future phases of the revitalization plan.

"In our second phase, I plan to use federal funds to establish a worker cooperative, owned and managed by unemployed steelworkers. This cooperative will be exclusively responsible for contracting all of Pittsburgh City’s future small-scale municipal projects."

"We will ensure profits flow back into the workers’ pockets, instead of being siphoned off at every level by construction oligarchs and their political proxies."

"In our third phase, I hope to push for the establishment of a ’Community Land Trust’."

"Through this trust, we will buy back vacant lots and abandoned houses in our working-class communities from speculators. We’ll turn them into permanent community assets, used to build rent-only affordable apartments to directly combat the real estate speculators who constantly drive up our cost of living."

"And in the more distant future," Leo’s eyes gleamed, "I hope to use federal funds from the ’Green New Deal’ legislation you are championing. We can use them to build our own solar panel factories and wind turbine assembly plants right here in Pittsburgh, on the ruins of its polluted industrial past."

"We will use green, sustainable, emerging industries to completely replace the long-dead steel industry, creating jobs with a real future for the next generation." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Finally, he got to the heart of his value to Sanders.

"Senator, I know that you and your Progressive colleagues in Congress are constantly fighting for the rights of ordinary people like us. But the bills you work so hard to pass are often undermined by local bureaucrats like Mayor Carter Wright once they reach the local level. They’re co-opted to serve their own special interests."

"And I, Leo Wallace, am right here in Pittsburgh, building the perfect showcase for you."

"A showcase that can prove to the entire United States, and to the whole world, that your great Progressive ideals are completely viable in Rust Belt regions like ours!"

"I can turn your political ideals into new streets the people of Pittsburgh can see and touch. I can turn them into apartments where they can live with peace of mind, and into jobs they can dedicate their lives to!"

When Leo finished, he had laid all his ambitions, his entire blueprint, bare before the political heavyweight.

Senator Sanders looked at Leo, the scrutiny and wariness in his gaze gradually giving way to unconcealed admiration, and even a hint of long-absent excitement.

He saw a young man who burned with the same idealistic fire he’d had in his youth, but who also understood strategy and political maneuvering far better than he had at that age.

He saw the perfect ally: a man with theory, practical experience, and, most importantly, daring.

What Leo had offered him tonight wasn’t just a simple plea for help, but a weighty pledge of loyalty.

He was offering to become the Progressives’ most solid testing ground and beachhead at the local level.

And Sanders needed exactly this kind of young general to plant the Progressive flag on the nation’s toughest battlefield.

Sanders smiled—a genuine smile, full of appreciation.

"What a showcase!" he said. "Young man, you’re even more impressive than John described."

"What do you need from me?"

Leo answered immediately. "Senator, I need the truth. A truth that will make it impossible for Mayor Carter Wright and his allies to keep making trouble."

"I suspect the fire at the construction site wasn’t an accident, but arson. I don’t have any proof, though. The Pittsburgh City Fire Department and Police Department are both under Carter Wright’s control. Any investigation they lead will only ever conclude it was an accident."

"I need a higher-level investigative body to step in, one that’s immune to local influence."

"I need the State of Pennsylvania."

Senator Sanders nodded.

He took out his phone right then and there and dialed a number.

"Hello, is this the State Attorney General’s Office? This is Daniel Sanders."

The voice on the other end of the line immediately became respectful.

"Yes, Senator. What can I do for you?"

"I have a case that requires your special attention," Sanders said. "It’s in Pittsburgh, and it concerns the security of a substantial amount of federal funding."

"I suspect someone is using malicious sabotage to obstruct a federal project. This may involve interstate organized crime."

"I need you to form a task force immediately, led by your most capable people. They are to head to Pittsburgh tonight, take over the investigation of this case. I want to see a preliminary report within three days."

He hung up and looked at Leo.

"The task force from the State Attorney General’s Office will arrive in Pittsburgh first thing tomorrow morning. They will take over the entire investigation from Carter Wright."

"Remember what you told me tonight, kid. Don’t let me down."

"If you can really turn Pittsburgh into the first successful showcase for our Progressive ideals in the country, I guarantee that you will have countless friends and allies in Washington."

On the way back to Pittsburgh, Leo’s mind was reeling.

He sat on a late-night train, watching the dark landscape rush by outside his window.

Starting tonight, everything would be different.

He had not only resolved the immediate crisis caused by the arson and the stop-work order, but more importantly, he had taken his first real step into a higher level of the power game.

He had established a direct line to a national political figure.

He was no longer just a community activist fighting a lonely battle in Pittsburgh.

Behind him, the shadow of a political faction had begun to form.

Meanwhile, in Pittsburgh, Mayor Martin Carter Wright was still completely unaware.

The entire situation in Pittsburgh was on the verge of a decisive reversal.