Chapter 34 Team Ready

"I will tell my story."

"Tell the story of how my son died, and how I knelt in the morgue, looking at his cold body."

"Tell the story of how I watched Jimmy Williams strut out of the courtroom, and how I cried until dawn in the middle of the night, staring at my son's photo."

"I have kept these things bottled up inside for so many years, never telling anyone."

"If telling it can help others, then I will tell it."

Mu Xin looked at Richard, a flash of satisfaction in his eyes.

"Very good."

He stood up, walked to the whiteboard, picked up a marker, and wrote a line of text on it:

"Richard Miller — Fighting for every ordinary Ohio family."

"This is your campaign slogan," Mu Xin said, turning to look at Richard. "Simple, powerful, and down-to-earth."

Richard looked at the words on the whiteboard, an indescribable feeling surging in his heart.

He had never imagined that one day he would become the protagonist of a slogan.

Jessica took a detailed proposal out of the drawer and placed it on the table.

"This is the preliminary campaign schedule."

She flipped to the first page—

Phase 1: Preparation Period; Months 1-2

- Register the campaign committee and open a dedicated bank account

- Hire a campaign manager, treasurer, and media consultant

- Determine the core campaign team and volunteer recruitment plan

- Develop the campaign budget, with an initial estimate of approximately $800,000 to $1.2 million

Richard's eyelids twitched when he saw that number.

Eight hundred thousand to 1.2 million dollars.

The total amount of money he had seen in his entire life didn't add up to that figure.

"Mr. Mu, that's so much money..." Richard said, feeling a bit uneasy.

"You don't need to worry about the money," Mu Xin waved his hand. "I'll find people to handle it; you focus on doing what you need to do."

Victoria was tapping on a calculator nearby, muttering something.

"What? Can't calculate it?" Mu Xin glanced at her.

"It's not that I can't calculate it," Victoria said, looking up with a complex expression.

"I was calculating that if we follow this budget, the cost of this campaign might exceed the sum of all budgets for the Oxford Town Police Department over the past ten years."

"And then?" Mu Xin asked.

"And then... I'm starting to understand why American politicians are either wealthy people or supported by wealthy people."

Mu Xin chuckled without responding.

Jessica continued flipping through the proposal—

Phase 2: Voter Assessment; Months 2-3

- Commission a professional polling firm to conduct a sample survey of approximately 80,000 voters in the district

- Analyze voter age structure, income level, education, party affiliation, and key issues of concern

- Identify core support groups and swing voter groups, and develop targeted strategies

Phase 3: Primary Sprint; Months 4-6

- Go door-to-door, canvassing for votes face-to-face

- Organize community meet-and-greets and small rallies

- Launch the first batch of campaign advertisements (focusing mainly on the internet and local newspapers)

- Participate in Democratic Party primary debates

Phase 4: Primary Election; Month 7

- Location: Various polling stations within the district

- Goal: Win the party nomination and enter the general election

Phase 5: General Election Sprint; Months 8-10

- Increase advertising efforts, covering television, radio, internet, and outdoor media

- Organize large-scale rallies and campaign events

- Invite well-known figures within the state to endorse and campaign

- Participate in general election debates and face opponents directly

Phase 6: Election Day; Month 11

- Location: Various polling stations within the district

- Goal: Win enough votes to become the next Representative for Ohio's 47th District

"What happens after Election Day?" Victoria asked.

"If we win, we take the oath of office next January," Jessica closed the proposal. "If we lose..."

"We won't lose," Mu Xin said, his voice quiet but firm.

The office was quiet for a few seconds.

Richard looked at Mu Xin; there was a power in those black eyes that made one dare not question him.

"Okay," Richard took a deep breath. "We won't lose."

...

Over the next week, Mu Xin's team began operating at full speed.

Jessica poached a campaign manager from a headhunting firm in Cincinnati.

A middle-aged man named Michael OBrien, forty-two years old, with over ten years of experience in managing campaigns.

He had participated in three State Legislature campaigns, winning twice and losing once by a narrow margin, and had also served as a strategy consultant in a mayoral election.

The terms Mu Xin offered were: an annual salary of $150,000, plus a $200,000 bonus for winning.

Michael agreed almost without hesitation; in Cincinnati, a campaign manager's annual salary was usually only eighty to one hundred thousand.

At the same time, Mu Xin, through Jessica's connections on Wall Street, contacted a company specializing in Democratic Party campaign polling.

He commissioned them to conduct a comprehensive voter intention survey in the district for $50,000.

Victoria was busy handling campaign funding matters.

She registered a campaign committee in Richard's name, opened a dedicated bank account, and began studying Ohio's campaign finance regulations.

"Mr. Mu, according to Ohio law, there is a limit on individual donations to a campaign committee."

Victoria held a thick stack of legal documents, her brows furrowed. "You cannot put in all the campaign funds at once."

"That's fine," Mu Xin waved his hand. "I said, I will handle the money. You just focus on keeping the accounts in order."

"But..."

"Victoria," Mu Xin interrupted her. "Do you remember what I said?"

Victoria paused, stunned: "What words?"

"Money is not the problem; time is."

Victoria opened her mouth, but ultimately said nothing more. She closed the documents and nodded.

...

Mu Xin looked out the window; the sunlight was just right.

The Water Plant in the distance shimmered in the sunlight, people came and went on the town streets, and everything was proceeding as planned.

The Water Plant had begun normal operations; although there were no profits on the books, income and expenses were basically balanced.

Tobias sent a detailed operation report every week, covering everything, leaving no room for criticism.

Everything was also going smoothly at the Police Department.

After the new police cars were put into service, Tom Carter and his men doubled the frequency of patrols.

Everything was developing in a good direction.

But Mu Xin knew the real tough battle had not yet begun.

A campaign is a war without smoke.

And his opponent was not that waste Jimmy Williams, not that old man Old Williams who was about to go into the grave, but that incumbent representative who had sat in the State Legislature for twelve years and was deeply entrenched.

A veteran politician.

He had his own network, his own team, and his own funding channels.

For Richard to beat him would not be easy.

But Mu Xin was never afraid of difficult things.

He glanced at the system panel.

[Current Population of Oxford Town: 23,082]

[US Dollars Distributed Today: 23,082,000]

The population had increased by a few dozen more.

Although very slow, it was indeed rising.

Mu Xin put down his phone, took a deep breath, and turned back to the table.

The words on the whiteboard were still there:

"Richard Miller — Fighting for every ordinary Ohio family."