Young received a signal from one of the White House techs that they were ready to go live in thirty seconds. At ten seconds, a countdown began, and before Young could blink, he gazed at the camera and began.
“My fellow Americans, I come to you today not in an effort to defend myself from the reckless and baseless accusations hurled at me by another candidate, but instead to reassure your faith in the government and the plan in place that has been working for the last four years. President Michaels was beloved far and wide for his winsome personality, even if his policies weren’t always embraced by politicians on both sides of the aisle. Nevertheless, his vision for America was one that I share—and one that I think you share, too.
“Just like the late president, I have a dream to see America become safe and prosperous, a place where freedom in every sense of the word reigns supreme. And while some candidates might choose to use terrorism as a political football and attempt to score points with voters, I refuse to do that. Instead, I want to issue a challenge to our entire nation today, one that we must all embrace if we’re ever going to see the end of terrorism and end more senseless tragedy: Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, and every other political stripe in between, let’s work together to create policies that deter terrorists and systems that help us catch those still emboldened enough to commit such an act against innocent Americans.
“In closing, I want to remind us all that as citizens of the greatest country in the world, we all have a duty to be the best we can be for the betterment of those around us. It is with that heart that I accepted the emergency nomination to allow the process of democracy to smoothly move forward in this nation. I do not chase power for power’s sake, but only for the chance to be a leader in healing the long-standing divisions we’ve endured and to encourage us all to find joint solutions. Thank you for your time.”
Young nodded at the camera and held his gaze until the camera man gave him the signal that the feed had been cut. With a long sigh, Young threw his head back against his chair and slumped. He closed his eyes and went over every word in his mind. All he could do was hope his intuition was right and that Mayfield’s suggestion was wrong.
“Good job, Mr. President,” Mayfield said.
Young opened his eyes and looked to his right at a scowling Mayfield.
“You’re saying one thing, but your face says something entirely different.”
Mayfield looked down at his feet. “I’ve got some bad news, quite damning actually, especially in light of what you just said about Peterson’s reckless and baseless accusations.”
“Out with it, Baker. You’re not writing a click-bait headline here.”
“I just received a call that The New York Times is running a story tomorrow about two men who supposedly conspired to remove President Michaels from office and that his death wasn’t really an accident as previously reported.”
“Who on earth is feeding them such garbage?” Young asked.
“The only silver lining in all of this is that you aren’t named or implicated in the article,” Mayfield said. “But I think it’s fair to say many people will draw their on conclusions about who those two men are and what role you played in it. After all, you were at Camp David when Michaels died.”
“What do you want, Baker? Would you like for me to take a polygraph test and prove to everyone that I’m not lying?”
“That’d be a start.”
Young glowered at Mayfield. “It’s a damn shame when your own campaign manager doesn’t trust you.”
“That’s my point, sir. If I don’t believe you, who will?”
“I have half a mind to fire you right now,” Young bellowed. “Now get out of here before I change my mind and actually go through with it.”
Young watched Mayfield scamper away. If there was one thing Young appreciated in his staff, it was people who weren’t afraid to challenge him. But Mayfield was pushing the limit on what was acceptable. His actions didn’t quite fit the definition of insubordination, but he was questioning the integrity of his candidate, which was something Young didn’t appreciate or have much patience for.
Mayfield stopped at the door and turned around. “One more thing, sir.”
“What is it?” Young said.
“I placed the latest poll numbers on your desk. With just over three weeks to go before Election Day, you’re now trailing by ten points nationally in the latest conglomerate poll.”
Young picked up the report and scanned it. His real crime was attempting to expose Peterson to the American people before it was too late. But nothing was working. He needed a political victory to stop the bleeding and possibly boost his support.
And he needed that win yesterday.
CHAPTER 22
BLUNT WATCHED A REPLAY of Noah Young’s comments to the nation on one of the cable news stations and shook his head. Despite Young’s attempt to squelch the scandal before it blew up, Blunt recognized the truth for what it was: a failed attempt to redirect the election toward issues. With a past full of successful campaigns, Blunt recognized long ago that nobody really cared about the issues. Winning an election was all about how people felt about you when they went to the polls. An apathetic feeling would doom a candidate just as much as a negative one would. And with less than a month before the election, independent and undecided voters had a good feeling about James Peterson and were anywhere from negative to on the fence when it came to Noah Young.
“I think I’m going to call it a night, maybe read some
