Chapter 8
“Mrs. Santos, Mrs. Baker, we’re about to land.” Donna informed them. “There’ll be reporters
there, but we’re not taking questions. Wave and smile; it’s direct to the hotel from there.”
“What Donna is trying to tell us, Kathleen, is that we’re to keep our mouths shut when we
disembark.” Helen teased.
“I’m learning the political double speak.” Kathleen smiled. “My husband did a verse and two
choruses on ‘while I would never keep you from going to California, Kathleen…’ last night.”
“Matt too.” Helen admitted. “I’m not trying to make things difficult for him. I just want to have
a voice too.”
“I don’t think they realize how much time and effort we’ve put into their ambitions.” Kathleen
opined. “Otherwise they’d understand better that we need to have some of our own too.”
“Matt has his moments when he acknowledges my contribution, but other times it’s like I’m
invisible.” Helen shared.
“All of this is very valid.” Donna agreed. “But when we land and go to the hotel-“
“No comments.” Helen repeated.
“Wave and smile.” Kathleen parroted.
“Perfect.” Donna confirmed.
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There was quite a press contingent when they arrived at the hotel but thanks to dedicated
staff and the Secret Service, the group made it to their rooms without incident. The first
meeting would be in the hotel conference room where Mrs. Santos and Mrs. Baker would
meet with teachers who’d participated in the First Steps program.
Both women asked intelligent questions and spoke very frankly about what they saw as the
advantages and disadvantages of the program. Helen, in particular, was curious about
what could be improved in the program if it were to go national. Occasionally, Senator Lee,
would interject a point or a question he felt needed to be addressed. The press clearly
loved him and Donna was sure he’d get a lot of face time thanks to this trip.
Next it was on to a luncheon with Democratic leadership from the state. When Donna
looked back, she realized that was when the wheels started to come off the wagon.
“Mrs. Santos, Mrs. Baker,” Annabeth interrupted them. “This is Congresswoman Gloria
Santiago. She flew back from Washington to join you today. Congresswoman Santiago was
one of the sponsors of the First Steps program here in California.”
“It’s very nice to meet you, Congresswoman.” Helen responded as she shook Gloria’s hand.
“Gloria please, Mrs. Santos.” Gloria shook her hand enthusiastically. “I can’t tell you how
much this trip means to us.”
“I’m anxious to learn more about the First Steps program.” Helen repeated the practiced
line.
“After lunch we’ll give you the gold tour.” Gloria promised. “Mrs. Baker, we were happily
surprised to learn you were coming too. Welcome to California.”
“Thank you, Congresswoman.” Mrs. Baker took her turn shaking hands. “I was delighted to
be included. Mrs. Santos was most gracious to include me.”
“Mrs. Santos is most gracious period.” Gloria stated.”Obviously, she’s going to be a hands
on First Lady and we’re very happy about that.”
“If you’ll take your seats, we’ll get started with lunch.” Donna steered them to the dais.
There was quite buzz in the room throughout lunch. Many people excited just to be in the
room with the First Lady and Mrs. Baker. Senator Lee and Congresswoman Santiago were
invited to accompany Helen and Kathleen, Donna and Annabeth, in the limo.
“I understand the program has been running in your district for almost 10 years.” Kathleen
directs her comment to Gloria.
“It has. There has been a substantial impact from the program already. Intervention
services were started earlier due to the child find portion of First Steps and many children
were able to be mainstreamed by 1st grade because of the early intervention they
received.”
“Child find?” Kathleen repeated.
“Child find is what they call the process of identification of children with special needs.”
Senator Lee elaborated.
“Ah.” Kathleen nodded her understanding.
“There’s also been a reduction in emergency room services in my district because of the
‘Healthy Families’ component of the program.” Congresswoman Santiago added.
“Because the program has been running so long here, we’re able to pull hard numbers and
a cost analysis to all this.” Senator Lee expounded.
“That’s going to be incredibly helpful information once we move this forward nationally.”
Congresswoman Santiago pointed out.
They arrived at the elementary amid the usual fanfare that came with a visit from the First
Lady.
“This is all so incredible.” Kathleen noted.
“We’re not quite used to it ourselves, Mrs. Baker.” Donna replied. “Right this way, Ladies.”
The Principal was waiting at the school entrance and looked a little nervous about all the
attention being directed at him and his school.
“Mrs. Santos, Mrs. Baker, we’re honored to have you here. I’m Principal Daniels.”
“Thank you so much for hosting us today.” Mrs. Santos replied. “Kathleen and I are
delighted to be here. How many children are in your school, Mr. Daniels?”
Helen continued to make small talk with the Principal, putting him at ease while her
entourage prepared to invade his school. They ended up in a small auditorium where the
students formally welcomed the First Lady and Mrs. Baker. They were treated to an
elementary performance of the school song by the entire student body. Donna found her
eyes riveted on a small girl in the front who was performing her heart out. She wondered if
she and Josh would ever sit in an auditorium like this one and watch their children perform.
They hadn’t really talked about children except in the most general terms and right now,
they were both too busy to even consider…
The performance over, Mrs. Santos went onstage with some of the children who had been
part of First Steps so she could talk to them more about their experiences. Their parents
were also in attendance and there was a lot of back and forth between all the parties.
The visit went quickly and then it was a quick stop at the hotel to change before they were
on to a dinner in honor of the First Lady. Donna had time for a quick call to Josh to tell him
how well everything was going. He sounded a little stressed, but he assured her it was a
security issue not a First Lady issue, so she set it aside for the time being.
“Taking a little down time?” Senator Lee asked when he joined her on the patio where she
had just concluded her conversation with Josh.
“Getting some updates.” Donna acknowledged.
“The day has gone very smooth, Donna. You are your team have done very well.”
“Thanks. Hopefully, we can keep it up through tomorrow.” Donna replied. “Then we can go
back to Washington in triumph.”
“That’s important to you isn’t it? I mean, I wasn’t sure how seriously you would take the First
Lady’s agenda.” Senator Lee explained. “Taking First Steps through the east wing wasn’t
my first choice because of that uncertainty.”
“There seems to have been a lot of that going around; people wondering how I got this job
and whether or not I had the skills to keep it.”
“They won’t be wondering much longer.” Lee predicted. “And nobody that’s spent any
measurable amount of time with you would be wondering to begin with.”
“Then there are a lot more members of the press who haven’t spent any measurable time
with me than I imagined.” Donna quipped.
“I’m telling you, and I’m speaking from experience when I say this, you’re really better off
ignoring the press and punditry. Mrs. Santos doesn’t get elected to her position, so polling
data and favorability ratings don’t have the impact that they do on elected officials.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” Donna countered. “They have a lot to do with my work. If I’m
not taken seriously, then the First Lady isn’t taken seriously. She has important work she
wants to accomplish while she’s in the White House and that’s only going to happen if I’m
able to keep the office focused, her popularity up, and favorable write ups in the press.”
Lee considered this for a minute. “Maybe. I’m just saying to be wary of the press; they turn
on you in an instant.”
“Believe me when I tell you that I know that already.” Donna responded. “It’s time to get Mrs.
Santos and Mrs. Baker back to the hotel. It looks like things are winding down and they
have a long day ahead of them tomorrow.”
“I’ll walk out with you.” The Senator volunteered.
They gathered their entourage and exited en masse. Some press had been included in the
evening event, so Donna was more than a little surprised to see a much larger contingent
taking up sidewalk space when they left the venue to go to their limo; shouts of “Mrs.
Santos!” coming from all of them. What the hell? Donna motioned for Annabeth to take the
lead, thinking there were questions about the event or the previous stops today. That wasn’
t it at all.
“Mrs. Santos, when will you be offering First Steps legislation to Congress?”
“How does the President feel about you taking such an active role in legislation?”
“How many members of Congress do you have lined up to co-sponsor the bill?”
“Hold on everyone.” Annabeth intervened. “This is a fact finding trip. Mrs. Santos has a
keen interest in helping children across the country during her tenure as First Lady. This is
just one facet of that interest.”
“Then why did Congresswoman Santiago announce she was introducing a national First
Steps bill at the request of the First Lady?” another reporter prodded.
There was a brief stunned silence as Donna and her crew took in that information. Then
Donna stepped up to the plate. “At this point we are fact finding. We need to know what has
worked with this program and what might need to be altered if we were to consider taking it
to the national level.”
“Then you’d better explain that to Santiago and the 12 other members of Congress she’s
announced support the measure.” A reporter quipped.
“Mrs. Santos, are you promoting this program at the national level?” Yet another reporter
shouted. “And if so, does your husband support it.”
“We’re not taking questions at this time, people.” Annabeth interjects.
“Senator Lee, will you be sponsoring the Bill in the Senate?”
“As I was the one to bring the program to the attention of the First Lady’s office, it would be
bizarre if I didn’t support it.” Lee replied succinctly.
Donna turned her head toward the Senator, her jaw dropping from shock.
“What the Senator means is that if the time comes to introduce it nationally, he’ll certainly
be a sponsor.” Donna corrected.
“From what Santiago says, that time is now.” Reporters were jostling to get closer to Helen
and Kathleen while Donna and the Secret Service steered them determinedly toward the
limo. Shouts continued to assault them even as the door was closed behind them. “Is the
President concerned that another education program might derail his current plan?” “Do
Mrs. Santos and Mrs. Baker feel the current plan isn’t adequate?” “Does this mean a turf
war between the west wing and the east wing?”
“There’s gonna be.” Donna muttered.
“Donna?” Mrs. Santos let the unasked question hang.
“Annabeth…find Congresswoman Santiago NOW.” Donna urged. She flipped open her cell
to call the White House Chief of Staff.