Chapter 15
Sam enjoyed his time with the College Democrats of California. They were an energetic group that enjoyed
the back and forth banter that Sam excelled at. So he was riding pretty high as they exited the venue and
didn’t see the trap set out for him until he’d already walked into it.
“Mr. Seaborn! What is your reaction to the new bill Senator Taylor and Senator Wilkins are co-sponsoring?”
“What are the dynamic duo up to now?” Sam asked in return.
“They just announced a bill that would increase the number of border patrol officers and fine property
owners that rent property to illegal aliens.”
“I haven’t read the bill, obviously, but my first reaction would be to wonder why property owners are being
drafted into the border security effort. If an undocumented worker presents a forged ID to an apartment
manager, is the manager being held responsible for not being able to detect the forgery?”
“Senator Taylor said that without housing, illegal immigrants will be forced to return to Mexico.”
“Sure, because they all have the money to travel once their choice of accommodations dries up. Are they
serious? These people will end up in shelters, living with friends or relatives, or living on the street. These
aren’t people vacationing in California. In most cases these are terribly poor people who are trying to make
a decent living to take care of their families.”
“So you’d be against the bill?”
“Again, I haven’t read the bill, but it seems to be if their intent is to dry up the opportunities Mexican citizens
are risking their lives to get here in America; they should start with the businesses that hire undocumented
workers, not property managers. Businesses have to document work status already and Mexicans are
coming here for the jobs, not the luxury apartments.”
“So you’re in favor of fining businesses that hire illegal immigrants?”
“I didn’t say that. I said that if Taylor and Wilkins want to dry up supply, they should focus on the
businesses that hire these people, not the people who provide shelter. But they won’t do that, because
they’re owned by big business.”
“Are you accusing Senators Taylor and Wilkins of pandering to special interest?”
“I’m questioning their rational in authoring this bill.”
“Sam, we’re late. This way please.” Rose interrupted and guided the candidate to the car.
“How did we not hear about this before now?” Sam questioned his media consultant.
“It was announced during your dinner. I got a copy emailed over but I had to get a wireless connection
before I could-“ Rose broke off. “Doesn’t matter. It’s on your laptop in the car.”
“I’d like to have a chance to see or hear about this stuff from someone besides the press.”
“I’m doing the best that I can, Sam. It’s on your laptop now. Take a look at it and make some notes. We’re
conferencing with Josh and the communication team at 8:30. I’ve re-released the immigration policy
language from your speech last week.”
“Good…thanks.” Sam managed.
“I heard back from the Bartlet’s. They said they can’t do the last week in September, but the first week or
3rd week in October is all yours.” Rose passed on.
“What have we got on our agenda during those weeks?” Sam asked while he skimmed the proposed bill.
“I don’t think it matters. We should reschedule whatever we have the first week in October to help build
some steam.” Rose opined.
“Run it by Josh. Whatever he signs off on is fine with me.” Sam is distracted by the words he’s read. “How is
this enforceable? I mean, who is going to be enforcing this and what will it cost?”
“No one is going to care. What they’re going to hear is that Taylor is cracking down on illegal immigrants
and you’re not.” Rose replied.
“We can’t just assume from my previous 5 to 10 thousand speeches that I’m against illegal behavior in
general and illegal immigration in particular?” Sam shot back.
“For me personally, yes. If you’re asking about the general electorate…”
“Yeah…” Sam sighed. “This xenophobia is getting out of hand. And make no mistake xenophobia is exactly
what this is. We wouldn’t be having this conversation if it was about Canadians sneaking across the border.
We should call a spade a spade and speak about what this really is.”
“We can do that.” Rose contemplated the options. “Do you really want to go negative when we’re between
4-6 points down and 8 weeks out from the election?”
“Why does it have to be going negative to point out the racial intolerance written in every line of this bill?”
Sam asked.
“It’s going to be interpreted that way; plus you’ll take a hit for being light on immigration enforcement.” Rose
pondered. “Let’s talk to the team about it and see if we can come up with a balanced response you like.”
“I like the response I just gave you. It’s your job to sell it.” Sam ended the debate.
*********************************************
“Hi. I didn’t expect you to be home for awhile.” Donna said when Josh came through the door.
“It’s after 8.” Josh noted looking at the wall clock.
“I know what time it is. I just didn’t expect you home this early. I figured it would be late nights all week.”
Donna explained. “If you’ve got a minute, I wanted to show you-“
“Can I see whatever it is later? I’m pressed for time right now.”
“Sure.” Donna plastered a smile on her face. “How did things go today?”
“We hit a little rough patch on Taylor’s immigration bill today. I want to see if I can pull some things together
before Sam does his breakfast thing tomorrow.”
“You need stats? Where do you want me to start? Ben’s already in bed, so-“
“No, I don’t want you to start. This isn’t a big thing. I can handle it. Fred is faxing over the stats I need and
then we’re conferencing at 8:30. We’re fine. You just rest.”
“I can work on a laptop without straining myself.” Donna replied with a little more heat than she had
intended.
“It’s covered.” Josh snapped back. “Rose has everything I need.”
“Isn’t that efficient of her?” Donna snarked.
“She’s nothing if not efficient.” Josh muttered, completely missing the subtext in his anxiousness to get on
the immigration issue. “Do you need anything?”
Donna said “No.” But she doubted it would have mattered if she’d answered in the affirmative since he
continued on his trek to the office to get his precious fax.
**********************************************
“Josh?” Ruth asked from the doorway to his office. “It’s after midnight. Why aren’t you in bed?”
“We’re trying to get a handle on some immigration reform language and I can’t find half of what I
need…Why? What’s wrong?” Josh looked up in alarm.
“What’s wrong is you’re not getting any rest. Your wife and son are getting some sleep. You should do the
same.” His mother advised.
“Sam, Toby, and Rose are waiting for this.” Josh replied and put his head down again.
“I saw Ms. Sanchez on the news this evening. She knows how to play to the media.” Ruth commented.
“That’s what a media consultant does, Mom.”
“Her style is pretty different from Donna’s though. Actually, she reminded me quite a bit of Mandy.” Ruth sat
down across from her son.
“I don’t really have time to chat right now, Mom.” Josh reached for a file under a nearby stack of paper and
everything fell to the floor. “Damn it!”
“Let me help you, Joshua.” Ruth used a calming tone as she handed him the needed file and gathered the
rest of the papers. “Better yet, let Donna help you.”
“You heard the doctor!” Josh exclaimed. “She’s on strict bed rest. I don’t want anything upsetting her.”
“You’re the one that’s upsetting her; by shutting her out.”
“I’m not shutting her out. I’ve been giving her work.” Josh defended himself.
“Busy work. She’s used to making a contribution. She’s used to you needing her to make a contribution.”
“Well this time she can’t.” Josh snapped. “God, Mom, what do you want from me? I’m doing everything I can
to keep the stress out of her life. Look at this mess! Do you think it’s easy for me without her?”
“No, I don’t What you need to realize is that it’s just as hard for her without you.” Ruth left on that note. Josh
leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes a moment. His heart had nearly stopped when he got the call
from Sam that Donna had been admitted to the ER. His world would collapse without her in it. Then there
was the baby. He already felt so connected to his daughter. He couldn’t let anything happen to either of
them. He would do the hated interviews if it would keep Donna from getting stressed about them or by
them. He would work with Rose Sanchez for the good of the campaign. He would even forego sleep on a
regular basis, but he would not let anything happen to either of his girls.
*******************************************
“Have some breakfast before you go.” Donna insisted.
“I’m having breakfast at the thing.” Josh replied.
“I thought you weren’t going to the breakfast thing with Sam.” Donna questioned him.
“I’m not. This is a different breakfast thing.” He hedged.
“I didn’t know you had a breakfast thing. What’s this one about?”
“I’m not altogether clear on that.” Josh finished putting on his tie. “Does this one look alright?” he tried to
distract his wife.
“It’s fine. How can you not know what the breakfast meeting you are going to shortly is about?”
“It’s in Fresno. There will be plenty of time for Rose to prep me on the way.” Josh assured her.
“Rose is going with you?” Donna prodded further. “Why isn’t she staffing Sam?”
“Fred’s taking care of Sam today. It’s okay, Donna, I promise.” He paused to place a quick kiss on her
forehead. “Please don’t worry. Just take care of yourself and Ladonna.”
Donna nodded but made no other reply while she watched her husband head out the door.
*******************************
“We should talk about illegal immigration. We should talk about it a lot and have vigorous debates about
how best to address this issue and the other issues that arise from illegal immigration. What we should
NOT do is prop up bills that sound tough but do nothing but further alienate us from one another instead of
actually working to solve the problem.” Sam concluded and earned a rousing ovation from the crowd
gathered to hear his views.
When he was finally able to extricate himself from the crowd, he grabbed Billy.
“How are we for time?” he asked the Josh’s deputy.
“We’re only 30 minutes behind.” Billy noted.
“That’s practically ahead of schedule for us.” Sam smirked.
“Yes, sir. Ms. Sanchez asked me to remind you we’re supposed to be at the studio in 2 hours to tape the
bumpers for the new ads.”
“Ms. Sanchez?” Sam questioned the formality, but Billy made no other comment. “2 hours; TV studio. Got it.
How is it that I lucked out and got you instead of Ms. Sanchez today?”
Billy hesitated, then answered. “Josh is doing some one on one’s and Ms. Sanchez thought he might need
help prepping for them.”
“I’m sorry…I thought I just heard you say Josh was doing some one on
one’s.” Sam laughed.
“I did.” Billy nodded in confirmation.
“Josh doesn’t do one on one’s. His cardinal rule is that the staff is not the story. He didn’t break that rule for
President Bartlet or President Santos.”
“Nonetheless, he’s on his way to Fresno for 2 different one on one’s that Ms. Sanchez set up.” Billy
explained.
Sam took in this information and sighed. “Oh, Joshua, I hope you know what the hell you’re doing.”
Billy was fairly certain the candidate wasn’t directing his comment to him, so he kept his thoughts about the
whole thing to himself.
************************************
“Ainsley! Come in and talk to me.” Donna pleaded. If her tone seemed a little desperate, Ainsley was
careful not to let it show.
“How are you feeling?” Ainsley asked.
“Like a beached whale; literally.” Donna groaned. “I am bored out of my mind and Josh is being so overly
protective that I’m not allowed to go anywhere or do anything while he’s traveling the width and breadth of
California with-!” Donna cut herself off.
“How’s the blood pressure?” Ainsley asked carefully.
“It’s fine. I’m fine. Can we PLEASE talk about something besides my medical condition?”
“What do you know about disaster response?” Ainsley changed the subject so quickly Donna nearly had
whiplash.
“I’m sorry?”
“Federal disaster response; what do you know about it?” Ainsley repeated.
“Well, between what I picked up in the East Wing and what Josh shared from the West Wing; quite a bit.
What do you want to know?”
“Talk me through the process. I want to figure out a way we can streamline the system and eliminate some
of the red tape.” Ainsley explained.
“Seriously?” Donna asked; excitement evident in her eyes.
“Very seriously. I have a commitment from the Democratic nominee for Governor, that if I can figure out a
way to improve the disaster response system, he’ll implement it when he’s Governor. Will you help me?”
“I’d love to. Go into Josh’s office and snag the laptop. I’ll give you a primer and we’ll brainstorm from there.
We’ve got 2 hours before Ruth brings Ben home from preschool.”
The women got down to work. Donna felt invigorated for the first time since she’d been admitted to the
hospital. Ainsley was getting excited about their work too, but Ainsley was still Ainsley and after an hour or
so, she was desperate for some food.
“Help yourself to something in the kitchen.” Donna insisted and watched with amusement as Ainsley rifled
through the frig. Donna could see her clearly from her perch on the couch via the pass through between
the kitchen and the living room.
“Try the leftover Lo Mein.” Donna suggested. “The sauce is fabulous.”
“Sounds good to me.” Ainsley readily agreed and placed the food on a plate in the microwave to heat it up.
“Ainsley?” Donna called.
“Yeah?”
“What is Josh doing with Rose in Fresno today?” Donna asked in her most casual voice.
Ainsley looked over at Donna in puzzlement. “I have no idea. I thought she was with Sam for his breakfast
thing and the commercial shoot today.” Donna nodded disappointedly. “I know she and Sam have butted
heads a few times. Maybe Josh was just giving them a few hours apart?”
“That’s probably what it is, then.”
“She suggested that I might need help preparing for some upcoming interviews.” Ainsley relayed, tongue in
cheek.
“Did you explain that you used to filet the top political brains in Washington on a regular basis?” Donna
asked.
“I didn’t bother.” Ainsley chuckled. “I don’t think she’s nearly as concerned about my performance as she is
about how my performance might reflect on her.”
Donna let out a very telling “hmph”. “She seems to think this campaign is going to catapult her on to the
national political stage; or that Josh will.”
“Josh is too smart to be manipulated by someone so obviously self-involved.” Ainsley pointed out.
“Media strategists tend to get past his defenses.” Donna replied. “That area has never been his strength
so he’s too willing to defer to their judgment.”
“Then it’s lucky he has you to keep him on the straight and narrow.”
“I guess.” Donna muttered.
“You guess? We all know it. Donna, you know it, right?”
“Hey, I found something here. Come look.”
Ainsley, and her lo mein, rejoined Donna in the living room to read over her shoulder, but made a mental
note to broach the subject with Josh. These two needed to get on the same page.