Chapter 14
After a conference call with the Seaborn for Governor senior staff, a
statement was issued asking all volunteers and paid staff to report to the
emergency response teams in San Francisco. No campaigning would be
happening for the next few days; and although Rose complained long and
loud, no cameras would be following the candidate either.
Josh stayed close to home which thrilled his wife, mother, and son equally.
He had started to put together some research and busy work for Donna to
do so she’d feel more needed on the campaign front. He found the task
depressed him, because the things he really wanted her doing, he couldn’t
assign to her.
The Lyman’s also took Caitlin for the next few days so Ainsley and Sam
could spend time on the recovery effort. Ruth loved having the baby around
and used the opportunity to help Ben practice for the arrival of his little
sister. The lessons were hit and miss.
“Look, Ben, Caitlin is reaching for your car. Can you share it with her?”
Ruth prodded.
“No, her is too wittle to dwive.” Donna laughed at the very Josh-like
response.
“Maybe you could teach her.” Donna suggested.
“No, giwls don’t dwive good.” Ben responded without looking up.
“Joshua!” Ruth bellowed. Apparently, the bellowing was an inherited trait.
Josh came out of his study looking alarmed. When he noted the rest of his
family was cozily ensconced in the family room. He gave his mom a ‘what
the hell’ look.
“Do you know what your son just said? He said ‘girls don’t drive good’.”
Ruth responded before Josh could draw breath. “What are teaching this
next generation of Lyman men?” Ruth demanded.
“Why do you assume that I taught him that?” Josh played devil’s advocate.
“You’re going to stand there and suggest Donna told him that girls don’t
drive well?”
“The kid is around tons of people every day. He could have heard that
anywhere.” Josh insisted.
“Benjamin Thomas Lyman, who told you girls don’t drive good?” Ruth asked
her grandson.
“Daddy.” Ben replied without looking up from his cars. Ruth gave Josh a
nasty glare.
“Ladies and gentlemen, my son; the sexist pig dog.” Ruth waved a hand
toward Josh like she was introducing him to an audience.
“Sexist pig dog.” Ben chorused and made Donna laugh.
“I’ll have you know that NO ONE worked harder in the White House to
further women’s issues than-“ Josh broke off when he caught Donna’s
raised eyebrows. “Nobody in the WEST wing of the White House worked
harder to further women’s issues than-“
“Save it for you memoirs.” Ruth interrupted. “Maybe your son could write
the introduction since your daughter won’t be able to drive to the
publishers.” Ruth picked up Caitlin. “Come with Grandma Ruth, sweetie.
You shouldn’t have to be subjected to this kind of sexist drivel.”
“Great.” Josh turned to go back to his office.
“Daddy, play wif me.” Ben whined.
“Yeah, Daddy, play with us.” Donna echoed.
“I can’t right now. I’ve got a paper blizzard on my desk.” Josh told them both
and watched matching pouts appear. “Believe me, I’d rather play with you.”
“Let me help you. Then you will get to playtime faster.” Donna reasoned.
“No, you need to rest. You just got home from the hospital.” Josh shot her
plan down quickly. “Besides, I’m on a conference call with Rose in 20
minutes.”
“Something come up?” Donna asked in concern.
“No, something has gone down. Taylor dropped another percentage point
in the overnights; which is great, but with Sam refusing to campaign in the
next few days we’re scrambling to build on the momentum without the
candidate.”
“Hmmm…you could look at-“
“Don’t worry about it, Donna. I didn’t mention it to get you concerned. I’m
just explaining why I can’t ‘play’ right now.” Josh jumped in. “I’ll come tuck
you in at bedtime, okay?” he bargained with Ben, who nodded sadly.
Donna tried to push aside her knee jerk, hurt response to Josh’s cutting her
off. She knew he was concerned about her and the baby. Hell, she was
worried about herself and the baby, but she and Josh had been doing this
together for many years now, and she didn’t like being kept out of the
action. She recognized that she wasn’t going to be able to go on the road,
but surely she could still provide advice and input. Maybe Josh just needed
to see her home and well for a few days before he relaxed this vigil of his. It
had been a terrible scare after all. She’d just give it a few days…
*******************************************
“Was it just me or did it seem like the Mayor was spending more time trying
to convince you of his excellent leadership than actually showing
leadership?” Ainsley asked her husband on their way home. The home
base they’d created in Monterrey wasn’t far from San Francisco in miles,
but it seemed a world apart after the damage they’d seen that day.
“I think he was only talking to me half of the time.” Sam replied. “The other
half he was scanning the area for camera crews.”
“I don’t think he believed you when you told him you weren’t there
campaigning.” Ainsley chuckled. “I’m so tired. It’s been a long time since I’ve
done manual labor.”
“We’ve gotten spoiled.” Sam told her.
“Aversion to manual labor is why I went to law school. I know where my
strengths lie.” Ainsley laid her head on Sam’s shoulder. “I heard from one of
the Red Cross people that it could take as long as 14 months to rebuild
some of the areas that were damaged from the earthquake. Why does it
take so long?”
“Ms. ‘Government should be smaller’, is advocating more Government
interference?” Sam teased.
“Response to a Federal Disaster is different than-“
“It’s different because it’s personal to you. Admit it, Hayes. You think
Government should do more to help these people we met today.”
“I think the help could just as easily come from local business, community
resources and individual volunteers.” Ainsley shot back. “My question was,
what takes so long in the rebuilding process?”
“Red tape.” Sam answered.
“Red tape?” Ainsley repeated. “Are you kidding me? These people have
lost their homes, some of them have lost family members, and the hold up
on getting assistance in putting their lives back together is red tape?”
“That’s not the ONLY thing, but it’s the biggest part of it.” Sam
acknowledged. “Insurance claims have to be filed, investigators have to
investigate, and there is a veritable maze to work through before people get
the green light to hire someone to help rebuild or repair the damage that’s
been done. Then they’ve got to find someone who can do the work when
there are tons of people needing work done.”
“Red tape?” Ainsley repeated again.
“You should see the numbers on insurance fraud, Ainsley. As despicable as
it is, there is an element of society that takes financial advantage of
disasters like this. Wait until you see the debate in the State Assembly
about who should be awarded the State contracts to repair the bridge and
the Expressway. It will be ugly.”
“Can’t you politicians put what’s best for your constituents first just once in
every great while; say, when a devastating earthquake occurs? Why must
your propensity to blame your opponent and claim political victory always
and forever trump the needs of the people that you actually claim to serve
in the first place?!”
“You politicians? Excuse me? Did you not spend years working for the
Federal Government?”
“As White House Counsel; not as an elected official.” Ainsley qualified.
“Oh, well then you had NOTHING to do with Government.” Sam drawled.
“Why can’t you admit that Government’s first job is to insure it’s own power
and paycheck?” Ainsley asked.
“What?” Sam barked out a laugh. “How can you have worked where you
have worked and say that with a straight face?”
“Because I saw first hand that whatever good President Bartlet or President
Santos was able to bring about, it was achieved through a combination of
threats and veritable bribes. Do you deny that?”
“Of course I deny that.” Sam shot back. “And you don’t believe it either or
you would never have served President Bartlet to begin with. What are you
trying to prove Ainsley Hayes-Seaborn?”
“I just like to get you all riled up.” Ainsley admitted. “But I DO really believe
there must be a better way to respond to these disasters that would
eliminate red tape rather than help sell it.”
“California has had more than it’s share of practice responding to disasters.
Just how would you improve the system?”
“I haven’t quite figured that out yet, but I’m working on it.” Ainsley replied.
“Okay…well, when you’ve finished that little cerebral exercise, you let me
know what you’ve come up with and I’ll be all over it.” Sam promised.
“Is that a promise from a politician?” Ainsley teased.
“It’s a promise from your husband.” Sam said seriously.
“Oh. Well, him I trust unequivocally.” Ainsley stated and kissed his cheek.
“Josh is asking about resuming the campaign schedule tomorrow afternoon.
This new consultant is putting a lot of pressure on him, to put a lot of
pressure on me.”
“What do you think?” Ainsley asked simply.
“I think we need to wait at least another day.” Sam said, frustration evident
in his voice. “I can tell Josh is getting nervous about letting momentum slip
through our fingers over this, but I don’t want to be seen as capitalizing on
the misfortune of the people hit by the earthquake.”
“Then I think you should say that.” Ainsley decided. “Make a personal
statement yourself, not through a spokesperson, and explain what you’re
doing and why.”
“You think that’s the right course?”
“I think that’s the right course for you.” Ainsley hedged. “Sam, part of your
appeal is the sincerity you’re able to convey to the people you’re speaking
to. The reason you’re able to convey it so well is because A) you have a gift
with words and B) because the words you use are words you believe in with
all your heart. Don’t let Josh or this new woman speak for you on this. Let it
come from you.” Ainsley stated her case.
“Alright, counselor.” Sam nodded and flipped open his cell. “Toby, it’s
Sam…How do I know if you have caller ID or not? Listen, I’m going to send a
statement over for you to look at. Can you proof it without, you know,
changing it fundamentally?... What do you mean, ‘what if it’s bad writing?’. I
wrote for the President too, Toby, in fact I wrote for two of them, I think I can
manage to string together a few sentences on my own…No, I did NOT
always have someone with me to balance out my rose colored idealism.
Why do you always- Never mind, I’m sorry I bothered you. I’ll just send it to
Josh to look over…Oh? You think that’s a bad idea? Then you’ll promise
not to change the statement, just proof it? Thanks so much. I’ll get it over to
you in a couple hours.” Sam hung up the phone exasperated. “You’d think
that none of these people actually work for me.”
“I think they mentioned it was just an honorary thing.” Ainsley replied,
tongue in cheek.
“Very funny. ‘Love, honor, and cherish’? I’m not feeling any of that right
now, just so you know.” Sam groused.
“Then let’s get you home to our baby girl. She seems to be in a worshipful
state lately where you’re concerned.”
“You’re just jealous because she’s been coming to me instead of you.” Sam
noted.
“Sam, we’re not going to get to Josh and Donna’s until almost midnight,
which means Caitlin will need to be awakened to get her home. That, in
turn, will mean she will be wide awake and full of energy by the time we get
her under our roof. Believe me when I tell you, that I’m thrilled she will be
choosing you over me tonight.”
“Well now I’m not feeling so good about that.” Sam admitted.
“Really...” Ainsley grinned.
**********************************
“He has to get out there and he has to get out there today. Taylor is
planning to hit 4 Congressional Districts today. He’s not going to be
complacent about Seaborn creeping up in the numbers, and we shouldn’t
be either.” Rose argued her point forcefully with Josh. Unfortunately, she
didn’t notice the candidate himself walking up behind her. Since she hadn’t
exactly made friends and influenced people since she’d come on board, no
one else in the room clued her in on the arrival either.
“I’m not being complacent, but I won’t be pushed around by my staff either. I
need a word with Josh. Let us have the room, please.” Sam didn’t even
make eye contact with Rose and dismissed her by turning his back on her
completely. Rose managed to hold her tongue long enough to leave the
room. Josh couldn’t possible believe he was lucky enough that the silence
would last much longer than that.
“Get rid of her.” Sam said simply.
“Sam, I need someone to-“
“I understand you’re floundering without Donna. But because you’re
floundering without Donna, you’re not in a good position to judge the
mistake you’re making keeping her on this team.”
“Why is it a mistake?” Josh asked.
“First of all, I don’t think she’s even on ‘this team’. She’s padding her
resume. Secondly, I don’t trust her.” Sam laid it out. “Thirdly, you don’t trust
her either. You’re keeping her at arms length. How can you effectively run a
gubernatorial campaign when you don’t trust the media consultant you
hired?”
“We never trusted Mandy; we seemed to be able to get past that and work
effectively together.”
“This is different. You know it is.”
“I know that I need someone with experience sitting in that chair right now.
Are you ordering me to fire her, Sam?”
“You’re the campaign manager, but it’s my campaign. You explain that to
her or I won’t have to ask you to fire her; I’ll do it myself.” Sam kept eye
contact with Josh and was able to communicate his resolve because Josh
nodded. Sam tossed a piece of paper on Josh’s desk.
“What’s this?” Josh asked skimming it.
“It’s the statement I’m going to give this morning. Tell our media consultant I’
ll make the statement and answer questions, but that’s all I’m doing today.”
**********************************
“This is a mistake.” Rose complained.
“So you’ve said.” Billy muttered.
“Did you say something?” Rose questioned.
“I merely mentioned that you’ve already pointed out the error of our ways,
you know, several times, so either move on to another subject, or move on
to another campaign.” Billy shot back.
“I think you’re going to want to watch your tone with me, Fred.” Rose stated.
“My name is Billy Fernandez; don’t call me Fred.”
“Josh calls you Fred.” Rose replied, confused.
“Josh can call me whatever he wants. You can call me Mr. Fernandez.” Billy
walked away.
“You okay, Billy?” Ainsley asked catching up with him.
“Sure. You need something?”
“Yeah, a good seat for the press conference. Sam’s going to hit it out of the
park.” Ainsley smiled.
“Tell her.” Billy nodded toward Rose. Ainsley’s radar had already gone up
over the new media consultant because of Sam’s reaction to her. Seeing
Billy’s obvious dislike pushed her over into the anti-Rose column.
“I wouldn’t worry about her.” Ainsley advised him. “Something tells me she
may not be around long.”
“I don’t get what he saw in her. Why did he hire her in the first pl-“ Billy’s
head dropped as he re-thought the wisdom of complaining about Josh’s
judgment with Ainsley.
Ainsley read his expression perfectly. “Josh is very good at what he does,
but he’s not infallible. Although if you tell him I said that, I’ll deny it.” She
wrapped an arm around Billy’s shoulders. “Come on. You aren’t going to
want to miss this.”
They found a good spot to watch from and waited until Sam took the
podium.
“Good morning. There have been a number of inquiries as to when I’ll be
resuming our campaign schedule, so I wanted to take this opportunity to
address this issue. In the world of politics, we sometimes lose sight of the
bigger picture around us. California is still recovering from the devastation
of the recent earthquake. There is much work to be done to help get all our
neighbors back on their feet. We have suspended our usual campaign
activities and asked all our staff and volunteers to instead spend their time
and effort helping to rebuild the areas affected by this disaster.”
“I am not interested in scoring political points or trashing the Republican
response to this emergency. We have a host of valid points to raise, but
they will be no less valid down the road. Rose Sanchez is distributing
information on where people can go to give assistance and what supplies
are needed at this time. I want to thank all the people who’ve given their
time and their money to help friends, relatives, and strangers who are
experiencing so much loss right now.”
“Tomorrow night we will resume our campaign schedule beginning with the
California College Democrats Dinner at 6. All proceeds from the dinner will
go to the disaster relief fund. Questions?”
“Mr. Seaborn, how would you rate FEMA’s response to the earthquake?”
“President Santos worked very hard to revamp FEMA over the last few
years and I can see that effort paid off as I watched things mobilize here
immediately after the earthquake hit. They’ve been a tremendous help.”
“Where were you when the earthquake struck?”
“I was at home with my family. I’ve lived through a few of these, but my wife
would be happy to have that experience be her first and her last. We had
few things knocked off shelves, but that was the only damage at our house.”
“Senator Taylor stated that he thought the damage could be repaired
without requesting a tax increase. Do you share that opinion?”
“We don’t even know what the final cost will be, so it’s premature to make
statements about what we can afford or what we might need an increase in
revenue for.” Sam sidestepped the question.
“Senator Taylor claims that he can guarantee no new taxes under his
leadership. Will you?”
“Senator Taylor must have access to a crystal ball. How can anyone look
into the future and know what our fiscal needs are going to be? What if
there was another earthquake? Or a terrorist attack? Wildfires that
devastate large portions of our state? All I can guarantee is that I will be
fiscally responsible as Governor, just like I was fiscally responsible as the
Deputy Chief of Staff in the White House.”
“We understand a new media consultant has been hired by your campaign.
Is that due to dissatisfaction with the direction you’ve been moving in?”
“We’ve been moving up in the polls. It’s hard to be dissatisfied with that.”
Sam joked.
“Maybe you don’t think you’re moving up quickly enough. There’s only 8
weeks left until the election.”
“Really? Will someone make sure that gets on my calendar?” Sam turned to
his staff in jest.
“Why the change in staff?”
“My previous media consultant has been put on bed rest due to pregnancy
complications.” Sam answered simply.
“Wasn’t your previous media consultant Donna Lyman; wife of your
campaign manager?”
“Yes, and she’s doing fine, thanks for asking.” Sam noted drolly.
“Is she expected to return to the campaign? Will this require a change in
your campaign manager as well?”
“Donna Lyman will be on bed rest until she delivers her second child, which
I hope won’t be for a few more weeks. Josh will continue as my campaign
manager.”
“The Sacramento Bee’s Editorial this morning was outlining why it would be
nearly impossible for you to catch up to, let alone beat, Senator Taylor for
the Governor’s seat.”
“I worked at the White House. We did 6 impossible things every day before
lunch.” Sam quipped quoting his favorite Sci-fi novel. “Thank you for your
time.” Sam walked away, ignoring the myriad questions thrown at him, took
his wife’s hand and walked back to the campaign office, a smug and smiling
Billy Fernandez bringing up the rear. He tossed a quick look at Rose
Sanchez who was following up with questions and interview requests. At
least she knew what she was doing there.
************************************
“Josh, I’ve got two interview requests for you.” Rose stated when she came
into his office.
“We’ve been over this; I’m not the story here.” Josh said tiredly.
“Yeah, but you kind of are the story here. You leave the White House, move
your family out here when you’re expecting your second child, go through a
devastating earthquake, and a pregnancy scare; all to help your best friend
win the Governor’s seat. It’s a great human interest piece.”
“And that has what to do with Sam’s campaign?”
“It brings a focus and a human face to Sam’s campaign. It brings more
media attention to Sam’s campaign.” Rose argued.
“Rose we’re concentrating on serious issues here.” Josh reiterated.
“And like it or not, this is one of them.” Rose gauged the level of Josh’s
frustration and figured it wasn’t going to get any lower anytime soon. “They’
d also like to speak to your wife.”
“Absolutely not.” Josh snapped his head up to meet Rose’s eyes.
“She said she’s willing to do it.” Rose explained thinking getting Donna’s
agreement was a good thing. Boy, was she wrong.
“You spoke to Donna about this without speaking to me first?” Josh nearly
broke the glass in his office door with his shout.
“I called your wife to see if it was something she’d consider. She said she’d
be glad to do it.” Rose quickly followed up.
“You don’t EVER contact Donna about ANYTHING without my permission
again. Is that perfectly clear?”
“I only asked the question-“
“She almost lost the baby; she still could! If she doesn’t keep her blood
pressure under control she could have seizures and- NEVER do it again.”
Josh cut his explanation short and issued the directive.
“Then you have to do them. You’re tying my hands here, Josh.” Rose
complained.
“Fine; set it up. Is that all?” Josh tried to conclude the meeting.
“I’m arranging a question and answer session at the College Democrats
thing tomorrow. Press will be allowed to cover it. He comes off very well with
that demographic. It makes him look young and vital, while Taylor is
bouncing grandchildren on his knee.”
“You cleared it with Sam?” Josh confirmed.
“He’s fine with it.” Rose agreed.
Josh nodded and Rose took it as dismissal. When she got back to her
office, she found the candidate’s wife waiting for her.
“I got a message you wanted to see me?” Ainsley asked.
“I’ve got some press requests I’d like to set up for you, but before I do I
thought we should go over some potential questions.” Rose began.
“You think I’m likely to get something new thrown at me at this point?”
“I do, yes.” Rose replied. “This is going to continue to heat up and I think
they’re going to try to use you to turn up the heat.”
“I think I can handle it.” Ainsley said coolly.
“I think you can too, but it doesn’t hurt to practice some questions and
formulate the best possible response.” Rose sat next to Ainsley. “I
understand that Donna Lyman is a close friend, and that the circumstances
that brought me here are less than ideal, but I can help this campaign. I
hope you’ll let me help you do that.”
Ainsley looked into the sincere face of Rose Sanchez…and didn’t buy it for
a second.
“Of course I want to help Sam with this campaign. He’s going to need you to
focus your attention on him over the next two months, though. Go ahead
and arrange the interviews.” Ainsley stood up, concluding the conversation.
“I see Donna every day. I’ll have her run me through my paces.”