Ms. Tracy's political career was like an underdeveloped child. After growing up, it either fell flat on its face or was about to.
Why did the Federal Political Families like sending their children to work in the various levels of the Federal Government, then making them start from the middle or lower ranks? Take Catherine's "interns from the same year," for example. Most of them came from political families or the families of major capitalists.
Their paths had been arranged long ago: first, an internship at the Presidential Palace, followed by becoming an aide to a governor or an important official on the Regional Council.
After working for three to five years, they would start by campaigning for City Councilor, then become mayor, regional councilor, governor, congressman...
Why didn't the families of these people with special backgrounds simply let them start as congressmen? Was it because they couldn't? No. A political family that had produced three Federal Presidents possessed resources far beyond ordinary people's imagination! Forget getting a young person into Congress—even more outrageous things might not be beyond their reach!
So why did they still follow certain procedures and rules, climbing upward one step at a time?
In reality, this was a process of "development." During that process, these young people would come into contact with many others of similar status.
These people would become nodes in the vast and complicated web of relationships they built as they grew. Countless nodes would eventually form a great net that could help them evade danger while also ensnaring more benefits for them!
Take Catherine, for example. She had also risen step by step. Along the way, there were her classmates, fellow interns, and political friends from when she had been a City Councilor...
When necessary, these people would all become sources