CHAPTER 1
His flight was the last to land, before the whiteout conditions forced them to close Dulles International. He'd intended to rent a car, but the counters were all closed. When he walked outside to hail a cab, he found one lone taxi that hadn't given up for the night.
When the cab stopped at the gate to the estate, Charles Goodwin found himself marveling at how quickly life could throw you curves. He was in D.C. to meet with Stevan Baldridge, the longtime chairman of the RNC.
Just the month before, Stevan and the committee had asked if he would accept the vice presidential nomination at the upcoming national convention. He'd made his fortune as an investment banker, and was a staunch Republican, so he'd been more than honored to accept a new challenge. At the time, he'd thought he could be a great partner to Peter Montblanc, the party's heir apparent.
After the security guard verified his identity, he opened the gate and allowed them to proceed down the tree-lined lane to the main house. When the cab stopped under the covered entryway to the majestic mansion, William, the family butler, walked out to greet Charles. William led him inside and said, "I'll take your overcoat, and you can go on back. Stevan is waiting for you in the downstairs library."
* * *
"Thank you for seeing me on such short notice," Charles Goodwin said.
"Never an issue, but what's the rush?" Stevan Baldridge asked. "The convention is still months away."
"True, but I wanted to discuss your plans for vice president."
"That's your job, my boy."
"Not if we want to regain the White House. The ticket needs someone who can pull in the minority vote, particularly the Hispanics."
"The latest polls I have show that we've made real progress with the minority voters."
"You mean the same assholes that kept telling us Romney was a shoo-in?"
Stevan shrugged.
"Have you gone through the data from the poll we commissioned?" Charles asked.
"No, I haven't. I assumed it would show the same splits we've been seeing from the national polls."
"You know what they say about assumptions. The data clearly points out what I view as a catastrophic shift in the demographics."
"You numbers guys give me a headache. I'm sure you're just overreacting?"
"Possibly, but if the numbers are anywhere close, it could be the beginning of the end for the GOP."
"That seems harsh, but even if you're right, where are we going to find someone that fits the bill?"
"That's why I'm here. I think we should vet out Victor Garcia."
"The mayor of Albuquerque? Have you lost your mind? He's not a politician; he's a war hero. I doubt he'd even be mayor if the Democratic candidate hadn't gotten caught with a hooker the week before the election."
"Probably true, but on paper he's got everything you'd want in a candidate. He graduated top of his class at the Naval Academy and went on to be a Rhodes Scholar. He won a Silver Star for his actions against the insurgents that attacked the ambassador's gathering in Iraq."
"Was that when he lost his legs?"
"No that was from an RPG, a few months later in Afghanistan."
"Quite impressive, but I'm not sure the party is ready for a Mexican VP."
"There it is."
"What do you mean by that?"
"If you have to ask, you're part of the problem."
"I've got the utmost respect for you, but you can't come into my home and talk to me like that. I thought we could count on you to do what's best for the party."
You clueless bastard, Charles thought to himself. "That's what I'm trying to do. Let's face facts for a moment. We're at risk of losing a lot of seats in both houses, and if we don't make some real changes, we may never regain the presidency."
Stevan mulled over Charles's words before he said, "I guess it's worth taking a look. Fix yourself a drink while I make a few calls."
* * *
An hour later, the circular driveway in front of the mansion was filled with limousines. As Charles watched eight of the most powerful Republicans in the country sit down in the library, he found himself hoping that he hadn't overreacted to the situation.
"This had better be as urgent as you claimed. It's my fiftieth wedding anniversary, and my wife was mad as hell when I left the party," said John Steinberger, a multibillionaire and the most powerful donor in the party. "And what's this bullshit about needing a new VP candidate? We handpicked Charles."
"That's why we're here," Stevan told the group. "Charles wants to bow out, and he wants us to vet Victor Garcia as our new candidate."
"Garcia? I've never heard of him," John declared.
"Me neither," Peter Montblanc said. "Seriously, you can't expect me to take on a running mate that no one's ever heard of. Besides, we can't have a VP that couldn't handle being president."
"We've had many that I wouldn't have wanted to run the country," Stevan said.
"We're all here, so let's get to it. I need to get back," John Steinberger said.
"Have any of you read the results from the poll you paid for?" Charles Goodwin asked.
"Yes, but they've got to be wrong," John Steinberger said.
"It's projecting that the next election could have a seventy percent Hispanic participation, and could compromise almost thirty percent of the total voters."
"Is that even possible?" Ty Pendleton asked.
"Possibly," Charles said. "No one seemed to notice the changes they slipped into the last budget that changed the EB-5 visa program."
"Never heard of it," Peter Montblanc said.
"Most people haven't. It was originally intended to foster foreign investment and job creation. If someone invested between five hundred thousand and a million dollars, depending on where the company is located, they were granted a fast path to a permanent green card status."
"So what, they still can't vote," Stevan said.
"That's where the changes come in. The program was amended to remove the cap on the number of visas, and to allow them to skip the green card and immediately become naturalized citizens."
"How the hell could that happen?" Peter asked.
"Same old shit. It was one paragraph buried in thousands of pages of legislation, which nobody read. Coupled with the Democratic get-out-to-vote campaigns, and the new amnesty programs, it's fueled a tremendous influx of newly minted citizens."
"What kind of numbers are we looking at?" Stevan asked.
"I double-checked the state's voter registrations, and the newly registered voters are in excess of eleven million."
"That doesn't bode well for us. We don't rate very highly with the illegals," said Mell Blanc, the next largest GOP contributor.
"Dear God," Charles murmured under his breath.
"This shouldn't be a surprise to any of us," said William McKinney, the GOP chief strategist. "This is just a continuation of what led to our failure in the last election. No offense, Peter, but I warned you we couldn't win with Charles on the ticket."
"So you think this guy can pull enough of the Mexican vote to make a difference?" John Steinberger asked.
"I do," Charles said.
"You must feel pretty strongly to turn down the VP role," Mell said.
"Trust me, it breaks my heart to do so, but yes, I do."
"Big whoop," Peter Montblanc said. "What the hell are you doing wasting my time on this unknown loser?"
"Given the circumstances, I think we should at least check him out," Stevan said.
"Whatever, but don't waste any more of my time until you have it put together. I'll need to see a comprehensive plan before I'll consider making any shift in our strategy."
"Understood," Stevan said.
"Charles, do you know Victor's full name?"
"Of course. It's Victor Delgado Garcia, and his wife's name is Melinda Esmeralda Santiago Garcia."
"Damn, that's a mouthful," Peter said as he walked out. "Thanks, Charles, I'll get my guys going on the background checks."
Copyright © 2015 by Ken Shufeldt