"If you keep betting on him, the day he loses the election, you'll be a ghost in Washington. No one will take your calls."
Morganfield stared at Leo as if he were some kind of monster.
He had expected to hear some cliché-ridden speech about idealism, or perhaps a dry report on municipal construction.
But what he heard was a highly practical campaign playbook.
"This isn't something a Mayor would say."
Morganfield spoke slowly, thin wisps of smoke curling up from the cigar in his hand.
"Everything you just said… about infiltrating electoral districts, using economic interests to splinter the Republican Party's base, reshaping the entire state's political landscape…"
"That sounds more like something Murphy's campaign manager would say."
Morganfield shook his head, a complex note of lament in his voice.
"You're in the wrong line of work, Leo."
