Chapter 15
Julie had thought things were crazy before, but rallying the troops on
caucus day brought things to a whole new level. The Lyman family
had arrived as promised, along with Toby Ziegler and another Lyman
Consulting member named Lou. Julie didn’t know what to make of her,
but she had flown out with Toby to throw her two cents in, so Julie
wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth; even though she was a
very obnoxious woman.
The hours went faster than she could have imagined and she was
dismayed to see the ‘weather’ Josh had worried about had appeared
over part of the district. Minnesotan’s normally didn’t let ‘weather’
keep them from going out, but since it wasn’t a Presidential election
year, turnout was expected to be lower already. She needed as many
people as possible to show up at the caucus and this snow was
messing up their plan.
“You actually said they could get a blizzard? Out loud?” Toby was
shouting at Josh. “What is the matter with you?”
“I didn’t predict it or anything, I was just telling Ben the reasons I hated
caucuses.” Josh defended himself.
“Why are they yelling about the snow?” Julie asked Donna. Donna
looked up from the stats she was reading and noticed the still heated
exchange taking place between her husband and Toby.
“Oh, that. Toby gets a little superstitious about election days.” Donna
explained and went back to her papers. “He thinks Josh jinxed the
weather by talking about a snowstorm.”
“And no one wants to tell them that’s not possible? That of all the
skills Josh Lyman has; affecting the weather patterns is not one of
them?”
“No. Nobody who knows either of them wants to go there, but you’re
welcome to give it a shot if you like.” Donna replied absently. “Lou,
have you got attendance for the 5th precinct yet?”
“I’m on the phone with someone named Denise who I seriously think
may be over 90 years old. She offered to go into the auditorium to do
a hand count. I think at this point, it would be faster to drive over there
myself.” Lou complained.
“Not with the snow getting worse.” Julie piped up and had Josh and
Toby turning in her direction with matching looks of horror on their
face.
“Go outside, turn around 3 times, then spit and curse.” Toby said
quite seriously.
“Donna?” Julie turned to her for help on the interpretation.
“You don’t have to do it, but if you don’t and things don’t go well
tonight, you should be prepared to never hear the end of it.” Donna
responded.
“Alright then.” Julie decided it was easier to go along with it than
argue over it. She walked directly outside and followed the prescribed
directions for undoing her jinx.
“Someone jinxed the election.” Brian teased from a few feet away from
her.
“Don’t tell me you believe this crap too.” Julie begged him to
contradict her.
“Let’s just say I was only stupid enough to make a prediction on
Election Day in front of Josh once.” Brian hedged.
“What are you doing out here in the snow? Shouldn’t you be in there
talking urgently on a phone with someone?”
“They’re gathering all the preliminary numbers. We won’t have
anything else for a couple hours at best, so I thought I’d enjoy this
beautiful snowfall.”
“Beautiful snowfall? Boy have you changed your tune.” Julie noted.
“It’s grown on me.” Brian allowed. “Minnesota has grown on me, too.
But I have to say what’s impressed me most is the women this state
produces.” He told her and pulled her into his arms. “You should be
very proud of the campaign you’ve run, Julie.”
“I am.” She said honestly. She enjoyed just being held by him for a
couple minutes. “I’m going to lose, aren’t I?”
“Probably, but you’ll have given Taylor a serious run for his money.
This wasn’t nearly the cake walk he thought it was going to be and
that’s because of you.” He gave her a quick kiss. “We haven’t really
talked about what happens when I go back to Washington.”
“And we’re not going to tonight either. There’ll be time for that later.”
Julie insisted. “Let’s go back inside.”
*******************************************
It was nearly 2 am by the time they’d crunched the numbers
sufficiently to determine that Taylor had 4% more caucus support
than Julie. Ben had tried to stay awake for the results, but he fell
asleep when the exhaustion finally overtook him. Donna roused him,
just as Julie was giving her concession speech to her gathered
supporters.
“Is it over? Who won?” Ben asked groggily.
“Taylor by 4 points.” Donna gave it to him straight.
“What?” Ben stood up quickly even though he was a little unsteady on
his feet. “Are you sure? Or are they just guessing?”
“Julie’s giving her concession right now.” Donna indicated Julie at the
podium, thanking everyone for their tireless support.
“No. She was catching up. Right until the end her numbers were going
up.”
“I know, but it just wasn’t enough this time.” Donna explained.
“Where’s Dad?” Ben asked, suddenly unwilling to take his mother’s
word for it.
“On the stage with Julie and Senator Stackhouse.”
Ben looked again and Donna could see the tears in his eyes. “They
should wait. They could get a recount maybe.”
“Ben, I’m sorry, we just couldn’t do it this time. Maybe Julie will run
again.” Donna suggested.
“Thank you Minnesota! I’ve never been so proud to be from this
wonderful state and this historic district. Thank you so much. Please
drive carefully on your way home.” Julie concluded and left the stage
with Senator Stackhouse, followed by Josh, Brian, and Holly.
Ben ran over to Julie. “Wait. Tell them to come back. You could still
catch up or we can get a re-count to double check. I bet people made
lots of mistakes counting ballots.”
“Ben, I wish that were true. But I never would have gotten this far
without you and the rest of the Lyman team.”
Be scoffed at that idea. “You probably would have been better off with
someone from here. Then they would have at least been here with
you the whole time.”
“Ben!” Julie responded without thinking. “That’s not true.”
“Yes it is. They never thought you’d really win.” Ben looked at the
assembled group. “That’s why Dad only came here a couple times.
Mom hasn’t been here since the announcement. Brian just wanted to
date you. Nobody believed in you except me.”
“Ben…” Josh said quietly.
“You’re the worst one.” Ben accused his father. “You told me she was
the real thing. You told me you’d fight for her; that the whole team
would fight for her. You lie just like all the other politicians.” Ben
turned and left the room.
“I’ve got this one.” Donna told them and followed her son.
“I’m sorry, Julie. He’s tired and upset.” Josh apologized.
“Of course he is.” Julie understood. “Would you like me to try to talk to
him?”
“Not tonight. Maybe tomorrow, after he gets some sleep.” Josh
decided. “You did a great job, Julie, and you are the real thing. We’ll
do this again sometime.” Josh kissed her cheek and followed his
family.