Chapter 254
Chapter 254
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Daisy Girl
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Lee Sung-jun had returned to Korea, but the Agency's operations were only just getting started.
“His Excellency's orders to us are as follows.”
First, launch political attacks on the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.
The Agency threw its weight behind creating negative public opinion on civil rights legislation, allowing the Southern Democrats to gain strength within the party.
“Whether Black or Asian, they're all just immigrants flooding into this land in the end. Isn't it only natural that the true natives—the white race—should have priority?”
Of course, there were the actual Native Americans, the Indians. But to these racists who treated even powerful Asians like monkeys, Indians were no different from buffalo roaming the plains—just part of nature.
“That's right! Who the hell is spouting nonsense about some federal civil rights act? The leader who'll abolish the civil rights act—George Wallace for President!”
Southern whites cheered at the ads the Agency had slyly planted.
Second, amplify the conflict between Senator Hubert Humphrey and the progressive left.
“Basic income—now that's a sound policy. Sure, checking Korea is important, but shouldn't filling the bellies of our own people come first?”
The Agency ran such ads in Democratic-leaning newspapers to test the waters.
The U.S. Democratic Party dismissed these claims as not even worth responding to.
It wasn't strange at all for a Democratic Party still reeling from McCarthyist Red hunts to take this stance.
“We don't engage in that kind of Red baiting talk.”
But the negative rhetoric from the party's progressive mainstream was enough to ignite the frustration of the progressive left.
“Even Lee Sung-jun didn't evaluate our policies that way!”
The pent-up resentment of the progressive left exploded in an instant.
Lee Sung-jun and Hubert Humphrey served as contrasting foils, sparking their outburst.
The Democratic Party was caught off guard by this shift.
“What the hell? Why are those guys suddenly going off the rails? What did Lee Sung-jun even do?”
Meanwhile, the Agency played its next card.
Third, Robert Kennedy for vice president.
“With the Democratic Party wobbling, the only way to secure victory is to nominate Robert Kennedy as the vice-presidential candidate.”
Disguised as advice, the Agency published columns to gauge the Lyndon Johnson camp's reaction.
In truth, talk of making Robert Kennedy the VP had already surfaced within the camp.
The one who couldn't readily nod to the idea was Alabama Governor George Wallace.
“If you put Robert Kennedy on the ticket as VP, you'll have to brace for rebellion in the South.”
His aides advised the president accordingly.
“Nominating Robert Kennedy for VP will cost us big with Southern white voters.”
“That would be fatal for the election.”
Failing to nominate him would cause problems too.
Robert Kennedy had solidified his image as “Kennedy's heir” through his time as attorney general.
Excluding him would inevitably mean losing sympathy votes the Democrats could have gained.
The U.S. Democratic Party realized the election landscape had suddenly turned strange.
“Where the hell did things start going wrong?”
At this rate, even a win in the presidential election would be by a razor-thin margin.
No amount of such a narrow victory margin would let them control the hawkish military or the military-industrial complex.
“Your Excellency, there's only one way. Settle it with policy.”
Unlike typical candidates, Johnson—as the incumbent president—could leverage his position to appeal directly to voters on policy and boost his approval ratings.
“In that case, I have something in mind.”
Lyndon Johnson pulled out his “War on Poverty,” which he had planned for his first term.
“The United States is one of the world's foremost nations, but in its shadow live those who can't even grasp a single dollar a day, trapped in poverty. Is that truly right? For this country to truly become great, shouldn't we give them a chance to see the sunlight too?”
Lyndon Johnson declared war on poverty in the name of the United States.
“That's going to cost an insane amount of money. He's really making that a campaign promise?”
Everyone was stunned by Lyndon Johnson's policy proposal.
The Republicans immediately turned up the volume and started shouting.
“It's straight out of the Red playbook. Taking money from the rich and handing it to the poor—what else would you call that but communism?”
McCarthy, who had reinvented himself as a freedom fighter, made a rare comeback.
“I knew the Democrats—those damn Reds—would show their true colors. If we don't shut down their nonsense now, next they'll be demanding equal wages for all and sharing private property.”
Overnight, the U.S. presidential race turned into a battlefield between Red-baiting and the Kennedy halo.
But then, the board shifted strangely again.
“The alternative to crush the Reds! Who's our man!”
“Goldwater! Goldwater!”
“Who else but Goldwater is promising to smash the Reds good!”
Barry Goldwater—who vowed to risk nuclear war against the Reds—began climbing in the Republican primaries.
“Uh?”
The bland candidate Richard Nixon was suddenly pushed to second place.
For the Agency and Lee Sung-jun, who had been quietly shaping the board from behind, this was a shocking development.
“If Goldwater makes it to the general election, Lyndon Johnson wins in a landslide!”
Diehard Republican supporters might cheer Goldwater, but ordinary folks wouldn't back a warmonger.
If things shaped up this way, it could repeat the original timeline's result: Lyndon Johnson winning by an overwhelming margin.
Even if a miracle let Goldwater win, it would be a disaster just the same.
‘Goldwater? That absolutely cannot happen.’
Lee Sung-jun decided he couldn't sit idly by and let Goldwater become the Republican nominee.
There was only one option.
He would give Nixon the kill shot that sank Goldwater in the original timeline.
Lee Sung-jun arranged for an anonymous letter to be mailed to the Nixon camp.
One of Richard Nixon's aides, scrambling amid Goldwater's surging popularity, was startled by the unexpected mail.
“Candidate, take a look at this.”
The aide rushed the letter over.
“What's got you so worked up?”
The contents of the letter Nixon read were as follows.
A cute little girl plucks flower petals, counting them. A countdown begins from the moment she starts counting, ending with a close-up of the girl's pupil reflecting a nuclear explosion.
What if this were aired as a TV ad?
Nixon slapped his knee, realizing it could blast Goldwater out of the water in one hit.
Here was the nuclear option Goldwater harped on constantly.
“Candidate, what do we do?”
“We air the ad, of course!”
Nixon immediately commissioned the TV spot.
Goldwater, oblivious to Nixon preparing his finisher, grabbed the mic and bellowed on.
“The Democrats—those Reds—if they take power, you know what they'll say. Check Korea? Hell, who's not doing that? But there's a limit. We mustn't forget our main enemy isn't Korea—it's the Soviet Union.”
Goldwater's logic was, of course, persuasive.
Republicans cheered and applauded every time he took the mic, bolstering his shoulders.
But Goldwater was fated to battle his own karma before facing Lyndon Johnson.
A few days later, the Daisy Girl ad aired on TV.
“One, two, three, four, five.”
As the innocent girl finished counting, her pupil filled the screen, clearly reflecting a nuclear blast.
No political narration, but the message was crystal clear.
Vote for the warmonger who'll risk nuclear war—do you want to endanger our children?
Goldwater initially brushed off the ad, but he was horrified upon hearing his aides' interpretation.
“Who—who put out that goddamn ad?”
“It's from Senator Nixon's side.”
“That son of a bitch! How could he do this!”
Goldwater couldn't hide his rage.
You weren't supposed to do this to fellow party members.
Weren't primaries supposed to follow at least some gentlemanly rules?
Goldwater immediately called Nixon.
“I'm warning you—pull that damn ad right now!”
Nixon's side did pull the ad, but a single airing of Daisy Girl had been lethal.
It hit like a nuclear bomb.
“Warmonger's out—out.”
Even Republicans started rethinking after seeing the ad with the little girl.
“Even if it's him, nuclear war is a bit much, right?”
As Goldwater plummeted, Nixon soared.
No—it was more than that.
“Nixon's the type who shows no mercy or tears when it comes to power. How could he stomp on a comrade from the same pot like that?”
“To become the top dog, you need that kind of resolve and ruthlessness. He seemed bland, but seeing this makes him look presidential.”
The Daisy Girl ad, which dealt a fatal blow to Goldwater, painted Nixon as a decisive, ruthless power player.
An effect Korea hadn't anticipated.
“This could work out well.”
Nixon just might win.
The Agency sent an upbeat report to Pyongyang with this news.
“That would be ideal, but where's the guarantee things will go smoothly?”
Lee Sung-jun harbored no rosy outlook on the U.S. election landscape.
Situations could change at any moment.
Elections were a game where one slip in the long game could send you sliding.
‘I know Nixon's not one to make easy mistakes, but I can't just trust the Republicans and get blindsided.’
One Kennedy assassination experience was enough.
Lee Sung-jun urged the Agency to keep monitoring closely.
All that remained was to hope the U.S. election outcome stayed on track with the picture he had painted.