America 1982

Lance was driving the Ford F150 camouflage pickup truck that looked like it had been driven directly back from the smoke-filled battlefield in Vietnam. When he was still dozens of meters away from WLRN-TV, he slowly slowed down and pulled over to the side, waiting for the arrival of other candidates. The method is completely different. Other candidates basically don’t get out of business cars of various models until they drive to the main entrance of the TV station. Then they wave, thank the supporters who support him at the scene, and then remind their team assistants. The reason for entering the station and preparing for the primary debate quickly disappeared through the door.

And Jeff, Jessica, Gina and the children got out of the car early and walked up to the veterans who came early to cheer and cheer for Jeff. Without waving, Jeff faced everyone. The veteran who looked shabby gave a strong hug and a crisp response:

"Veteran, I will win the war tonight! Come to you with victory!"

"Sir, leave a sip of wine for me to come out to celebrate my victory!"

"Corporal Frye! I will definitely let Washington hire the best doctors to remove the shrapnel in your body! I want you alive!"

Every veteran, even if they are already living on the streets, with bad body odor and tattered clothes, Jeff does not hesitate at all. He seems to have lost his sense of smell, or he is the same kind of person as these poor people. This is just a gathering within the army. , everyone laughed, hugged, and then set off together to the battlefield.

In the team of candidate supporters who arrived outside the TV station, Jeff’s supporters had the largest number. It’s not that other candidates couldn’t call more supporters than Jeff to stand and cheer, but it’s not necessary. This is just The most important thing about the party's primary election is that during this time, voters should be at home with their families, and candidates will considerately allow supporters to sit on the sofa at home and watch his performance through TV.

There are only Jeff’s supporters. There are quite a few veterans who don’t even have a home. They have been living on the streets for years because of alcoholism, drug addiction, domestic violence or emergency symptoms. They have nowhere to go. Jeff is their only thought, because this is their The juniors, their comrades, promised them that they would go to Washington to fight for the benefits they deserved.

A few veterans even set up two TV sets on the broken car, preparing to watch the live televised primary debate outside the venue.

Jeff hugged the veterans one after another, and his children followed their father and gave each veteran a Scout salute. The serious and determined expressions of the little guys often received happy responses from the veterans. Even drunk guys will stand up as straight as possible, give them a Patton-style military salute in response, and joke with a smile: "Keep going, soldier!"

Jessica's hairstyle tonight became wavy short curly hair. She wore a dignified ocher dress, glass stockings, low-heeled leather shoes, a pearl necklace around her neck, and a gentle smile on her face. Follow the children and take the initiative to shake hands and greet each veteran.

In the Jeff family tonight, the one with the biggest change in appearance was Jessica. It took Marcus almost three days to finalize Jessica’s current appearance.

Facts have proved that this image is very good. When the elderly World War II veterans on the scene saw Jessica, their expressions would subconsciously stagnate slightly, and then they would hold Jessica's hand firmly with both hands, looking either sad or relieved.

Jessica's look tonight was the most common look for Florida housewives during World War II. The wives, mothers, sisters, and sisters of these veterans basically all had this image, a plain dress, and curly hair permed by yourself. , glass stockings, a small accessory that no matter how poor you go out, and low-heeled leather shoes that allow women to walk without too much effort.

Seeing Jessica's appearance, many veterans instantly and emotionally recalled their thoughts back to those magnificent and tumultuous years.

But Gina, who walked at the end of Jeff's house, immediately let them divert their thoughts about their female family members to another beautiful memory, because the Gina in front of them had also changed a lot tonight. Her long blond hair had turned into Fluffy and full blond wavy jaw-length curly hair, sexy bright red flaming red lips, tight purple low-cut suspender skirt, exaggerated earrings, pearl bracelets, a pair of bare long legs, and high-heeled dance shoes studded with sequins.

Whether they are World War II veterans or Vietnam War veterans, as long as they are not blind, they can see that this young girl is dressed as charmingly and stunningly as Marilyn Monroe. Although Vietnam War veterans did not enjoy the treatment of Marilyn Monroe as a labor force, it does not mean that They are not familiar with this look. In the past, other American actresses or American beauty pageants would imitate Marilyn Monroe's sexy look to the greatest extent when they went to Vietnam to serve in the army.

A drunken veteran held a placard made of simple cardboard, and shouted to Gina with a wicked smile: "Movie censor!"

This was like a starting gun, making all the veterans look at Gina, and then they laughed and shouted together: "Movie censor!"

"Marilyn Monroe's classic quote." The receiver in Gina's ear rang, and the team assistant reminded her in time: "A quote about the groove on her chest."

Gina leaned forward slightly in the direction of the veterans, exposing most of her white chest. Then she suddenly stood up straight, her breasts trembling. She pointed at the veterans, using stupid, naive, artificial and most importantly sexy He spoke in a mixed tone: "The problem for film censors is why people should care about whether a girl should show her vagina. What they should worry about most is that a girl doesn't have her vagina!"

Whistles and vulgar laughter suddenly resounded, and a veteran in the front row shouted with satisfaction: "Just this look! It's enough for me to support Jeff until I die!"

Gina let out a sweet laugh like a silver bell, and spun around in circles, causing her skirt to fly up, revealing her round and strong legs. Then she said something Marilyn Monroe said when she was working in the army: "My lover two days ago. Happy Holidays, boys! See you back home America!"

After saying that, Gina put two fingers to her lips, blew a kiss to everyone, then quickened her pace and chased Jessica, leaving only a group of veterans pondering.

In the dressing room backstage, Marcus personally helped Jeff with his makeup to ensure that his face looked tougher in front of the TV camera. Jeff closed his eyes and kept opening and closing his lips, obviously silently reciting those Tommy and Martin words. After telling him to remember clearly the contents of the manuscript, Martin blocked the door of the dressing room, with his back to the corridor, looked at Jeff and said:

"Just take it easy, Jeff."

"Where is Tommy?" After Jeff finished reciting a paragraph silently, he opened his eyes and saw only Martin, and asked.

"I'm always with you, Jeff." As soon as he asked, Tommy's voice rang in his ears.

…

Page opened the door, walked in with a glass of water, put his hands in his pockets, and stood quietly next to Tommy who was admiring the night in front of the window: "Jim called and said that some controversy broke out among the directors of KeyBank. They think that now The evacuation of Otilia and the adjustment of Jim's position were your plan to find a scapegoat to escape after emptying KeyBank, but Jim said he had no explanation, but after Stephen learned the news, he rushed there in person to appease those people. , he relied on his family credibility to convince those people, and asked Jim not to disturb your vacation, Jim said, you owe Stephen."

"Stephen believes that I won't harm him." Tommy picked up the water and took a sip: "It's not time to explain, just wait for a while, it's almost over, and let's focus on this little game tonight."

After saying that, he turned around and looked at the layout of the room. This room could almost be regarded as a small studio and editing room. There were six TVs placed at the moment. The picture and sound were turned on. Each one corresponded to One of the six different angles of the camera in the studio. During the live broadcast, the camera will switch to close-up at any time according to someone's speech, or capture the reaction of the audience at any time and spread it to the audience watching on the TV.

Compared to Jeff in the dressing room, who was only accompanied by Martin and Marcus, Tommy was in an office on the second floor of WLRN-TV at the moment. In addition to Paige, who would be napping against the corridor wall outside, there were also Martin's three younger brothers. , two were guarding the door with arms folded, one on the left and one on the right, and one with gauze on his head was standing at the stairs to ensure that no one could disturb Tommy.

The office was provided to Tommy by Rosario Kennedy, whose ex-husband, Gustavo Andreu, was the news director for the Miami station before she married David Kennedy.

At this time, Tommy could clearly see and hear through the TV screen that the host had taken his seat and was announcing the rules of this live broadcast to the camera. At the same time, he reminded the audience who arrived at the studio to keep quiet and not to applaud randomly. Or have a conversation, so as not to affect the performance of the candidates on the stage, and also to avoid irrelevant noises that prevent the audience watching the live broadcast in front of the TV from focusing on the performance of each candidate.

There are seven speaking platforms arranged on the stage, corresponding to the seven Democratic candidates who will make their official debut tonight. After the host announced the rules, he began to indicate that the audience could applaud to welcome each candidate to the stage. For voters in the 18th district, in addition to They have seen the two or three candidates with deep pockets before on TV or in newspapers or on roadside billboards. The remaining candidates may be seeing them for the first time, so the host will introduce the candidates’ basic characteristics in turn. Information for everyone.

Tommy in the room was already familiar with the information about these seven people.

The party's No. 1 candidate in the mock vote was former Miami Vice Mayor Rosario Kennedy.

The party's second-ranked candidate in the mock vote was Joanna Pepper, niece of former Rep. Claude Pepper.

The party's third-ranked candidate in the mock vote is Gerald Richman, an attorney from the Middleton Law Firm in Liberty City and founder of the North Miami Black Community Alliance.

The party's fourth-ranked candidate in the mock vote is Jeff Lavine, a pipe repairman and veteran from the East Side of Miami in District 18.

The party's fifth-ranked candidate in the mock vote is North Miami Black Equal Employment Opportunity Commission chairman and insurance broker James Meagher from Little Haiti, District 18.

The party's sixth-ranked candidate in the mock vote is Raul Wright, a furniture store owner from North Miami in the 18th district.

The party's seventh-ranked candidate in the mock vote is Andy Hogan, a lifeguard, model, and minor movie actor from the 18th district of Miami East.

After the seven candidates stood in front of their respective podiums, the host opened the envelope in front of him straight to the point and said:

“Tonight’s issues are all key issues of concern to voters in the 18th district, and I am honored to ask you questions on their behalf. I promise to live up to their trust and ask questions seriously. I also hope that all candidates can give positive and clear answers. Please provide your answers so that voters in the 18th constituency can understand your vision and values. The first phase of the issue is the economic and employment issues in the 18th constituency. This is a very practical issue and an issue that all the people in the constituency are concerned about. Let us Let’s begin the first phase of the Q\u0026A, in order from left to right and ladies first, starting with you, Ms. Kennedy, why do you think you can bring about change in the declining economic environment of the 18th district, and for the 18th district? Provide employment opportunities for the people?”

Tommy pulled up a chair and sat directly in front of the six televisions, staring at Rosario Kennedy as he answered the questions.

The first issue is not race, but employment and economy. This is because David Kennedy wanted his ex-wife to catch other candidates off guard. He had previously promoted the rhythm through the publicity period, shouting that the seats in this district were Cuban seats. Words like this will at least make all the candidates on the stage feel that racial issues are a top priority and put the most thought into this issue to please Cuban voters, but Rosario does not need to do this because She herself is of Cuban descent.

There is nothing new in Rosario's speech. It is mainly nonsense and empty words, calling for legislation and appeals. Anyway, the economic environment is bad, mainly because of the lack of social responsibility of large companies that are rich and unkind. She will call for improvements in these large companies in Washington. We should collect taxes and increase investment in social welfare and basic people's livelihood in the district, and urge the improvement of the business environment in the 18 districts, attracting more companies in the fruit planting, sugar industry, and tourism industries to invest, and provide a good foundation for the 10 districts. Employment opportunities are provided to the people of the eight districts, among other things.

I am afraid that except for Jeff, the remaining five people present have prepared answers similar to Rosario Kennedy, but Rosario wins with her first answer, which also makes the subsequent candidates have to choose other answers immediately. , after all, if the answer is roughly the same as that of Rosario, then it may be difficult for the audience to have a better impression of him than Rosario, who spoke first.

Joanna Pepper, the second speaker, cleverly mentioned her uncle, Claude Pepper, who had served in this position for twenty-five years, saying that her uncle had already promoted this issue in Washington, but was still It has not been completely completed. Now as her niece, she will definitely solve this problem, including the extensive use of mechanized harvesting in local plantations, orchards, and farms, which has caused great damage to the environment of the 18th constituency. Therefore, the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Protection Act must be promoted to ensure These plantations, orchards and farms continue to employ a large number of laborers. If the bill is successful, there will be at least 8,000 more seasonal agricultural workers in the 18th district. At the same time, she will also promote the Environmental Protection Agency and several agricultural fertilizer companies in the district to target Cooperation in fruit production-increasing fertilizers ensures that plantations will not lose revenue due to hiring manpower.

In Tommy's opinion, if Rosario's speech is empty talk with his eyes closed, Joanna's speech is nonsense said with her eyes open, which means it will fool the people at the bottom of the constituency. As far as the current situation in the 18th constituency is concerned, Virtue, even if the plantation boss is really out of his mind and gives up mechanization and chooses to hire manpower, he will only choose the illegal immigrants from Cuba who are everywhere. These illegal immigrants do not need to sign a contract, their salary is half or more than that of normal workers, and they generally It's a daily settlement in cash, how can it be possible to hire an American citizen?

There is also promoting research cooperation between the Environmental Protection Agency and fertilizer companies to increase production, which is as difficult as making a police chief and a gang boss sworn in public in full view of the American public.

How can a pair of sworn enemies cooperate? More than half of the Environmental Protection Agency’s sky-high fines every year come from fertilizer companies or agricultural chemicals companies. The Environmental Protection Agency usually doesn’t bother the fertilizer companies, but the fertilizer companies have already laughed and even come to discuss cooperation. Even if it is true Yes, I'm afraid those small fertilizer companies in the 18th constituency don't believe it either, lest they make a mistake and the company closes down.

If Joanna really brought members of the Environmental Protection Bureau to see the boss of the fertilizer company, the boss of the fertilizer company might scold him on the spot: "Is it you who brought Huang Jun here?"

The third black lawyer to speak, Gerald Richman, said that he believed that the pay gap caused by race and color led to the poor economic environment in the 18th district today. For the same heavy manual job, white people The hourly wage is 19% higher than that of blacks and 55% higher than that of Cubans. A white person with a stable job can easily support a family, while Cubans and blacks may have to work four jobs a day and may end up having to pay for rent. , white people feel that Cubans have taken away their jobs, and Cubans will also complain that white people’s income is too high and their own income is too low. He believes that the most important thing to change this situation is to narrow the pay gap so that everyone can have For a fair employment environment, he will push to increase the salary of people of color in the 18th district to at least be equal to that of white people. This will allow the economy to recirculate. When the income is stable, people of color can also meet the tax limit and can take care of their families on weekends. Go outing, shopping, and watching movies to stimulate the consumer industry in the area and narrow the racial wealth gap in the area.

The same idea is to fool the people at the bottom, playing the racial card to gain favor with Cuban voters.

Then, the host looked at Jeff: "Mr. LaVine, why do you think you can bring changes to the declining economic environment in the 18th district and provide job opportunities for the people in the 18th district? You have two minutes. .”

Jeff looked at the audience and showed a naive smile: "I don't know, maybe we should call on everyone to follow the Cuban stowaways entrenched in the 18th District to steal car tires, rob, and sell hemp?"

With one sentence, the audience, which had been made drowsy by three consecutive boring and empty speeches, suddenly became energetic and opened their eyes to see clearly which smart person on the stage said the absolutely shocking sentence just now. Words!

Not only the audience, but the six candidates could not help but turn their faces and look at Jeff LaVine with wide eyes. They didn’t understand why this guy said such a sentence. You know, the main audience in front of the TV tonight They are the voters of the 18th district, and 45% of the voters are of Cuban origin. It may be okay to make such racial jokes with white supporters on the street, but this is a live TV broadcast, and there is no way to change the words spoken.

Even the host, who is a quarter of Cuban descent, widened his eyes in disbelief and said inappropriately: "I'm sorry, what did you just say?"

"Thank you host, this is a great question. When I was volunteering in an elementary school, I asked the children a question. When you are my age, what will the 18th District be like? What will Miami be like? They It describes many pictures that are so beautiful that it breaks my heart. Those pictures are all kinds of strange, including beautiful scenery, high-rise buildings, spaceships, and alien friends. Do you know what these pictures have in common? There are no Cubans."

When he said the last sentence, "There are no Cubans," the smile on Jeff's face and eyes quickly faded, becoming as cold as a stone.

99% of the audience in the audience, both men and women, subconsciously covered their mouths with their hands!

If the first sentence is earth-shattering, the second sentence without Cubans directly escalates to earth-shattering!

Jeff kept a straight face and mainly looked at the audience, but occasionally glanced at the camera at Tommy's reminder, so that the audience in front of the TV could notice his sharp and determined eyes:

"Some candidates say that to improve the economy, they need to raise taxes on the rich and large companies in the region, and then use the money to improve public welfare and basic people's livelihood in the region. I would like to ask, in the United States, hard-earned money becomes Is it wrong for the rich to have money taken away from their pockets? The 18th constituency has been doing this for the past few years. Has the economy gotten better? It is getting worse because those who have a sense of responsibility and insist on hiring regular workers, The rich people who signed the contracts and the big companies have all left. Look, how many companies you were once familiar with have completely disappeared and moved to the Caribbean, Mexico and even Asia. They went overseas to hire local workers, but they originally had stable jobs. The people of the 18th district will no longer be able to earn a penny. In the 18th district, is having money a crime?"

"If I am elected, I will call on Congress to legislate in Washington to deport all illegal aliens from the United States. This is my way to restore the economy and increase employment."

“I don’t know if the other candidates have known the data on the refugee reception centers under the 18th constituency, the immigration prison data and some related information that the city government can publicly access. I have checked that the earliest illegal Cuban immigrants smuggled here in 1961. After moving to the 18th district in Miami, I began to receive refugee relief and enjoy humane medical benefits. Until today, I have not received status, a full 28 years."

“A Cuban smuggler works illegally in the United States, maliciously evades taxes and depresses prices, steals job opportunities that belong to American citizens, earns money and sends it back to Cuba, and then enjoys free relief and humanitarian benefits provided by the tax dollars of American citizens in the 18th district. Twenty-eight years!”

"Do you know how many Cuban smugglers there are in the 18th district? According to the information I checked from the city government, there are more than 43,000, which is almost one to one of the legal Cuban-American citizens."

"These more than 43,000 Cuban smugglers are entrenched in the 18th district. They are unscrupulously sucking blood from us American citizens, spending our tax dollars, taking away our jobs, and destroying our public security. The host asked me, how To restore the economy and how to increase employment, my answer is simple, drive these foreigners out of our homes!"

"I asked an accountant to help me calculate the data I reviewed, and got a series of figures. If these Cuban smugglers are driven away, the average household income in the 18th district can increase by 27%, and at least 4,000 jobs can be added. , the incidence rate of various public security cases decreased by 37%.”

"I can make it more clear. For example, a worker with legal status in the United States can earn 10,000 yuan for a year of hard work. After driving away more than 40,000 Cuban smugglers, you can earn 12,700 yuan next year, and the extra 2,700 yuan Yuan, that’s a lot of money, enough to buy a new car as a coming-of-age gift for a child who is about to grow up.”

"2,700 yuan is what those damn Cuban smugglers earned from lying on your body and sucking your blood for a year. Maybe you still want to find out, they..."

The host couldn't help but interrupt Jeff: "Mr. LaVine, time is up, you..."

Jeff didn't even look at him, he just looked at the audience and continued talking: "They have sucked the blood of the 18th district for nearly thirty years. How much money have you lost? The accountant helped me calculate it. It's 2,700 yuan. Multiplied by 30 years, it equals 81,000 yuan.”

"If this continues, Cuba does not need to invade the United States. It can drain our nutrients and grow into a second Soviet Union, one that is only one step away from us and without Europe standing in the way."

The host spoke again: "Mr. LaVine, I hope you will abide by the rules of the election debate..."

Jeff increased his volume and suppressed the other party's voice:

"That's my answer, I want my kids to grow up and volunteer, and ask them, when you're my age, what will the 18th Ward be like, what will Miami be like? What will they be able to say? Same answer, no Cubans."

Jeff finished speaking in one breath, and then looked at the host: "Thank you host, I have finished speaking on the economic and employment issues in this region."

When Jeff really calmed down, the host didn't know what to say. The photographer avoided capturing the host's speechless scene and immediately switched the camera to focus on the other candidates on the stage, leaving two or three seconds for the host. time.

It's just that the expressions of the other candidates are not much better than those of the host. Switching to the auditorium, the audience in the auditorium remained silent, but their heavy breathing clearly showed that they were far from as calm as they seemed at the moment.

"For most people, the absence of Cubans is not important, but the extra 81,000 yuan is important." Tommy said with satisfaction as he watched the reaction in the studio through the TV in the room.