To be honest, McCain's counterattack sent a cold sweat down Barack Obama's back.
If Martin hadn't warned him, it really wouldn't have crossed his mind that even a relative living far away in Kenya could become a target of political assault.
"Martin, I really have to thank you—thank you so much. Good thing you gave me the heads-up."
"As long as it helped, that's what matters. I just didn't want trouble down the road."
You could say Obama got lucky. The 2nd Martin never had much interest in American politics, so his memory of this election cycle was a bit fuzzy.
If it hadn't been for the original timeline—where McCain's camp used Obama's younger brother to stage a major counterattack that even made headlines overseas—he probably wouldn't have remembered this at all.
As time went on, the election entered its high-stakes phase. From September to October, there would be four televised debates between the presidential and vice-presidential candidates. The U.S. general election would shift from a back-to-back standoff into a face-to-face battle.
By then, the two final candidates would officially go head-to-head in the ultimate showdown.
...
Martin had returned to Los Angeles.
His new movie—Wanted—was about to hit theaters.
The premiere was held at the Grand Theater in Los Angeles, a venue that had collaborated with Martin multiple times. Both sides were happy with the partnership.
Today, a large crowd of reporters gathered at the Wanted premiere.
It wasn't just entertainment media this time. Plenty of journalists covering politics and current affairs were in attendance too.
Clearly, it was because Martin had joined Barack Obama's campaign team.
"Martin, what motivated you to join Barack Obama's election campaign?"
"This doesn't really relate to today's premiere, but I'll answer it anyway. Three reasons. First, Mr. Obama is my senior—we both studied at Harvard Law School. Second, I agree with most of his policy platform. Third, he's personally very charismatic. I believe he's going to win—and who doesn't want to be on the winning team?"
"Martin, since McCain introduced his tax-cut proposal, his poll numbers have surged. What's your take on that?"
Martin chuckled and replied with ease, "Anyone with a brain knows McCain's tax-cut proposal is just a bunch of words on paper. There's no way it'll ever get implemented. Honestly, I doubt he even intends to. Even if he gets elected, I bet he'll drop it the moment he takes office."
"Let's take a look at what McCain actually said: If elected, he promises to reduce corporate taxes and eliminate the lowest tier of income tax that's been burdening middle-class families. As compensation, he plans to cut unnecessary congressional and government expenditures and introduce reforms to entitlement spending and pensions."
"You know how big a budget hole that tax plan would create if they actually tried to implement it? You don't? Then let me tell you—$3.3 trillion. Even if the entire U.S. government worked for free, there's no way they could cover that. So yeah, I think he's just bluffing…"
In a small suburban villa near Washington, D.C., Alan Greenspan looked helplessly at his granddaughter, who had switched the TV channel to an entertainment station. He had just been watching election news.
If it had been anyone else, he'd have cursed them up and down. But this was his favorite granddaughter—what could he do?
"Wow, it's a Martin interview! He's so handsome!" The thirteen-year-old girl's eyes sparkled as she stared at the screen.
Alan wanted to say that he had been quite the heartthrob in his youth too—but when he looked at the young man's face on the screen, he thought, Forget it. I'll just pride myself on my intellect instead.
"Do you know how big a budget hole this little tax-cut plan would create if it were actually implemented…? That's $3.3 trillion… He's just bluffing… I don't support cutting taxes with borrowed money. Real tax cuts need to be tied to actual spending cuts…"
Alan's eyes lit up. His attention snapped back to the TV. This kid's making a lot of sense!
Although he had stepped down from his post as Chair of the Federal Reserve, Lamston still followed America's economic issues closely—especially the economic policy proposals in every administration's platform.
He'd already dismissed McCain's "tax-cut plan" as nonsense the first time he heard it. He'd publicly criticized it many times. He never expected this Hollywood kid to hold views so similar to his own.
"Who is he?" he asked his granddaughter.
The girl widened her eyes and looked at him like he'd lost his mind. "Grandpa, are you serious? You don't know him?"
"Uh…" Alan rubbed his nose awkwardly. "Should I know him?"
"Of course! That's Martin!! Martin Meyers!!! The U.S.'s ultimate genius!!! A global megastar!!! Everyone knows him! Grandpa, are you still living in the last century? No—Martin was already famous in the last century!"
"Alright, alright, Grandpa admits he's wrong! I do know who Martin is… just… I didn't know what he looked like. You know I don't follow entertainment news. I'm sorry, okay?"
Faced with his granddaughter's relentless interrogation, Alan had no choice but to surrender.
But soon, his eyes were glued to the screen again.
Yeah, same with his granddaughter.
Who would want to miss Martin?
"Even if we go by what McCain says—cutting unnecessary congressional and government spending—the savings wouldn't exceed $170 billion. That's a drop in the ocean…"
"Mr. Meyers, we all know you have close ties with that major Eastern power. What kind of relationship do you think the next U.S. administration should have with Eastern Power?"
"[Censored] has always maintained a consistent foreign policy. They're not an aggressive country. As one of the two major powers in the world, the best way for the U.S. to interact with [Censored] is through cooperation—resolving trade friction, tackling global warming, strengthening military dialogue, and preventing the spread of nuclear weapons to sensitive regions… The so-called 'threat' is baseless fear-mongering. These war profiteers just want to sell weapons…"
Martin spoke with clarity and confidence, laying out every benefit of cooperation between the two superpowers and explaining the drawbacks of confrontation with calm precision. He had the eloquence and the charisma, and that naturally inspired trust.
"This kid should run for president!" Lamston blurted as he watched Martin speak so boldly on TV.
"Mr. Meyers, how do you feel about Barack Obama—"
"STOP!"
Martin suddenly cut off the reporter's question with a smile. "Hey, guys, did you forget something? This is the Wanted premiere, not a Martin Meyers campaign event. The last question has to be about the movie—otherwise, I'm out of here."
He pretended to make a run for it, and the entertainment reporters panicked. They hadn't even asked their questions yet.