Washington 2017: The U.S. Political RP IC-Volume II (OPEN)

[Imperial Esplanade]

Toledo, Ohio - SeaGate Convention Centre

A girl in her late-teenage years, accompanied by her father, happened to stroll up to her, among the first of those in line, and she beams a wide grin as her eyes glance up toward the Ohio Senator. The brown-haired, bearded man behind her reached out to touch the girl affectionately on the shoulder, giving it a soft squeeze as he went to tell her something, pointing toward Ella seated at her spot, and she quickly trotted over toward Ella while maintaining an elated expression on her face.

"Miss Enchanted!" She remarked, holding a small journal in one hand, waving toward the Senator with the other. "I wanted to say hello! You look so pretty!" The young girl enthused, gesturing toward Ella's attire. "And you really inspire me to make this a better place! Could you sign this writing-journal for me please? Inside cover would be totally fine." The girl asked, holding out her journal. Meanwhile, the father chuckles, nodding his head approvingly and proudly over his beloved daughter, glancing over at the Senator as well.

[Prolieum]

Johnson County Fairgrounds, Iowa City, Iowa

It had been too long since he had had a good old-fashioned rally, Amaras had decided. Marlowe smugly stepping on down from Hollywood to tell the people of his state what to do had been an excellent trigger for that attitude to be turned to action. Even as he was composing his tweets, he was setting his staff into action to organize an event in that same city, the Johnson County Fairgrounds set as the target location, and the target goal, besides a good old visit to fire up the crowd, being, of course, exceeding what Marlowe had done.

It was a quite boisterous group that had been assembled, and one that certainly had dominance over the preceding event in the number of flags on display, at the least. It was an intense contest between American standards and Gadsden flags for the title of most-waved, with "Come and Take It" flags and Betsy Ross-style stars and stripes filling out the selection, among others, Great Conservative Revolution flags of Amaras's own design and sale making their mark as well, to his satisfaction. Alongside them was another profitable innovation of his, in the collection of baseball caps that bore that same phrase. Navy blue, the stylized writing of Great Conservative Revolution in white lettering streamed out of the icon of an American flag, a design beyond his artistic ability, and contracted out for that reason. The American-made toppers covered a fair number of heads in the crowd, something he planned to look to extend via application to other candidates at some point in the future. Sonogram posters were the most common non-flag item in the crowd, a variety of placards and posterboards displaying pro-life messages there in variety of hands, if a variety mostly composed of middle-aged and older whites, though a handful of College Republican types, somewhat more hat-friendly than the others, were a present minority. It was, all in all, not much different from the assemblies that Amaras had drawn on the campaign trail, slightly more focused on one issue, perhaps, but a group of people of a type he knew well. The similarity was more refreshing than burdensome, and standing up to boom his address to the audience was invigorating, as he began his speech aggressively.

"Scotty Marlowe thinks that he's the King of Iowa now!"

The derisive tone in the opening line was apparent, immediately recognized, and swiftly responded to, as a chorus of boos poured out from the crowd before him.

"Scotty Marlowe thinks he knows better than us how we're going to make our own laws!" Amaras pressed on. Further boos emanated.

"The ivory tower liberal elite came down here shaking, because he realizes how close we are to finally throwing the boot that he and his kind have been pushing on our throat for YEARS!"

The bellow brought cheers.

"That's right. The liberal elites hate religion and faith, but they worship at the idol of abortion, and they'll sacrifice anyone to that idol, they'll sacrifice our children. When we made ultrasounds that showed that children in the womb aren't clumps of cells, they're little human beings, the coastal elites still demanded abortion on demand. When we found that those little children could feel pain when they were murdered by forceps and acid, the coastal elites demanded abortion on demand. When we discovered Planned Parenthood was selling the body parts of little baby boys and girls, the coastal elites demanded abortion on demand. When we found the heartbeat of that innocent little child was thump-thump-thumping, the coastal elites demanded abortion on demand, but now, finally, in this great state of Iowa, abortion on demand will no longer be in demand!"

More cheers from the crowd.

"The elites don't rule by the will of the people, they rule by the institutions they corrupted. The liberal news media is nothing but programs all day every day defending liberals and attacking conservatives, making smokescreens to try to protect abortion and burying the stories that show its evils. It took a brave independent journalist to show us the evils of what Planned Parenthood was doing with their market in baby parts, and all the big networks tried to kill the story before it got too big for them to put down. People like Scotty Marlowe make a living lying to the public to try to keep their agenda and order going. The biased media tries to hoodwink the American people with their slanted news and slanted polls, so they can claim the public supports things that they would know no one outside of their ivory towers supported if they ever came down from them. How many of you really think that most of us Americans really think a man can magically turn into a woman if he puts some makeup on and says he wants to be called a she? Liberal elites with doctorates from liberal universities think they're the height of intelligence, but I know a whole lot of good people that dropped out of school that can at least tell them that gender is one male and one female and blow their minds!"

The crowd applauded, with a few whoops.

"Man and woman is how we were created in the beginning and its how every one of us was created here. Isn't it ironic that people like Marlowe who claim to be so advanced and so intelligent want free sex and free love, where you can hook up with anyone and everyone, where you should sleep with your bosses, your coworkers, your siblings, all with no strings attached, and they don't even understand how babies are made? They had a sexual revolution to try to end morality in sex with open sex on our TV screens and in our colleges and even high schools, but they don't even know how it works. Well let's teach 'em, and unlike them, we don't have to scar the kids when we say it. Everyone ready?"

"When God made Adam and Eve, he made male and female, boys and girls. And boys and girls are different! Boys don't belong in dresses, because those are for girls. Now boys and girls are different, but those differences are special, because you need one boy, and one girl, one man and one woman, to make a new boy or girl! Scotty and some of the others might be surprised that two men or two women can't do it, but that's why God made it so we have one of each. Now once you get one man and one woman who love each other very much, and get married so they can make new boys and girls, the woman has to carry the new boy or girl so they can grow, all protected from the outside world! And that new little boy or girl is just like you or me, one hundred percent from the second they get made, just a little smaller and still growing, and since I've got four boys of my own, I know they keep on growing for a long time once they leave Mommy too!"

A few chuckles.

"That's how it works, and that's how we humans have kept on being fruitful and multiplying for thousands of years. So simple that we've understood it for all of human history, but somehow the elites don't understand, they're so radical that their brains just can't understand the basics. They say that there's not male and female, that they're just interchangeable, and then scratch their heads when they find out that they can't get pregnant when a man just pretends he's a woman. They think that history started in 2013, when their puppet Court members voted on one of the most unconstitutional decisions of all time, and they'll say that marriage hasn't been between one man and one woman for all of history, and they can't figure out that two of the same kind don't work. They want sex anywhere and everywhere, but when it comes to the little innocent baby that didn't do anything wrong, they say that they should be executed because their parents don't want them. Any other time you'd call that child abuse, but they like to call it 'liberation'. They want to take sex out of marriage and then morality out of sex, and then they get surprised when men skip out on their girlfriends and leave them to fend for themselves and we have an epidemic of broken families and single parents. It's all connected. If there's not men and women, then men shouldn't have to treat women with respect. If marriage doesn't have any meanings or standards, then you can just have flings anywhere with anyone and not worry about consequences. And if you're not worrying about consequences, then they'll say its all right to kill a child in the womb. Every step is their own radicalism, and they want to use it to kill our kids."

"So how do these liberal elites like Scotty Marlowe try to force all this on us, this men being women, this destruction of marriage, this murder of children? Even with their liberal spin machines controlling the media they could never convinced the American people to go along with it, so they bypass the people and run roughshod over us with their dictatorship by Court, and Monarchy by Judge."

"If you read the Constitution, which none of these people have ever done, you'll learn that the Courts are supposed to just rule on the laws that Congress passes and the President executes, and nothing more. They're supposed to be the small branch of government that just minds the Ps and Qs and decides when there's some disputes. But the one thing that elites want more than anything else is total and dominating power, and they discovered that they could twist and abuse the Courts to get radical judges who would act like emperors in their robes on the bench, and they decided that no one would be able to stop them. The first time we saw this was back in the 1800s, when the Democrats got the justices to force slavery on the country in the Dred Scott decision, a Democrat decision. But when it really started was with FDR. FDR is the President you may remember violated the two term limit and put people in prison camps because he didn't like that their eyes were too narrow, but he never stopped there. The Court was saying that FDR couldn't violate the Constitution like he was, so he went like a mob boss from New York City and threatened to pack the Court. He intimidated them and blackmailed them, and soon he had them to defend his internment and from that point on the Democrats would pack the court from their Presidential appointments or slipping in far left radicals in other administrations. Whenever they couldn't convince Americans to follow their radical left wing agenda they used their secret weapon in the Court from the Roe decision on abortion to the Obergefell decision to destroy marriage."

"And they tried to do it in state courts too, just to dominate over We the People, but they didn't expect us to fight back! You may remember that the Supreme Court here in Iowa went with that left wing radicalism and tried to force this same sex 'marriage' on us even though the law of the land was one man and one woman. What those cushy judges didn't expect was that when we got to vote next time, we threw every last one of them on the ballot out! Never in our history did we have to do that before, but we did it for every one of them, because the fact is that the people have never gone along with these radical agendas. Imagine what would happen if we could vote out the unconstitutional radicals on that Supreme Court in Washington! Just ask Scotty what happened even in California when the people got to vote to defend marriage! They said "One man, one woman!" to the elites, and so the elites had to shut it down and use the courts again to silence the will of the people. Every time the liberal media smeared standing for marriage and put out their polls that said that no one stood for it, but every time, from Iowa to California and back again, the people proved those wrong."

Some applause and a few whistles broke out.

"They finally thought they ended it when they got a liberal majority where every single member was from New York or California, everyone one of them, to give the unconstitutional Obergefell decision, but they did not count on the people rising up. They did not count on the Great Conservative Revolution! We refuse to be trod on by a oligarchy of unjust justices any longer, and we are fighting back on every front! We are breaking the liberal monopoly on our kids with my act for equality in education, which ends their propagandizing and forces them to teach both sides! We are ending the child abuse sponsored by Democrats such as Antonio De Nieto in California, where parents can force genital mutilation for "sex changes" on children, by the great STATUTORY bill from my good friend Senator Villanueva de Peña, who was beaten by liberal radicals for standing by our values. We are bringing the power back to the people again with the Preservation of Marriage Act, and we are fighting back against the corruption of the Court with strong appointments who will stand by the Constitution, even while left wingers run smear campaigns and bribe elite Harvard professors to try to destroy a young woman's life, because they will stop at nothing to defend their power. From CREST to COSUC to UUIMA this Congress is fighting for life in legislation, and believe me, this is only the start! The Great Conservative Revolution is only picking up speed! You voted for it in 2016, and we are delivering on our promises. We will keep on fighting this revolution until the will of the people is heard again, where real Americans have power over the elites and not the other way around, where the life of the unborn is protected, where the sanctity of marriage is restored and where we fight against the attack on good people of faith, where the Constitution is the law of the land and judges must submit to it, not destroy it, where freedom can ring from sea to shining sea. The Great Conservative Revolution is a revolution of the people, and we are an AMERICAN revolution that will triumph once again!"

"God Bless America, and God Bless the Revolution!"

[Tallahassee News Station]

The DNA tests had come back as such a big surprise that Stevenson wondered if she should still go through with sharing them publicly before thinking how silly it would be to not just because of something unexpected. Before she was going back on Twitter though, she had seen the President's tweets and was handwriting in her not very neat penmanship a letter to the White House using the official Congressional letterhead and putting "Congresswoman" clearly on the envelope to make sure it would make it through.

Dear Mr. President,

I'm sure you're receiving many offers and applications from many excellent possible nominees for the acting Secretary of State position that you're looking for. I just want you to know that if you have any need for my services that I'm completely at your disposal for whatever you need.

Sincerely

Kristen Stevenson

[Latvijas Otra Republika]

Boyd's Steakhouse
Martinsburg
West Virginia

He took another bite form his fork "That soundsth great, really good. Nowadaysth people just sit and eat frozen oestrogen burgersth, that's not good for anyone. After all this businessth is done with NY, a holiday to Iowa sounds great. Hunting wild game and cooking." He popped a potato slice.

[Vaquas]

House Offices

Representative Walsh had been doing a lot of reading recently. Revisiting Rand in the form of The Fountainhead had been an interesting experience, Roark speaking to him on a personal level as an example of courage in the face of overwhelming conformity and societal sluggishness. The man who can be, and is thought the Michigander as his polished shoes made steady contact with the floor in front of him. That was the kind of man he had always wanted to be, the one that he was in the CIA, under Dickney, and perhaps even now. But with age brought worries, questions about the future and thoughts on the latter parts of the life of Rand herself. A hypocrite? Possibly, but you would be hard pressed to find someone who was not these days, and even harder pressed to find one worthy of being spared a similarly negative title, he thought.

A man with a letter passed him in the hallway, the quick glance he got of it revealing a congressional seal. Nothing too out of the ordinary, but the movement of stationery was becoming rarer in the age of the email, so he took notice. Walsh decided this was both a good thing and a bad one, for the same reason. He did not think too hard on it, however, because he had an objective in mind that had nothing to do with sorting through philosophy, or answering questions about the moral sustainability of modern communication techniques.

That's because Walsh had been doing some supplementary reading too. Rossi was gone, and with her a source of entertainment in quarrelling with the silly little girl who thought she was "all that", only to be thrown onto the trash heap like so many eager salutatorians before her. Yang was no fun, and Harrington too intelligent. So when Walsh decided to probe further, into the background of a certain representative from Massachusetts, he was surprised, and he changed his calculus appropriately. The meeting he was set to improvise would be political, sure. But only as a pretext. The olympic gymnast turned ditzy politician's wife, or rather ex-wife, was the perfect human alternative to pursuing copious amounts of nothing, something Walsh had decided long ago would be the last resort in all applicable circumstances.

He knocked gently on the door to her office before letting himself in, eyeing the Secretary before giving her a practiced smile.

"Is the Congresswoman in?" he asked politely. "I have important buisness to discuss, Congressman Julius Walsh." he clarified.

[Democratic Peoples republic of Kelvinsi]

Fredrick Williams
@MSGov
Annie Walker be a great woman, she be a member of the Alliance Defending Freedom and fought the rights of good Christiasns against oppression from governments espousing the homosexual agenda!

---

Fredrick Williams
@MSGov
We be needing more Senators like Peter Amaras in Congress, if I am elected to the US Senate, I promise to fight for Christian values just as much as Peter Amaras!

---

[Alozia]

En route to New York City,
May 13th, 2017

It's been a couple of busy days for John. The noise and hustle of Washington D.C. had forced him to take a break - a demand he was more than happy to comply with. His trip home would take about three hours, although John couldn't complain. There was something he enjoyed in traveling, but couldn't exactly name. Perhaps it was the sense of detachement from the problems of the cities he travelled through? Many hours could be spent on contemplating this problem, however with recent events John decided to to abstain from it. Having scheduled an appointement with Congresswoman McCroskey he chose to prepare himself. He wasn't quite sure what to tell her - it's quite easy to envision her negative reaction when faced with rumours and speculation. John's choice also meant that he couldn't finish reading a book he had gotten a while ago, but the concept of the greater good made for a good excuse, at least in this case. With a thin file of resources and research inside of it he decided to make sure he wouldn't make a fool out of himself. After all, if everything went well his research file might get a chance to get a lot thicker.

Pennsylvania Station, NYC
A few hours later

Finally arriving in the Big Apple John had finally decided to take his eyes off of the research papers. After over three hours of looking at them what would normally be easily understandible information stopped making sense to him. John would be lying if he tried to deny that there wasn't more to his rush other than the need to free himself from the papers. On the platform adjacent to the train waited a young blond man, slightly taller than John - a trait which perhaps made him slightly easier to notice. It wasn't long before the two were caught up in a hug. It wasn't the most intimate of gestures, but being in a long distance relationship and seeing eachother when John's schedule allowed it, the two quickly learned the true value of such simple things as being together.

"It's good to see you, Chris." said John.

"It's good to see you too, John." Chris replied. "You must have been in quite a hurry today." he added looking at John's suit. With an important meeting ahead of him that day Malinowski was dressed in an official manner that Chris must have taken as the regular congressional staffer outfit.

"Oh, this?" John replied "Yeah... I have a thing to attend to today." He was slightly embarrassed to admit that he had to reduce the already limited time they were supposed to spend together, especially when he had to ask Chris for a ride to McCroskey's office. Thankfully his boyfriend was a good sport about it and agreed to help.

"So, what's the big thing you have to deal with today?" Chris asked as they were trying to get through NYC's infamous traffic. To this day John couldn't understand why would someone own a car in this city despite all inconveniences related to it. He was, however, happy to have Chris of all people as the driver - there were very few people who knew how to navigate through NYC's traffic as well as Chris did. The two sometimes joked that Chris should be a taxi driver - he skills would make him a millionaire in no time.

"I have a meeting with a local Congresswoman."

"Local? So Mrs. Smith is not coming over for dinner?"

John chuckled. "No, not yet at least. Her name's McCroskey, Eleanor McCroskey."

"That name does ring a bell" Chris pondered "Isn't she the one I voted for when you dragged me to the voting station?"

"She might be, I mean she does represent our district."

Chris shrugged "So you're changing camps or what?"

"Not really, no." John replied. "I might tell you about it later, but trust you're not going to like it."

Looking outside of the window John could already see Greenpoint on the other side of the Newton Creek they would soon cross. The weather wasn't particularly cozy that day - cold temperature was mixed with a fairly generous amount of rain. It was kind of dissapointing, especially when knowing that the previous day was much nicer. As the conversation started dying down Chris decided to turn on the radio. It wasn't that they didn't have a lot to talk about, especially with John's upcoming meeting, but the two apparently felt it would be better to talk in a more comfortable setting.

As they car was turning right to finally get off the express way and into Greenpoint, John couldn't help but notice the effort Chris puts into taking care of his car. It far from a nice, brand new vehicle and certainly had seen a lot throughout it's years of existence which made the fact that it seemed brand new quite impressive. Chris must have spent a lot of money on it - finding new-er parts, trying to renovate the car etc. John had to admit that Chris knew what he was doing with it.

"That's our stop." Chris said as they stopped in front of McCroskey's district office.

"Allright... Thanks." John replied as he started to exit the car.

"Do you want me to wait for you?"

"I mean, if you want to?" John replied "I don't know how long the meeting's going to take - it might be five minutes, but it would be better if it took a litlle bit longer. And I wouldn't mind taking a walk around the neighbourhood, you know - it's been a while."

"We can walk together." Chris replied "I'll just park the car nearby and wait for you in a cafeteria or something."

"Allright." John escorted the car away with his eyes before turning towards the office. As he faced the front door a wave of anxiety overcame him. This meeting could prove very beneficial to him, but there was some potential for a massive disaster. He pulled the door and walked in.

[Dentali]

The DNA tests had come back as such a big surprise that Stevenson wondered if she should still go through with sharing them publicly before thinking how silly it would be to not just because of something unexpected. Before she was going back on Twitter though, she had seen the President's tweets and was handwriting in her not very neat penmanship a letter to the White House using the official Congressional letterhead and putting "Congresswoman" clearly on the envelope to make sure it would make it through.

Dear Mr. President,

I'm sure you're receiving many offers and applications from many excellent possible nominees for the acting Secretary of State position that you're looking for. I just want you to know that if you have any need for my services that I'm completely at your disposal for whatever you need.

Sincerely

Kristen Stevenson

Dear Congresswoman Stevenson

Thank you for your offer we shall keep you in mind.

Sincerely Chief of Staff Simon Denisevich

Simon sent the email before putting Kristen’s email in the junk folder

[Federal States of Xathuecia]

---

Meeting a Concerned Constitutent

Brooklyn District Office
Greenpoint
New York

---

Eleanor moved several pieces of the LEGO design around, twiddling with the blocks as she reviewed the instruction manual. It was supposed to be a small plane, a propeller plane, but it was hardly proving to be an easy task. She sighed, pushing her hair back before looking up. Her eyes met those of the elderly woman, Cynthia, who was the receptionist to this office.

"Yes, Cynthia?"

"Someone is here to see you, they are on the appointment list. A John Malinowski."

Her pronunciation gave Eleanor a small smile take her face, before chuckling and responding in a sympathetic voice.

"Now that's a name. Yes, let him through."

"Will do."

The old woman left, bumping into the door but rather carelessly leaving it open. Eleanor shrugged, knowing it would just be opened by the staffer. She had not had much time to learn more about her constituents, but with his involvement on the Hill with Smith, she hoped for a pleasant conversation. It would be fun, a much-needed relief from her building efforts. The man entered and she stood to greet him.

"Hello, I'm Congresswoman McCroskey, but call me Eleanor please. Anything to drink? Coffee, tea, water?"

[Alozia]

Rep. McCroskey's District Office,
Greenpoint, New York

John nodded as the Congresswoman greeted him. "It's nice to meet you too."

He tried his best to hide his anxiety - he spoke with a couple of Representatives in the past, but never in the capacity he would right now. "I'll have a glass of water."

[Prolieum]

Boyd's Steakhouse, Martinsburg, West Virginia

"Not married yet, are you?" Amaras asked semi-rhetorically, cutting through gristle.

"My wife cooks for me whenever I'm in, sweet Linda Sue. She sets a better table than anyone else you could find, and she knows how to handle the boys too. Just a wonderful woman, can't believe how long it took me to find her," he praised.

"Not everyone can be so lucky," he warned, pointing his knife at Lotto, though in a way that mimicked a teacher's ruler rather than a threatening posture. "Young people are fooling around too much instead of getting serious about getting a family. There's a difference between waiting for the one, and just doing multiplication. This Marli woman stripping through college is a perfect example of that." He took another hearty bite of an oversized cut.

[Dentali]

Schlang For Governor Rally
East Orange New Jersey



The single largest African American Community in New Jersey was East Orange, with over 85% of the population being African American. The community was a big part of Schlang's primary victory and their turnout would be vital if Schlang was going to win the general. Congressman Jason Samara organized a massive rally in East Orange with the help of the NAACP and other African American organizations based in the Northeast. Samara also hoped that his progressive accolades and growing reputation as a speaker would garner more attention for Schlang's candidacy.

Jason Samara took to the stage to speak and introduce Secretary Schlang

"In 1968 Dr. Martin Luther King said ‘Depressed living standards for Negroes are not simply the consequences of neglect. Nor can they be explained by the myth of the Negro’s innate incapacities, or by the more sophisticated rationalization of his acquired infirmities. They are a structural part of the economic system in the United States.’"

"Our cities and our communities face two major crises that we confront if we truly want to create change. We must right the wrongs of the past and prepare for the future. Our cities face weak productivity, stagnant wages and stark racial disparities, Republicans have shown that building an inclusive economy is not a priority, that healthcare and supporting low income families struggling to stay out of poverty are policies on the chopping block."

"This is something we hear time and again, but let me say something you won’t hear... We made this, Republicans advancing toxic policies like POMA and an agenda that doesn’t build an inclusive economy, the mess created by unchecked Republican power is something we made. Its made by every voter from any party or no party who stays home, when good Americans do nothing, we get governors like Hotchkiss and Senators like Amaras and Kramer. In a democracy we get the government we deserve."

"I am a democrat, I am not the sort of democrat that thinks you need to hate republicans to be a good democrat, or that democrats have a cornerstone on every good policy idea. But let’s look at our nation using a non-partisan lens, Republicans occupy the White House and have a massive majority in Congress and they aren’t doing much at all to help normal people. Their priorities are not trying to lower healthcare costs or make it more accessible, not trying to guarantee coverage for pre-existing conditions. Their priorities are not protecting DACA kids, or fighting the Opioid epidemic, Their priorities are not trying to create jobs and help those stuck in poverty, Their priorities are not fighting for much needed criminal justice reform. Their priorities are handouts to firearm manufacturers, on suppressing the rights of the LGBTQ community, and censuring one another based on nothing other than personal attacks."

"Thessalonians 5:18 says “ give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” but in todays world that is not always an easy thing. We are in a time off difficulty and struggle but we have a path forward. We must have public and private sector leaders work together, setting out to build economies that are inclusive, that address the structural barriers of the past and future, the very barriers that prevent people from full being part of and benefiting from the economy. We need to reverse the housing, land use and infrastructure policies of Hotchkiss which benefit the wealthy and seek economic policies such as affordable housing programs which benefit the longtime residents of our cities."

"We have a patchwork quilt of concentrated advantage and disadvantage, across cities, suburbs and rural areas, from one block to the next, these challenge our government our politicians and leaders, our preconceptions of what will bring a new chapter of greater opportunity. Cities and metro areas need to support their communities as they adapt to these changing dynamics, technology is transforming every occupation and industry, large and small, we need a government that will invest in the education and training for our communities that will be needed to navigate our changing labor market."

"Too many of our neighborhoods are isolated, we need to reconnect our cities with better transit, more affordable housing in neighborhoods with opportunities, a new network of innovation hubs and job centers so that regardless of where someone lives residents are close to jobs. Cities like L.A. Seattle and Atlanta are working on multi-billion dollar transit expansions and in Ohio job hubs are being created, this is something we need to bring to every city and state in America. Coordination of economic development, transportation and workforce development is key in this new age."

"We need leaders that won’t be adversarial and drive businesses out of the communities that need opportunities the most. We need our governors, mayors and community leaders to help businesses launch, innovate and promote greater economic prosperity that includes all our communities. We need to change our mindset, we need multidimensional action that emphasizes systematic reforms, new programs that re-imagine solutions to problems new and old."

"Our task will not be complete until we ensure that every family-regardless of race, color, oath or creed, regardless of sexuality or gender-has a fighting chance to build an economic future for themselves and their families. We need less talk and more action about reducing unemployment, ending wage stagnation and closing the income gap between white and nonwhite workers."

"Most black and Latino households have less than $350 in savings. The black unemployment rate has remained roughly twice as high as the white rate over the last 40 years, regardless of education. Real African-American youth unemployment is over 50 percent. African-American women earn 64 cents for every dollar white men make. This is unacceptable. The American people in general want change — they want a better deal. A fairer deal. A new deal. They want an America with laws and policies that truly reward hard work with economic mobility. They want an America that affords all of its citizens with the economic security to take risks and the opportunity to realize their full potential."

"So look at the path out before us, and the work yet done. Do not let it fuel our fear and division, let it compel us into the future, Our ancestors fought and died to get the right to vote, and whether you know it or not that vote is a sacred thing. The vote is one of the most powerful voices you have, history is made by the people who show up."

"Without further ado I have the great pleasure to introduce a man who will help lead us on this new path. The Mayor of Jersey City, a Congressman, a Secretary of the Interior, a man who fought for criminal justice reform, for infrastructure renewal and for the rights of the forgotten people across the country. A man who has gotten knocked down before but has always gotten back up to keep fighting for the people of New Jersey. The future governor of New Jersey… Secretary Tony Schlang!"

Samara shook the Secretary's hand as he came up to the podium before Jason returned to his seat listening to Schlang address the crowd.

“New Jersey's most underprivileged communities are under attack by Washington. The RLSA put millions of people in our state's lives on the line by leaving our social security net in limbo. As Congressman Samara pointed out, POMA fuels the fires of hate we have spent generations trying to quell. Acts like Minuteman are pouring guns onto our streets, while Washington turns a blind eye to gun violence. It's unbelievable, the boxes in DC will do anything for a buck. But guess what? Trenton's not doing jack about it. Actually, Trenton is part of the problem. What Hotchkiss doesn't understand is that a government shutdown in Trenton could actually kill people. State workers will go unpaid. Veterans, working families, where are they gonna get healthcare? It's because Hotchkiss refuses to work with the legislature, she refuses to give the people what they need, which is healthcare. She also wants to pay for her awful deal using taxes on cigarettes and gas. She wants to not only withhold services from common people, but punish them and make them foot the bill too. This is a direct attack on communities like East Orange, it is an attack on people of color. And it's on top of years of unchecked police brutality, racist sentencing, and militarized law enforcement."

"When I'm elected governor, we won't have this. I'm going to increase luxury taxes, not taxes on stuff like gas. I'm gonna legalize marijuana, regulate, and tax it. As I've said time and time again, we will see criminal justice reform and a return to community policing. We will end the constant takeovers, shutdowns, and bullshit coming out of Trenton, by building a better New Jersey for everyone. We are going to create a state central bank to keep rent in check. As I've said before, I will be creating a state office of equality. Not only will the office keep up equal pay for equal work, but it will hold a legal team with the duty of fighting racial gentrification that Hotchkiss has accelerated."

"We are going to solve the recession that Hotckiss and her cronies have ignored, by lowering property taxes to turn around the exodus from this state. We are going to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure so we can attract new businesses and commuters to our state, and increase economic activity in places like East Orange."

"Overall, East Orange, know this. I am a fighter, they call me the People's Prosecutor for a reason. I will be your ally. I will wake up every morning, very early believe me, and I will fight for you. I will fight until my knuckles bleed to push back against Washington's attacks by challenging them in court, legislating against them, and strong arming the states Congressional delegation into opposing them. I will fight until my knuckles bleed to undo the damage Hotchkiss has done, so that we can fix this state. Many of you trusted me enough to make me the Democratic nominee for governor. Now let's make sure we beat Hotchkiss."

"Thank you East Orange, and thank you Congressman Samara for being here. He is correct in saying that we need to build a positive path forward for this community and this state, and not just fight back against what is wrong. To follow the Congressman's lead and quote MLK, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” Though the likes of Hotckiss and Kramer may be out to get us, we are strong. We are one community and one state, and through our solidarity we will prevail.

[Tallahassee News Station]

House Offices

Representative Walsh had been doing a lot of reading recently. Revisiting Rand in the form of The Fountainhead had been an interesting experience, Roark speaking to him on a personal level as an example of courage in the face of overwhelming conformity and societal sluggishness. The man who can be, and is thought the Michigander as his polished shoes made steady contact with the floor in front of him. That was the kind of man he had always wanted to be, the one that he was in the CIA, under Dickney, and perhaps even now. But with age brought worries, questions about the future and thoughts on the latter parts of the life of Rand herself. A hypocrite? Possibly, but you would be hard pressed to find someone who was not these days, and even harder pressed to find one worthy of being spared a similarly negative title, he thought.

A man with a letter passed him in the hallway, the quick glance he got of it revealing a congressional seal. Nothing too out of the ordinary, but the movement of stationery was becoming rarer in the age of the email, so he took notice. Walsh decided this was both a good thing and a bad one, for the same reason. He did not think too hard on it, however, because he had an objective in mind that had nothing to do with sorting through philosophy, or answering questions about the moral sustainability of modern communication techniques.

That's because Walsh had been doing some supplementary reading too. Rossi was gone, and with her a source of entertainment in quarrelling with the silly little girl who thought she was "all that", only to be thrown onto the trash heap like so many eager salutatorians before her. Yang was no fun, and Harrington too intelligent. So when Walsh decided to probe further, into the background of a certain representative from Massachusetts, he was surprised, and he changed his calculus appropriately. The meeting he was set to improvise would be political, sure. But only as a pretext. The olympic gymnast turned ditzy politician's wife, or rather ex-wife, was the perfect human alternative to pursuing copious amounts of nothing, something Walsh had decided long ago would be the last resort in all applicable circumstances.

He knocked gently on the door to her office before letting himself in, eyeing the Secretary before giving her a practiced smile.

"Is the Congresswoman in?" he asked politely. "I have important buisness to discuss, Congressman Julius Walsh." he clarified.

Stevenson was on her Blackberry, looking back and forth between the documents on her desk and the phone screen, making sure she got the percentages right. The results had come as a complete surprise and it felt strange how they were actually making her feel sort of bad in a way that she didn't expect. It might have been some weird internal prejudice but she was trying to shake the feeling as something she shouldn't be having as she prepared to go public. She hummed to herself as a distraction as she accidently deleted the text she had put in and started typing again.

Meanwhile the young female secretary smiled at Walsh. "Welcome, Congressman, come right in, I'll bring you right to her." Stevenson had adopted an open door policy for any fellow Representatives or Senators who dropped by, except if Breckenridge ever came.

The secretary led Walsh out through the office to Stevenson coming into a room with an open layout and a casual atmosphere. Many of the staffers were talking to each other and not many looked like they were working though a few tried to look busier when be walked by. All were women and almost all young and a mix of ethnicities.

The secretary cheerfully introduced Stevenson "Here she is!" Stevenson looked up at the surprisingly handsome man and panicked mentally for a second before her quick thinking secretary silently mouthed "Walsh" to her while standing behind him. Kristen stood up to shake his hand and then had to guess the position. "Representative Walsh, it's a pleasure to see you."

[Federal States of Xathuecia]

---

Meeting a Concerned Constitutent

Brooklyn District Office
Greenpoint
New York

---

"Great!"

She speedily went to the water cooler, serving a small glass and offering it to the man.

"Take a seat..."

She sat down, clearing some of the blocks away before setting her hands down.

"So what do I owe the pleasure? Considering moving Congresswomen? Is Smith not doing you service?"

She chuckled.

[Prolieum]

National Air and Space Museum, Washington D.C.

Appleby arrived at the designated location for the meeting at the designated time, or at least close enough, for the latter category. Within a few minutes, at least. At present, he did not know whether or not there actually was going to be a meeting, not having seen a response to his email, but with the spot, it would not be a total waste of an hour or two if he was left alone.

He had not changed since coming over from Congress, a stupid decision that he was now regretting, trapped in the uncomfortable monkey suit that hung over his slim frame. He had added a baseball cap to the more formal attire, a dark blue example with a faded U.S.A 2002 Olympic logo on it, a somewhat odd addition obviously not in-set with his clothing, but coming off surprisingly well, sandwiching a somewhat tired-looking, mustachioed face between fabric atop and fabric below.

He leaned up against a wall just before the check-in point, waiting for an arrival, or looking for one already made.

[Prolieum]

New Jersey State House, Trenton, New Jersey

"That's it? Stansky has more to say than you?" Hotchkiss questioned the press assembled before her.

[Dentali]

New Jersey State House, Trenton, New Jersey

"That's it? Stansky has more to say than you?" Hotchkiss questioned the press assembled before her.

“Is their any healthcare proposal being considered that you wouldn’t support?”

[The Orion Islands]

Wilson Twitter @KeepWyomingGreat
"It is time for a total shutdown of all global trade with the criminal gang called North Korea and tell them that until they stop testing nukes we won't engage at all."

[Alozia]

Rep. McCroskey's District Office,
Greenpoint, New York

John chuckled back as he sat down. "No, sadly. Working for Congresswoman Smith is an honor, even if ocasionally a very exhausting one."

"I'm here to talk about something else. I don't want to be too direct or insensitive about this, but there are... rumours going around the Capitol Hill." Malinowski decided to stop there making sure not to overstep any boundary.

[Prolieum]

New Jersey State House, Trenton, New Jersey

"Because of obstructionism we have run out of time. The only bill that is ready to pass is the one that the General Assembly is blocking. The choice is a compromise for healthcare, or a government shutdown. I chose compromise, and the General Assembly needs to get off its high horse and do the same," Hotchkiss answered.

[Federal States of Xathuecia]

---

Meeting a Concerned Constitutent

Brooklyn District Office
Greenpoint
New York

---

She smiled.

"That's nice, she truly is a nice woman. Effective."

She got up, taking the tea that she had left on a small side table. It had gone cold but that was okay. Returning to her seat, she took a drink when the man ended his statement. It left her little time to recover.

"What rumors?"

She responded sharply, before adding on.

"Well, what have you heard? Relating to election I presume? Or reelection?"

[Dentali]

New Jersey State House, Trenton, New Jersey

"Because of obstructionism we have run out of time. The only bill that is ready to pass is the one that the General Assembly is blocking. The choice is a compromise for healthcare, or a government shutdown. I chose compromise, and the General Assembly needs to get off its high horse and do the same," Hotchkiss answered.

“Any plans for taking on the opioid crisis? Beyond current measures?”

[Prolieum]

New Jersey State House, Trenton, New Jersey

"That's not what we're talking about now," came Hotchkiss's reply.

[Granluras]

New Jersey State House, Trenton, New Jersey

"Because of obstructionism we have run out of time. The only bill that is ready to pass is the one that the General Assembly is blocking. The choice is a compromise for healthcare, or a government shutdown. I chose compromise, and the General Assembly needs to get off its high horse and do the same," Hotchkiss answered.

“What will you do politically if you lose the election?”

[Prolieum]

New Jersey State House, Trenton, New Jersey

"That's not what we're talking about now," Hotchkiss repeated.