'Yes, I have to agree with Kat on that one,' the senator said.
Kendra nodded. 'Okay,' she said. 'I was just asking.'
Kat did not always like Kendra's go-for-the-throat thinking, but at least the woman did not take the rejection personally. She was here for Senator Orr and the USF, not for herself.
'There is also the chance that late-night comics turn on Wilson and his lover in a day or two,' Kat added. 'If that happens, we risk becoming part of the joke right when we are holding our convention.'
'Another good point,' Orr said.
'So how do we exploit the media exposure we'll have tonight?' Kendra asked. 'If the senator condemns Wilson, he'll appear heartless. If he praises the man, we lose credibility. If he goes into his stump speech, then we're obviously exploiting the media exposure. Could we move the announcement of a presidential run?'
'Ouch,' Kat said.
'Why?' Kendra asked.
'That would keep Wilson alive,' Kat said. 'Wilson's death and the senator's candidacy become a run-on sentence, inseparable.'
'I see it as planting flowers in fertilizer,' Kendra said. 'Something wonderful coming from shit.'
Kat frowned.
'Who cares if we are linked to Wilson?' Kendra continued. 'I see that as a good thing. Wilson's ideas were very bad for America. The USF is good for America.'
'But we'll be linked to his death, not his ideas,' Kat said. 'We'll be seen as vultures, opportunists.'
'Just having the senator on one of those shows will be perceived that way, won't it?' Kendra asked.
'Not necessarily. The senator will be seen as a diplomat. He can say things like, 'Mr. Wilson and I had a different worldview, but his contribution to technology was invaluable,' or, 'Mr. Wilson was embarked on a path I opposed. His genius was in other areas.' You start with the negative to make an impact, then sugarcoat it so you seem magnanimous.'
'I am magnanimous,' Orr teased.
The women laughed. It was true. Orr was a politician. Typically, that was not a good fit with idealism or philanthropy. All a philanthropist had to do was convince himself that something was worthwhile and make it happen. An elected official had to convince others, and there was often a considerable gulf between conscience and compromise. A man like Franklin Roosevelt may have felt it was the right thing to free Europe from Hitler. But he needed Pearl Harbor to make that happen. John Kennedy may have thought it was a good idea to send people to the moon, but he needed the threat of a Soviet space platform to get the funding. Fortunately, the senator cared more about getting his message across than about winning the White House.
'I agree with Kat,' Orr said. 'I don't want to dance too enthusiastically on the man's grave. But I do like Kendra's idea of making some kind of announcement as soon as possible. Kat, what USF personnel are we looking at today?'
'Just two,' Kat said. 'A military adviser and an economic guru.'
'The military adviser is General Rodgers, the deputy director of Op-Center?' Orr asked.
'That's correct, Senator.'
'He took our boys into North Korea, India, Russia, the Middle East to stop things from blowing up,' Orr said. 'That's good. It would make a good counterpoint to what Wilson stood for. Kat, would you give him a call and find out what he thought about the party, see if there's anything we'll need to show him or tell him to make him more comfortable?'
Kat said she would do that at once.
The media portion of the meeting was over, and Kat left the senator with Kendra. She returned to her office, pausing only to make sure the other staffers did not discuss William Wilson with the media. Orr's personal staff of three men and four women were pretty sharp. Kat did not think they would have done that. But the D.C. press corps was smart, too. They had back-door ways of asking questions. 'I'm not at liberty to say' could be written as 'so-and-so refused to comment,' which suggested that there was something to hide. For Orr's staff, the correct response to all questions about Wilson was, 'Would you like to talk to Ms. Lockley?'
