After arriving in New York, it was another busy three days. Even though the intelligence reported that Al Gore was increasingly depressed and had no intention of carrying out any more election sprints, Simon did not relax at all.
There is still much to do.
The first thing is to explain, reassure and indoctrinate.
Before the news broke, most people in the Westeros system thought that Simon was supporting Al Gore. The sudden turn of events not only confused many people, but also inevitably led to misunderstandings and even deeper negative emotions. .
If Simon is indifferent to this, it will only further deepen various misunderstandings.
Therefore, communication is a must.
In fact, when it comes to party support, people at higher levels in the social pyramid are less determined, because changes in high-level policies can already have a more direct impact on them, which requires more flexibility to change directions at any time. If the benefits are greater, then naturally choose the side.
The key this time is Simon's concealment.
If communicated well in advance, most of the core members of the Westeros system will definitely follow Simon because of the unity of interests.
Besides explaining and comforting, the most important thing Simon did was to instill.
Similar to the metaphor of lions and cows and horses used by Amy and others in Daenerys’ high-level meeting, the goal is to let everyone understand that Westerosian is an existence that is detached from American politics, rather than some kind of equal relationship.
To put it bluntly, no lion would choose to tie up with herbivorous animals such as cows, horses, rabbits and sheep, because they are carnivores and belong to the hunting class.
In addition to his own family, another group of people who need to be appeased are the spokespersons of the Westeros family in the political circle.
These people are actually divided into two categories, one is Westerosian and the other is not.
After all, it didn’t last long, and the number of the former was smaller, but no matter which side Simon was on, they would follow.
The number of the latter is temporarily larger, which requires Simon to put more thought into it.
Simon's attitude is that the Westeros system will continue to support them. As for why he gave up Gore this time, Simon did not give a clear reason. It is just that the two sides of Hanhu have different ideas.
Not only that, Simon also needed clear feedback.
If you cannot accept this change in the Westeros system, the two parties can part ways so that they can get together and part ways.
If accepted, we will continue to cooperate in the future.
Or the third type, if they work against the will and do nothing while taking the benefits, that's fine. Anyway, Simon is more concerned about what they do next, rather than what they say now.
Once the interests of the Westeros system are inconsistent with each other in the future, it will not be as simple as getting together and breaking up now.
In addition to this matter, Simon also needs to start planning some arrangements for the future.
One of the most important targets is Al Gore.
Now that there has been a complete break, Simon knows very well that 'if you beat the snake, you will suffer the consequences'. Therefore, the subsequent Westeros system will try its best to strip Gore of all political influence, in addition to cutting off any possibility of Gore's comeback. Will also target all allies of the Gore family.
Either disassociate yourself from Gore or be kicked out of politics altogether.
In addition to these, there may be some other remains that can only be seen while walking.
Three days flew by in the blink of an eye.
On a new Monday, the day before the election, the U.S. stock market still managed to stabilize. As the Westeros system controlled the media's promotion of Bush's victory, let alone the victory, the market panic that appeared last week continued to dissipate, and the Nasdaq's single-day decline once again closed. narrow, closing down only 1.2% on Monday, while the Dow Jones Index also rebounded slightly, closing up 0.7% that day.
So, it’s Tuesday.
On November 8, 2000, voting day for the 54th U.S. presidential election officially opened.
Simon woke up early in the morning in his manor in the northern suburbs of Greenwich. Coincidentally, it snowed today. It was not heavy, but it was very atmospheric. It was a good day to enjoy the snow by the fire.
The breakfast was very lively. In addition to Simon, there were also Sophia Fessey who was called by Janet to take care of a group of little ones, five children besides Melbourne and Seattle, and Sophia's daughter Gemma. However, after breakfast, Simon was soon the only one left.
Sophia had a project to talk about today and went to Manhattan.
Gemma still has to go to school.
After confirming that Simon would not go out today, the little ones were handed over to him by Sophia. Simon couldn't bear it. When the woman left, he immediately ordered the housekeeper Angora Davis to take the children away and go wherever they liked.
Um.
This is also for the good of the children.
Simon was worried that he would transform from a 'loving father' to a 'strict father' as they spent more time together. After all, who could stand a group of little ones who were generally between the ages of three and seven and were so indifferent to their age
Then I stayed alone in a living room with floor-to-ceiling glass windows on the second floor of the villa to enjoy the scenery in the snow.
No fireplace.
This is not needed to maintain a constant temperature of 23 degrees indoors.
The large-screen wall-mounted TV is connected to the computer, and the interface is the real-time scrolling election information from the Ingrit portal. Simon is nestled in the single sofa by the window where he can enjoy the scenery. On the round table next to him is a cup of hot milk at a suitable temperature and a stack of books. script, a custom-made iPad, and a crystal ball summoner.
Holding a script in hand, I read a few pages and occasionally looked up. Outside the window, I could see the evergreen tree cover gradually being painted with the color of snow, and another small lake in the snow light, deep and peaceful.
In the morning, Gemma also said that when it gets colder, she plans to invite her classmates to skate on the lake together.
Sophia said that if she liked it, she could arrange an ice practice rink for her daughter, which would be safer, but she got a blank look.
Not unjust.
What I want is the air-cooling fun in this ice and snow atmosphere, what's the point of running to a closed venue.
Occasionally my thoughts wandered and I finished reading a script without realizing it.
This is "Moulin Rouge" which Australian director Baz Luhrmann has just completed after spending several years.
Speaking of which, Luhrmann is a typical low-yield director. His previous films "Dancing So Far" and the modern version of "Romeo and Juliet" have achieved very good results in Hollywood. However, this director is not in a hurry to continue his efforts. Instead, he returned to Australia to start a stage play and slowly polished his new work.
The new script was recently completed and was soon transferred to Simon.
After all, the previous cooperation between the two parties has been very pleasant, and the other party has no reason to choose another studio. Daenerys, on her side, got the script and got the green light to start the project.
Last year's "Chicago" performed so well, so of course we should follow the trend and release some more musicals.
Of course Simon remembers that compared to "Chicago", the box office performance of "Moulin Rouge" was much worse, but it was only relative. In terms of its own investment, it was still a work that achieved both good reputation and box office success.
He picked up his pen and wrote down the idea of "Nicole Kidman" as the heroine in the blank space at the end of the page. Simon thought about it and decided that he didn't choose the original version for the male lead. In fact, it was the former Yinwan McGregor and him before Star Wars. He still has no sense of presence in the Legend series. If he had been replaced by someone else, he might have been more outstanding.
Then he left a few other lines of comments. Simon closed the script and touched the summoner on the round table next to him. Girl A quickly appeared: "Boss?"
Simon raised his wrist and found that he was not wearing a watch. He glanced to the side: "What time is it? Also, how are you now?"
"10:27," Girl A looked at her watch, reported a number, and then handed over the folder she had organized in advance: "Today's opening, all major U.S. stock indexes have risen. Currently, the Dow and The Nasdaq's gains are all above 1%. In addition, according to real-time data collected by our team, the voting rates in Vermont, Kentucky and Indiana, which are expected to be the first to release results, have exceeded half, and George is expected to win the two central states. Lost Vermont. However, Vermont only had 3 votes, and Kentucky and Indiana combined had 20 votes. Compared to 1992, Bush only won Indiana among the three states. In addition, I have listed the real-time data of some swing states in It’s in the file.”
Although the three states with the earliest results will not play a decisive role, it can be regarded as a sign.
The Westeros System team compared the election results of 1992 instead of 1996. Comparing the two, Bush, who won two weeks, is obviously better than his father back then.
With this in mind, Simon took the document handed over by Girl A, flipped through the real-time feedback data from several swing states in his hand, and his eyes first fell on Florida.
In both timelines, Florida, with 25 electoral votes, is key.
It was only the morning, and the vote count in Florida was less than 30%. However, Simon was satisfied that of the 1.51 million votes that had been cast, Bush was clearly in the lead, with an approval rate of 51%, while Gore only had 47%, and the others The party won less than two percentage points.
Just say that Bush Jr. has an advantage of nearly 4 percentage points over Gore. To a large extent, it can be said that it is the result of the continuous operation of the Westeros system in recent years after Simon and Bush Sr. reached a secret agreement.
You know, Florida has nearly 6 million votes, and George W. Bush once only led Gore by more than 500 votes, with a winning rate of less than one in 10,000. This time, it was a relatively large proportion of 4%.
Although the turnout rate is less than 30%, the gap has now opened up by more than 60,000 votes. Simon believes that a subsequent reversal is unlikely.
This is not 2020.
Simon even felt that perhaps he had invested too many resources in Florida, and he would have to save as much as possible.
After closing the document and handing it to Girl A along with the script of "Moulin Rouge" he had just reviewed, Simon said with some unconscious relief in his tone: "Continue to follow up."
Girl A also felt the change in her boss's mood. She slightly curved her lips and smiled. She took the documents and the script. When she saw that the glasses on the round table were empty, she picked them up together and asked, "Boss, would you like to bring another glass?" ?”
Simon shook his head: "No, bring me a glass of water."
"OK."
When Girl A turned around, Simon also picked up another script, "Gosford Park" from the round table at hand.
After thinking about it for a moment, I couldn't help but open it with interest.
In my memory, "Gosford Park" was a work by Robert Altman. It had a low budget and relatively good results. It also won double box office awards.
In addition, the screenwriter of this movie is also worth mentioning.
Just one, most people may not know "Gosford Abbey", but they definitely know "Downton Abbey". The screenwriter of both stories is the same person, named Julian Fellowes.