“What cocktail party?”
“Over at the Renwick Gallery. You and Camden are going.”
Fuck. I’d totally forgotten about that. I know it’s on my calendar, I just hadn’t looked ahead that far yet today. It’s a small PAC fundraiser, but there will be some high-dollar donors in attendance. We made the decision to leave Elliot out of it for multiple reasons. Including that we don’t have control over the guest list. But we also didn’t want to piss them off and not have any campaign reps there.
Meaning we also didn’t want top-tier campaign reps there, like Ken. Nothing like seeing a story in the papers the next day that your campaign manager was caught rubbing elbows with a donor who owns a company that hunts puppies for sport, or something like that.
I mean, yeah, that’s an exaggeration, but do you see what I mean? Literally, it won’t blip anyone’s radar if it’s me and Camden there. The press won’t make hay over us, because we’re nothingburgers. But we are campaign reps who have direct candidate access, so the donors will be happy.
Yeah, it’s a freaking dance, all right? Not one I enjoy, that’s for damn sure.
The other reason I don’t want Elliot there is the fact that he has enough shit on his plate already. We’re flying out on Friday afternoon for a five-state campaign run through the Midwest, and not returning to DC until late Sunday night.
“Yeah, I’ll be there.” In fact, I’ll walk over, because it’s just north of the EEOB. Barely two blocks away from the White House.
I guess Camden and I are finally going to have that drink together after all.
Then I remember my big news. “Oh, keep this under wraps until next week, but the campaign’s just hired Casey-Marie Blaine.”
He doesn’t respond immediately. “She’s GOP.”
“She’s a liberal RINO, but yeah.”
“Okay, stupid question—why?” I explain why, and he sounds a little…relieved? “Oh, that makes sense.”
Then, it hits me. “No, we’re not replacing you. She’s good at what she does. We want her as his chief of staff to help consolidate the liberal GOP lawmakers we’ll need to ram through our legislative agenda during the first hundred days.”
Then again, if we’re lucky, we’ll end up with a two-thirds majority in the Senate after this election, and GOP participation will be moot at that point. Still, it’d be nice to have bipartisan support in case the midterms during Elliot’s first year bring us any ugly surprises.
Besides, there are a growing number of Independent lawmakers, more than ever before, who are disgusted at both parties. Having a bipartisan administration shows we’re here to do what’s right, not just what’s politically expedient.
“I get it,” he says. “That makes sense.”
He still doesn’t sound…happy?
I can’t deal with this bullshit right now. “Is there a problem, Ken?”
“No.” He finally laughs. “I was hoping you weren’t going to ask me to do it, because I’d say no.”
“Okay, fine.”
I hear him say something to someone else before he comes back. “Good. See you later.”
See?Thisis the kind of weird interpersonal bullshit that’sexactlywhy we wouldn’t have picked him to be Elliot’s chief of staff. Someone in that role needs to be able to communicate directly, to the point, and doesn’t rely on passive-aggressive tactics.
“Yeah. See you later.” I end the call and stare up at the sky. It’s a warm, muggy, overcast August afternoon.
Perfect beach weather.
In fact, I’m tempted to pencil in a few beach days on Elliot’s long-term calendar right now.
I know I’ll damn sure need it. It’s tempting to daydream about the three of us walking hand-in-hand along a white-sand beach on the Gulf of Mexico and enjoying the breeze.
Except we’ll be followed by a posse of paparazzi, and that totally spoils my fucking mood.
Casey-Marie arrives at the White House around two p.m., and I give her a quick tour of the West Wing, introduce her to Elliot and Kev, and leave her with Kev. Leo gets to meet her later that afternoon, when he returns from the event he attended with the president.
Leo can’t accompany us to campaign headquarters tonight, but Casey-Marie does. While Elliot’s talking with Ken, I get Casey an ID badge, phone, all of that.
