The Phoenix Campaign (Grace Colton Book 2) by Heidi Joy Tretheway

Author:Heidi Joy Tretheway [Tretheway, Heidi Joy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Erotic Romance, Political
Publisher: Jasper Ridge Press
Published: 2015-04-19T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINETEEN

“We’re wheels up in fifteen minutes,” Mac says to Eric, then speaks into her microphone. “Phoenix plus ten en route to location Sierra Mike Mike Alpha.”

I slip on sunglasses to block out the world as we drive to the airport in Santa Monica, where a smallish plane waits to whisk me and a handful of traveling press up to Oregon. Most of the staffers who came out to LA are heading back to headquarters in Missouri or D.C., in full debate-prep mode.

I’m in full meltdown. The interview did not go well.

Jared briefed me as I got ready, then ran for his flight, so I had only Mac and Eric as backing when I walked in the hotel conference room for the interview.

Jared was right to be nervous. It was an ambush.

Last spring, when neither Darrow nor Conover was the clear Democratic candidate, the Republicans got their shit together and moved in lockstep to select James Jackson as their nominee. He’s known as “the money man from Texas” both for his family’s oil business and his guidance of the Senate Budget Committee.

Like Shep and me, the Republican ticket is a Senate/House matchup: Jackson picked Illinois Congressman and Gulf War vet Landon Sharp as his running mate.

I knew I was in trouble even before I sat down for the interview. Jared told me this reporter first labeled the Jackson-Sharp ticket as the “Dream Team.”

It’s no wonder: both men are handsome enough for Hollywood, pedigreed with Ivy League diplomas, and have deep ties in Washington. But when the media hangs that kind of title on one side of the race, it’s just a matter of time before their opponents are saddled with a counterpoint moniker.

The Nightmare Team?

The Odd Couple?

The Dysfunctional Duo?

“Is this trip to LA a desperate attempt to make up the ground you’re losing to the Republicans on fundraising?” the reporter asked.

Shit. Shit, shit, shit.

“This trip demonstrates that the Republicans are losing ground to us on the issues,” I shot back at the reporter. “They’re pushing for regressive policies that favor a privileged minority and voters see through that.”

It wasn’t an answer to his question, but it was a soundbite Jared and Sasha would be proud of. The truth is, when it comes to fundraising, Jackson and Sharp are unstoppable.

Unfortunately, the first question out of the reporter’s mouth turned out to be the easiest one of the lot. We went several rounds on policy, but many, many more on my personal life. I ducked and dodged but the damage was apparent—next to Landon Sharp’s gorgeous résumé as a Gulf War vet, and his very public grief over the loss of his dear mother to cancer, he’s the saint and I’m the sinner.

“Landon Sharp says he’s coping with the loss of his mother by participating in cancer research fundraisers,” the reporter begins. I nod, thinking of Sharp’s shockingly hot photos that went viral, a wet white T-shirt clinging to his abs as he finishes a run to raise awareness for ovarian cancer.

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