the Run (2000) by Woods Stuart - Will Lee 05

Author:Woods, Stuart - Will Lee 05 [05, Woods, Stuart - Will Lee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-01-07T16:35:45.359000+00:00

Senator

Just do it, Kitty, please.

Will drove north, with no particular destination in mind. He just wanted to get away from the business of campaigning for a while, and this was the first real opportunity he had had in months. He enjoyed driving himself again and not having to talk or listen. He was not a happy candidate.

He came to a fork in the road and took the one toward Los Alamos, because he had never been there. All he knew about the place was that the first atom bomb had been built there, and that there was a huge laboratory where weapons were still designed.

Will had known that running for president was going to be hard, but he had never realized how hard. On the plus side, he had a good organization, great volunteers, a knowledge of the issues, and well-thought-out positions on everything. On the minus side, fund-raising was lagging, and even with federal matching funds, he was coming up short on television money.

Then there was George Kiel. Will had underestimated the planning that Kiel had been doing for this campaign, apparently for years. The man had an unmatchable network of people in what seemed like every party organization in the country, and he was taking a lot of campaign money that Will wouldn't touch. The result was an avalanche of very good, if conventional, television advertising that was hurting Will in many states, and the fact that Will was behind in delegate votes for the coming convention.

But what bothered Will more than anything was his belief that Kiel could not beat Eft Efton in the general election. He could see this scenario playing out: Kiel is nominated, and party bigwigs, terrified that he might lose to Efton, bring unbearable pressure on Will to accept the vice-presidential slot on the ticket.

Will did not want to be vice president, not even with the promise that, after two terms, he could be the party's nominee for president. Still, he didn't know if he could stand up to the pressure when the demand came.

The road was rising, winding through spectacular mountain and canyon scenery. Will rolled down his window, and cooler air than he had expected rushed into the car. Finally, he pulled over to a roadside parking place and got out of the car. He was high above the Rio Grande, and the landscape stretched to the south toward Santa Fe. He could make out adobe buildings in the town, even see where the airport should be. Western scenery always amazed him, and the clarity of the air made this spectacular.

He wanted to talk to Kate right now, but she was in her office at the CIA, and when he talked to her there, he could never know if their conversation was being recorded. He wanted her to tell him not to take the VP nomination, that she would leave him if he did, that she would hate him for backing down to the party. He wanted her to scream at him, to put some iron back into his backbone.

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