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Chapter 14
“Mr. Taylor, your closing remarks?” the moderator offered.
“I think the voters have had a chance to examine all of our records and
views tonight. I’m confident that with this face to face comparison they will
see that I’m the only one on the stage who has the experience and the
leadership skills to champion their concerns in Washington. Thank you for
taking the time out of your busy schedules to listen to us this evening and I
hope I can count on your support in the caucuses.”
“Ms. Peterson?” The moderator cued her. She paused before beginning her
answer and Toby groaned from his seat next to Josh.
“I think it’s clear that the only concerns Mr. Taylor would champion in
Washington are those of the special interest groups that have funded his
campaign. And while I certainly appreciate the time our audience has taken
to be here and listen to us tonight, I really appreciate Mr. Taylor taking time
out of his busy fundraising schedule to join us tonight. It’s nice to see him in
the district instead of raising funds and making commercials in the Twin
Cities. Unlike either of my opponents, I have the unique experience of being
born and raised here, as well as having learned from Senator Stackhouse
how to get things accomplished in Washington. With this unique blend of
experience, I can best represent ALL the people in the district, not just those
with the money. If I am lucky enough to get your support in the caucuses, I
promise that we will work together to make life better for the people of
Minnesota.”
“Mr. Layton?” The moderator called for his closing statement.
“Ummm… Thanks for coming tonight. Uh…I feel my experience in running a
successful business would help me negotiate and work out budget issues in
Congress. I think we’re very fortunate to have 3 qualified Democrats running
for this seat, so no matter what happens in the caucuses, we’ll be well
represented. I may not be the most eloquent speaker, or have experience in
Washington, but if you support my candidacy, I would do my very best to
make you proud of me.”
Josh and Toby laughed simultaneously causing Donna to send her elbows
into both their sides at once.
“That concludes our debate this evening. Thanks to the League of Women
voters for sponsoring this event tonight, and thanks to all the candidates for
their willingness to participate. Goodnight.”
The lights came down and the applause went up. Julie was surrounded by
people who wanted to shake her hand or ask her a question. Brian and Holly
made sure they were available for spin, but with Senator Stackhouse on the
premises, most of the reporters wanted to a quote from him or Josh Lyman.
So Brian made sure they got one. Julie had done very well that night. Now it
came down to the voters.
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Brian tried to ignore the pounding on his door. He glanced at the clock and
saw to his dismay he’d only gone to bed a few hours earlier. He put the
pillow over his head just as his door opened. Only one person, besides him,
had a key.
“For God sakes, Julie, go back to bed. You must be exhausted. I’m
exhausted. The entire district is exhausted. Go away and get some sleep.”
“I was going to but then I got the call that the early edition of the Star
Tribune was available online and that I might find the front page interesting.”
Julie’s voice was wide awake and shaking with excitement so Brian poked his
head out from under the pillow. She was sitting cross legged on his bed with
her laptop facing him.
The headline, on the front page, read, “Surprising results in Rochester”. It
went on to say that native daughter, Julie Peterson, had surprised everyone
by dominating the debate the previous evening and concluded with the
rhetorical question, “Why was the Democratic party putting all their eggs in
the Taylor basket?”
“Holy shit!” Brian exclaimed and read it through again. “We’re going to want
lots of copies of this.”
“I know. Holly’s on it. Isn’t it great?” Julie beamed. “There’s a sidebar about
the Lyman team picking another winner too!”
“Unbelievable. They’re endorsing you.” Brian said in wonderment.
“You don’t have to sound so shocked about it.” Julie feigned indignation.
“Anyway, since we have this great opportunity before us, I thought you
should get your ass out of bed and start making political hay out of this.”
“My ass?” Brian looked at her funny. “Julie Anne Peterson, are you drunk?”
“Holly and I might have had one celebratory drink when we first read it, but I
am far from drunk; just high on life.” She leaned down to kiss him soundly.
“Get up and get moving. We have lots to do today.”
Brian fell back on his pillow once she’d left. She had done very well last
night, and the paper’s endorsement….that was huge, but Brian didn’t know if
it would be enough at the end of the day to pull out a victory. However, since
he didn’t have the heart to tell her that, and the rest of the crew were
apparently up already, he decided he should join them.
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Dear Ben,
We seem to have gathered some momentum since the debate, but Taylor is
still ahead in the polls. I’m trying not to get discouraged though. We’ll just
keep plugging away and hope that it’s enough by the time the state
convention rolls around.
How are things at your end? I heard through the grapevine that you aced
your paper in English. Since I was the interviewee for the project, I really
think I should have heard it directly from you. We’ll be discussing that later, I
assure you. I got a cute note from Tori listing all the cities in the district in
alphabetical order. Tell her thanks for me, will you?
Billy stopped by for a couple days this week to help us organize for the final
push. He really knows his stuff, but sometimes his sense of humor escapes
me. He brought his wife Jenny with him this time, and she assured me it was
something you had to get accustomed to over time, so I feel better now.
We managed to squeeze enough money out of our donors for one more ad
before the big day and it’s not too shabby if I don’t say so myself. Let me
know what you think.
Julie
Dear Julie,
I saw the ad and I liked it a lot. It was funny and serious at the same time and
that will help people remember it on caucus day.
Don’t worry about getting Billy’s jokes. Mom says he gets that weird humor
thing from spending too much time with Dad. Jenny is really great. She only
works part time now, so it was really lucky she got to come with Billy on that
trip.
Who told you about the paper? It was supposed to be a surprise! I’ll show it
to you next time I see you…which is going to be on caucus day! Yes, I talked
Mom and Dad into letting me out of school to come there. Who’s da man?
That would be me.
Sorry about the list from Tori. She saw me writing to you and she wanted to
write to you too. She doesn’t really know what to say so she just lists things.
She looked up all the cities in your district though, so she was really trying to
tell you something I think.
Dad says you’re within the margin of error, but anything could happen at
those crazy caucuses. He likes primaries better, because they’re more
predictable. Plus, he says, with your freezing weather there, a blizzard could
hit when the caucus is supposed to start and mess up the whole turn out
plan.
Mom says he’s being too negative, though, so I think we should listen to
her. I guess I’ll see you in two more weeks. Our whole family is coming out
for the thing, so get ready.
Ben