What It Takes by Richard Ben Cramer

Author:Richard Ben Cramer
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781453219645
Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
Published: 2013-01-15T20:28:00+00:00

Lost in the valley of the night?

“LISTEN TO THIS NOW ...” Pat yelled through the music. This was important ... the finale to Les Misérables ... and this was HOW THE CAMPAIGN HAD TO BE!

It is the music of a people

Who are climbing to the light ...

“Yeah, that’s great, Pat ...”

Then, it was only minutes till three stretch limos rolled to a stop at the station and Joe leapt out of the last car, onto the sidewalk, about to call to Mom-Mom, to tell her where she had to go, and Jill and the kids ... some family had to go straight to the stage, some inside to a holding room ... Joe knew the drill, he’d take charge. He had his arms up to point, direct ... but then he saw: the sidewalk was aboil with Advance—one to each Biden. They took Mom-Mom away, and Joe, Sr. ... Jimmy, Frankie, Val, the kids, and Jill ... and in a moment, Joe was alone, with the words frozen in his mouth ... he just stared ... alone ... with the strangest, saddest look of resignation ... until his arms dropped to his sides, and he felt a hand on his elbow. A voice said, “This way, Senator.” And they led him off to announce that he meant to be President.

He’d run into town, Saturdays, join his friends at their pizza dive—Pala’s (“The World’s Worst Pizza”)—and they’d be sitting there, talking trash, on their eighth pitcher of beer. Joe would have Cokes, but that didn’t matter. He could bullshit just as surely, just as loud as they. The difference was, now that he was back—in ’68—a lawyer, he wouldn’t hang around: he’d only stay an hour, unless they were talking up some scheme.

Joe’d say: “C’mon, let’s do it.”

“What ... now?”

“Yeah. C’mon. Let’s do it.”

Joe was going to make a fortune, see—he didn’t have time to sit around.

One day he called his dentist-pal, Marty Londergan: “You gotta come down here. I got an idea and it’s gonna make millions.”

“Come down where?”

“Newark.”

“What’s the idea?”

“Day care.”

“What? ...” In ’68, Marty didn’t know what day care was.

“Listen. There’s graduate students here. They’re married. They work. They go to school. And there’s no day care! They don’t have any place to take the kids! I got the place all picked out. C’mon. Get down here.”

“Joe, wait a minute.”

“Come on! We’ll get the girls in to run it. We can open ’em up all over the state. Marty, this is big.”

“Did you talk to Neilia?”

“She’ll love it.”

In Newark, Joe dragged Marty to a big corner rowhouse, just off campus. “Look at the house!” Joe said. “It’s perfect.” In Joe’s mind, it was already fixed up, filled with playing kids.

“I don’t know, Joe ...”

But you couldn’t tell him no. He was on his way to the courthouse to find out who owned the building ... a man who had a restaurant in Elkton, Maryland.

“C’mon, we’re going to see him ... It’ll work. Put on a suit. Come on, we’re going back home.

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