Girl Power, page 6
"And, how're they doing?"
"Quite good."
Charlie rested his forehead in the palms of his hands. "I think I better call the chairwoman."
~ * * ~
Sally glanced up when she heard someone enter the room and was
surprised to find, Kelly and Lindy smiling at her. "Have you had lunch yet?"
"Why is…" Sally peeked at her watch. "Hmm, almost two o'clock." She looked up at the pair. "I guess, I've been so focused on this bill, I guess I worked through lunch. I heard you're having more problems with the website?"
"Not really. We kept the site operating with band-aids until ten o'clock this morning, then he shut down for an hour to install the more powerful equipment.
The website is sailing right along now.
"C'mon Sally, Kelly and I would like to take you to a late lunch."
Kelly chimed in, excitedly, "Yes, we have some news for you."
"You do? Tell me."
Kelly grinned. "Tsk tsk, you'll find out at lunch."
Sally smiled. "All right, on the way out, I'll tell my new secretary I'm
leaving."
The three of them piled into Lindy's SUV and were on their way. Sally
ventured a question. "So, where are we going?"
Lindy cast a sideways smile. "You'll find out when we get there."
~ * * ~
Republican National Committee – Chairman's Office
Chairman Crowe Magnon rose as his right hand toady, Willie Joe Flounder,
waltzed in. "What did you find out?"
Willie Joe sat in the closest chair, scooted it forward, lifted his feet onto
Crowe's desk and wrapped his hands around the back of his head—something
that drove the chairman absolutely bonkers. "Get your fucking feet off my desk.
Where do you think you are, back home in Yazoo City, Mississippi?" He shoved the offending feet off his desk, which jerked Willie Joe forward and almost off
the seat.
"Sorry, I forgot."
"You do that again and I might forget to sign your check. Now, what did
you find out?"
"Nothing you'd be interested in. Their website counter read three hundred-
sixty-nine-thousand nine-hundred and nine."
Crowe began to rub his forehead. "Geez, in only a week."
"Or less. They've been down a couple times."
"That's even worse. What about Twitter?"
"They have sixty thousand followers and Facebook almost as many friends."
"Sixty thousand? That's double what I have in more than a year. What are
we going to do?"
Willie Joe shrugged. "Call the boss?"
Crowe narrowed his blue eyes. "I am the boss."
Willie Joe's eyes opened wide and he sat up straight. "I…ah…meant the
party strategist."
Crowe straightened up, too. "Good idea." He dialed the phone.
"American Crossburnings."
"Mr. Rogue, please."
"He's talking with someone. It shouldn't be long. Do you want to leave a
message or wait?
"Thanks, I'll wait."
An entire Viagra commercial played before Crowe's call was accepted.
"Rogue here."
"Karol, it's Crowe."
"Yes ,Crowe?" click.
"There may be a big problem developing."
"What?" click.
"Are you familiar with SAFE? S-A-F-E?"
"No, what is it?" click.
"SAFE stands for Stand Aligned For Equality. They're a women's political
party. I'm trying to get the dope on them. So far, with the ongoing war on
women, their timing is perfect."
"Damn it, Crowe. How many times do I have to tell you? There is no war on
women." click.
"Sorry, it just seems absurd to deny it when it's so obvious what we're
doing. Why are we doing this, anyway?"
"I told you. Now that we finally have control in the House and most of the
state legislatures, the establishment wants to get as much of their agenda passed as they can." click.
"And that includes messing with women's birth control? That's a real loser.
Sir, what is that clicking noise I keep hearing?"
He laughed. "I'm clipping my toe nails. Does that bother you?" click.
Crowe scrunched his nose. "No sir, of course not."
"To answer your question, I think they're doing this because they're not so certain we'll have majorities after the next election."
"I don't blame them with Mr. Roboto at the head of the ticket."
"Exactly, it seems absurd, but always remember that women aren't that
smart and they have short attention spans. Just deny 'the war on women' until
your nose begins to grow. Ha, ha, Pinocchio, nose grows, get it?"
"Yes Boss, loud and clear!"
"Good, in a couple months, they won't even remember what they were mad
about. But just to make sure, we'll bombard them with $20 million dollars worth
of Crossburnings negative advertising against the Democrats. You know how
our voters love it when we lay the blame for everything at the feet of our hapless opponents. By the time we finish with the women, they'll think the Democrats
are the party waging war on them. Got it?"
"Yes, boss."
"Nevertheless, this SAFE thing bothers me. If they happen to take any
Senate seats, and keep us from getting a super-majority, they could collude with the Dems to obfuscate the way we've been doing things for two years. Just to be
safe, keep an eye on them and let me know about anything that seems
important."
"Yes, sir. I'll have Willie Joe keep an eye on them ladies."
"Willie Joe?"
"Yes, sir."
"He doesn't seem all that bright."
"He is sir. He's a born again Evangelical Christian."
"I meant…never mind. Just keep me informed."
~ * * ~
Lindy got on Interstate 95, heading toward D.C. Sally recognized the route.
"We're going to the campaign office, aren't we?"
Kelly snickered. "You found us out. Just sit back and enjoy the ride. We'll be there in twenty minutes."
When Lindy pulled in the parking lot, Sally was totally unprepared for
what she saw. Ladders and other painting paraphernalia blocked her view, but
she got the idea and loved it.
The building had been painted in three colors—from top to bottom it was
now pink, white and sky blue with stars and stripes banners draping from the
higher parapets of the entry vestibule. "How did you manage?" Sally asked.
Lindy laughed as she pulled into a parking place right in front of the
entrance. "A couple contractors Kelly got agreed to work on it straight through—
pro bono, I might add—until it was complete. We're paying only for materials.
Do you like it?"
"I…ah…I…em…am speechless. Lindy, Kelly, it's perfect."
Lindy opened her door. "Let's go inside. Brenda, Carla and our benefactors
are waiting for us."
Kelly and Sally got out. "Benefactors?"
"The contractors I mentioned." The three women strode to the entrance.
"They're still putting in the finishing touches, so be careful—wet paint and such."
As they entered, Sally paused to scan the reception area. A pink counter
with a gray top jutted out from the wall to their left about twenty feet. Beyond were four pink and gray, four-station cubicles. "Pink cubicles. Where did you…?"
"A manufacturer made a bunch of them and couldn't sell them." Kelly
answered, "These were free, but if we want more, we'll have to buy them at a hundred dollars each—which is still a steal."
"I'll say."
Lindy touched Sally's arm. "This way."
She led the trio around the counter and past the cubicles to a hall, which
served several rooms. Lindy opened doors. "This is my office and this is Brenda's office." The two offices across the hall from each other were small and bare with a desk, file cabinet and three chairs.
Lindy led them a little further down the hall to two larger offices. "This
office is yours and the one across the hall is a spare office."
Sally's office wasn't any wider, but was longer. It had an executive desk and
credenza similar to what she had in her Senate office. Two occasional chairs
faced the desk and a couch rested against the far wall. Unlike the other offices, this one had wall and counter decor. "Ooh Lindy, it's beautiful. I'm speechless that you did all this in so short a time."
"Well, it was high priority. Come let's go into the lunchroom. Brenda and
Carla are serving lunch."
The lunchroom doubled as a copy room, with a copy machine and storage
cabinet against one wall and several vending machines against the far wall. The
room was large enough to hold four, square tables, two of which had been set
together for the luncheon.
Brenda and Carla faced a miniature kitchen with a sink, refrigerator,
microwave, plus upper and lower cabinets. Sally stepped up to them. "What're you doing?"
Carla and Brenda spun around.
Sally grinned. "Hi girls."
Brenda smiled. "Hi Sally. We were waiting for you. Now, we can eat."
"Smells good." Sally eased closer to the counter. "What do you have there?"
"I brought home made lasagna and Brenda is making tacos."
Brenda's lips curved up into one of her patented, toothy, white smiles. "And you can have sides of beans, chips and salsa. What would you like?"
"I'd like a little of everything."
"Coming right up."
Kelly sidled up to Sally. "I'd like you to meet our benefactors."
Two men stood beside Kelly facing Sally. "Sally, this is Constantino
Aguilera. He's distantly related to my husband, Ricardo. Tino, this is our next
senator, Sally Cummings."
The smiling Latino offered his hand. He was a few inches taller than her
five-seven, wiry, but muscular with an oval face, and brown eyes. "Tino?" She shook his hand.
"Yes ma'am. People call me Tino, for short. I'm very happy to meet you. I've been a fan of yours for a while. Since I discovered you were receptive to minority needs."
"Are, you from Baltimore?"
"Yes, ma'am, we're all from Baltimore."
Kelly nudged Sally. "And this gentleman is Herman Nelsen. He's a friend of
Tino's."
Herman was big—football big, tight end big—with receding, sandy hair,
sad blue eyes and a bit of a paunch. Sally accepted his offered handshake. "I'm pleased to meet you both, and I want to thank you both from the bottom of my
heart for what you've done for us. How on earth did you get it done so fast?"
"Well with the weather being so mild, we worked two shifts."
"But, how were you able to work at night?"
Tino answered, "We brought in portable lighting and heaters."
Herman added, "Yeah, what we didn't have, we rented on your dime. Even
so, I don't think it was more than a few hundred dollars. The material will be
quite a bit more though, I'm afraid."
"Well, you did fine. I'm so impressed at everything you've done. Carla,
would you fix Tino and Herman a plate so they can join us?"
~ * * ~
Herman pushed back from the table and rubbed his tummy. "That sure was
good, ladies. Thanks for the early dinner."
Tino set his napkin beside his empty plate. "Yes, that was great."
"After what you did, it was our pleasure."
Tino glanced away. "One of the reasons we agreed to work for you was we
wanted the opportunity to talk with you."
"Yeah." Herman added. "We weren't being sneaky or anything. We just wanted to be able to talk to someone who seemed to care."
Knowing how things had been rough for so many people, Sally felt a pang
of empathy. "Well, I'm your congresswoman so go ahead and talk."
Herman leaned forward and set his elbows on the table. "Well it's like this.
Tino and I know the whole country is having troubles, with hundreds of
thousands of public sector employees being laid off and all, but no segment of
the country has been harder hit than the construction industry. It's like a tsunami hit our industry and washed everything away. There's no construction now
because people can buy a repossessed house or office building for half of what it would cost to build. And that's without the hassle of architects, engineers,
building departments and on and on."
Sally took a deep breath. "What happened to the construction industry is a
travesty. Some greedy people played fast and loose with your livelihoods, and
without even knowing you were in the game, you lost."
"Ain't that the truth," said Tino, "but you know what?"
"What?" Lindy asked.
"The President keeps talking about jobs bills. Jobs to fix the roads and
highways and jobs to repair the bridges, but nothing ever happens. Nothing ever
comes though."
"I know. It's lousy and I'm sorry, but it's politics."
Herman shook his head. The look on his face was one of total incredulity.
"Let me get this straight. Greedy people took our livelihoods and when the
President wants to give us some work, politics stops him from doing that."
Sally sighed. "I know it isn't fair."
Tino raised his hand to get Sally's attention. "I have a question."
"Yes, Tino."
"Some farmers get subsidies. In some cases, the government pays them not
to grow corn, wheat etc. We're not building houses or commercial buildings.
Why can't the government pay us not to build, like they pay farmers not to
grow?"
Sally got a kick out of their logic, but held back a chuckle. "It does seem like it's only fair, but those programs have been going on for years in an industry that is subject to so many outside influences, every year, it's like a gamble. Besides all governments have money problems. That's why so many teacher, first responder
and public employee positions got eliminated."
Herman frowned. "You know, Tino is a Democrat and I'm a Republican. We
argue some, but overall, we get along fine. But with the people we elect, it's a different story. They fight like cats and dogs. We're both sick of it. I know your new party is for women, but our parties being run by men brought us
insolvency. Do you take men?"
"Yes we do, Brenda would be happy to sign you up and since you've been
so helpful, you won't have to pay a dime."
Lindy nudged Sally. "I just got a text message from Millie that you need to see." Lindy handed her phone to Sally.
When will Sally be back? She had call from DNC Chairman.
"Looks like she wants to talk with you."
"Is there a phone in my new office?"
Lindy nodded.
"Good, let's see what Ms. Scholtz Waters wants."
~ * * ~
"Democratic National Committee, Can I help you?"
"Yes, this is Sally Cummings returning Debra Scholtz Waters' call from not
long ago."
"One moment while I see if she's still in."
"Hello, Sally. This is Debra Waters. I've never met you, but I've heard
nothing but good things about you."
"Thank you, Ms. Waters. I'm definitely a fan of yours. What can I do for
you?" "That's a good question. I understand you're behind this new girl-power political party called SAFE."
"That's right. Lindy Rollins and I started it."
"That's what I heard. If you don't mind my asking, how is it going?"
"So far the response has exceeded our wildest expectations."
"Oh, how many members have you signed up?"
"We're not ready to get into numbers at this time. Let's just say we're ahead of where we wanted to be."
"And are you signing up candidates as well?"
"Yes. We have a dozen, in only a few days. We expect to be competitive in
most national, state and local races. Now, if I may ask a question of you, what is the reason for your call?"
"I just want to make sure you've thought through the ramifications of this
crusade you've started. You know a third party is going to upset the balance of
power in Washington."
"That's all? We're counting on shaking things up all the way down to
student councils."
She laughed. "A sense of humor, I like that. As a woman, I'm with you, but
as a democrat, I have to advise you that what you are doing may severely
damage our party."
"Debra, may I call you that?"
"Of course."
"Debra, when I say I'm an admirer of you, I wasn't kidding. If I were to
picture the ideal woman to lead this party, it would have been you—you aren't
interested are you?"
Debra laughed. "I'm flattered, but you know I can't. Besides, I've read your website. My guess is I'm a little too liberal for your party and that's my point.
You realize a centrist party is going to draw unequally from democrats and
republicans, which will only make the Republicans stronger. Then they may get
even more adventuresome than they have been, if that's possible."
"Debra, you are half right. We will, and indeed, we are drawing three times as many democrats as republicans, but you are forgetting the independents. Six
in ten of our new members describe their previous party affiliation as
independent or none. So far, more of our membership will come from
unrepresented independents than GOP or democrats.
"Think about it. If we get enough candidates to win seats, no one will have a majority. Republicans will have to work with you or us, and you'll have to work
with them or us to get anything passed. Gridlock and filibustering will be broken and sanity will return to government."
