The Socialist Party Candidate was not without anything to say. He tried to join in, but it was obvious that he still could not let himself loose.
Conner and the Conservative Party Candidate did not take him seriously either. No matter what he said, the two men treated him like air, then turned around and attacked each other.
This left the Socialist Party Candidate extremely embarrassed. He even felt that participating in this three-way debate had been the biggest and stupidest mistake of his entire life!
The two parties' disregard for him and the audience's strange looks all told him that he had botched this "show"! But there was nothing he could do. Who knew these two idiots would not even include him in their verbal attacks...
Early the next morning, all kinds of newspapers ran all kinds of headlines. The election truly was the Federation's quadrennial "carnival."
The Federal Daily ran the headline "Conner: The Mouthpiece of Capital" and published a detailed report on some of the things he had done during his time as governor.
In what appeared to be an impartial report, Conner became a capitalist's lapdog who had done many underhanded things for the capitalists.
This caused a huge reaction in society. Especially in an era of labor-capital conflict, the Working Class and the capitalists could not possibly live together in harmony.
Conner's approval rating fell noticeably, but not by much.
Those who were willing to support him would not abandon him because of this. Those who had never intended to see things through to the end naturally withdrew on their own.
The Campaign Team did not launch any special emergency public-relations campaign in response to these reports. They merely presented the facts and reasoned with people.
The lower levels of Federation society were still easy