"You're all thinking: I'm a Democrat, so how can I stand with the Republican Party? Is this a betrayal?"
"Let me tell you."
Leo's voice became low and powerful.
"This is not betrayal."
"This is the highest form of loyalty."
"What is betrayal?"
"Watching factories close down, watching communities decay, watching old neighbors be forced to move away, yet doing nothing because it's party policy—that is betrayal!"
"Because you've betrayed your family, you've betrayed your community, and you've betrayed the very land that raised you!"
"And what is loyalty?"
"To get the smokestacks smoking again, to make sure our children have books to read, to ensure our elders have medicine to take... even if it means being called a traitor, you go and claw that money back. That is loyalty!"
"That is loyalty to life itself!"
Leo took a step forward, moving closer to the edge of the stage.
