district. We’re not going to have any traitorsи” Besides being chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Jack
Koslowski was the party’s chief neck-breaker on the Hill. He was known and feared by all as one of the roughest players in D.C. “What I need from you this morning are some real nice down-home phone calls to a couple of these rookie Congressman, telling them how much their vote would mean to you and the country.
Maybe even invite them over here for lunch.” The request was met with a grimace by the President, but Garret continued, “Jim, I know you don’t like mixing with the common folk, but if you don’t get a couple of these boys to switch over to our side, you’re going to have to do an awful lot of ass-kissing come election time.” Garret paused, giving the
President time to reflect on unpleasant memories of the campaign trail. “If everything goes well with Moore, which I’m sure it will, I want to schedule a press conference at noon to try and spook the rest of these guys into settlingи At the press conference I want you to stand up and complain about congressional gridlock. Tell them that you can’t start fixing this nation if they don’t pass your budget. You know the routine.
I wrote a speech for you last night, and when we’re done with the phone calls, I want to run through it with you.” Garret hadn’t actually written the speech. One of his staffers had, but Garret was not one to give credit to others. “How do you want him to respond if they start asking about us buying votes?” asked Dickson. “Flat out deny it.
Tell them that there are several Congressman who feel very strongly about getting certain kinds of economic relief to their districts, which are in dire need of help. Deny it, deny it, deny it! This thing will all be over in a couple of days, and then the press will move on to something else. If they start to lay into you about any frivolous parts of the bill, just squirm your way out of it, and then look at your watch and end the press conference. Tell them you have to meet some diplomats from one of the former Soviet
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republics.” Garret quickly jotted down a note to himself. “By the time you go on, I’ll have an excuse ready.” The President nodded his head in a positive manner. He was a professional politician, and Garret was one of the best handlers in the business. He trusted
Garret completely when it came to manipulating public opinion.
Garret stabbed his index finger at the list of Congressman. “All right, let’s stay focused on the game. I don’t give a shit what the press thinks, just so long as we get this budget passed.” Garret picked up a pen and circled three names under the possible-defectors heading. “Now, Jim, these three boys are as big hicks as they come.
They’re a couple of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington types. Just like Jimmy Stewart in the movie. All three are freshmen and are full of ideals. If you call them up and beat the commander-in-chief drum, I think we can get them to jump sides. Give them the old
‘Rome wasn’t built in a day, we can’t save the nation overnight’ speech.” The President nodded his head, signaling a full understanding of the performance needed. “These next two guys are the ones I was telling you about. If we promise not to back their opponents in the next election, they’ll give us their votes. All they want is a personal guarantee from you и . . they said they don’t trust my word.” Garret let out a loud laugh. “Can you imagine that?” The President and Dickson joined in with smiles and a couple of chuckles.
Garret pressed on. “Now this last rep is a real nut-bag, and I’m not so sure she’ll play ball. Koslowski wanted her name on the list.
She’s from one of his neighboring districts in Chicago. She’s a black freshman and she scares the shit out of me. She’s a bona fide race-baiter. She’ll call anyone a racist, and I
mean anyone. She’d call the pope a racist if she had the chance. I think in exchange for her vote she’s going to want to be invited to several high-profile events and be put on some of the more powerful committees. At which point she will stand up and call our biggest financial backers racists and embarrass the shit out of them. I would prefer to avoid having to deal with her if at all possible.” The President massaged his fingers.
“Why is she on the list?”
“I told you, Jack put her on there just in case we need a vote at the last minute.
We’re not going to deal with her unless we absolutely have to. Now let’s get started with the three rookies.” The first name at the top of the list was Michael O’Rourke. The
President picked up his pen and stabbed the tip at O’Rourke’s name. “Michael O’Rourke -
- where have I heard that name before?” Garret looked over at his boss and shook his head. “I have no idea. He’s a freshman independent from Minnesota.”
Garret glanced down at his notes. “He was on Senator Olson’s staff before he was elected. He graduated from the University of Minnesota where he played hockey. After college he went into the Marine Corps and fought in the Gulf War. It says here he was leading a squad of Recon Marines behind enemy lines during the air war conducting target assessment when they saw a coalition pilot shot down. He and his men rushed to
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the pilot’s aid and held off an entire company of Iraqi soldiers until the cavalry showed up. He was awarded the Silver Star.”
The President continued to stare at the name and mumbled to himself, “I know I’ve heard that name before.” Mark Dickson interjected, “Sir, you may have read about him in the papers. He’s recently been crowned the most eligible bachelor in Washington by the social columnists.”
Stevens stabbed his pen down on the piece of paper several times.
“You’re right. That is where I’ve heard about him. I caught the secretaries swooning over his picture several weeks ago. Very handsome young man. We could probably use that to our advantage. What else do we know about him?” Garret looked through some notes that an assistant had made for him. “He’s thirty-two-years-old and from Grand
Rapids.
His family is big in the timber business.” Garret raised his eyebrows when he looked at the estimated value of the O’Rourke Timber Company.
