Longworth House Office Building
Office of Rep. Linda Teasdale ~ Jan. 3
The office was relatively quiet. Linda was supposed leave the office an hour ago, but as usual, remained to review the seemingly countless items of importance that preceded her. She didn't mind however, her daughters were old enough to be home on their own, and she would be catching her flight home to Tucson the next morning; if she at least finished what was left of her draft revisions, she could take the day off when she returned. In one swinging motion, she took the stack of bills and legal archive logs, and dropped them on the filing cabinet next to her desk. She took a sip of water and took out a bag of odd smelling atkin's friendly potato chips. As she continued on with her work, she listened to the president's televised rally on in the background. There was a knock on her door, before Linda's administrative assistant, Howie, marched in carrying a bankers box of files.
"Dinner of champions, eh?" he said sarcastically.
"You're one to talk, when was the last time you ate something that wasn't from a vending machine?" she said with a slight laugh, without taking her eyes off of the work in front of her.
"Sounds more like a question for the Department of Agriculture..." he said, bringing them both to a quiet laugh. As he set the box down, he glanced at the television. "He say anything groundbreaking.?"
"No, just the usual jargon. I'm starting to miss the way the old Rockefeller Republicans talked though...I respect Wolf's sand and all, but I'll never understand his fascination with that damn wall."
"I hear you..." he chuckled. As he sorted through the bankers box, removing folders, and placing them neatly in a pile. Suddenly though, his attention was brought away momentarily towards the television. "Take a look at this...he's acting weird, he looks nervous," he said, causing Linda to remove her glasses and observe the rally.
“God chose me to start, but he has decided I cannot finish it. I will die for my country. I will die making us stronger, bringing America to the top of the heap!”
"What the hell is he going on about?" Linda expressed, her attention now fixated on his statements.
“I am not running for President in 2020, I was diagnosed with grade 3 brain cancer less than one week ago. Even with treatment, it will likely become grade 4 in a year. After that time, I will only have about 8 months left to live. If I were to run for re-election, it would not be fair to the country, to you, or to my family. Thank you, and God Bless the United States of America.”
Linda and Howie were both momentarily speechless at the witnessed Wolf's statements unfold.
"Holy shit..." Howie said, while forcefully seating himself in the chair across from Linda's desk.
"This isn't good," she said before snapping out of her momentary paralysis and opening the top drawer of her desk. She grabbed a large black binder, flipping open the first few pages and yanking the receiver off of the phone. "We needed him in office. Even with his unpredictability, all the moderates are dependent on him to keep the democratic majority from encroaching on any significant legislature. The budget situation is hanging by a thread, we need a contingency plan," she said forcefully, while quickly scribbling notes.
"How do we want to play this?" Howie asked in a concerned manner, while opening his laptop. "Voters are going to expect a response no matter what we do."
"Shit you're right...draft some publicity. I might not have agreed with every policy he made, but I'll be damned if I let him fry while the party destabilizes. We need to set a plan in place for the election, I didn't think it would heat up this fast," she expressed in an exhausted voice.
"You mean you're actually going to run?" he asked with a surprised tone.
"I don't know yet, but even if that's that case, we need to standby before making any significant strides. Right now, our focus is maintaining stability, and while he's still in office, we need to remain calm, and appear collected. In the meantime, see what information you can find with any democrats that may possibly be using this as a stepping stone in their campaign, there's bound to be a few," she expressed while continuing to write notes.
"You got it," he exclaimed before leaving the office.
