Characters: President Richardson, Senator Deb Freyer, CoS Bob Abernathy
Players: Dentali, Sarenium,
Location: White House, Washington DC
Date: January 24th, 2021
Bob had scheduled this one in the afternoon rather deliberately, when he greeted Deborah he did so as a colleague and equal, though gave her subtle deference in recognition of the one thing he valued, some weird quirk of lengthy experience. The two met at the door and Bob led her into the Roosevelt Room where she was to wait for the President, four journalists walked past by deliberate machination, documenting that Deborah Feyrer was in the White House, supposedly those images would mollify the right wing. Eventually, she would be led into the Oval Office itself where Bob announced her half informally, “Senator Deb Feyrer,” he opened the door, “Mr. President,” he greeted as the taller woman approached the President.
She looked down on him, not figuratively, quite literally, but was not shy and came comfortably close, not beyond her social bounds, but enough so that she was towering over him and extended her hand, “Mister President,” she greeted.
“Senator Freyer I don’t believe we’ve ever had the pleasure of a one on one conversation, just odd meetings at functions and parties.” Richardson said, shaking the Senator’s hand “I hope this is the first of many meetings.”
“Of many meetings with Senators,” she mused, “or Alabamians.”
Richardson’s southern accent was mild but noticeable “Lets just say i’ll always give Southerners a bit more time… I’ve actually been to Tuscaloosa quite a bit to watch the Crimson Tide play. They consistently slaughter Duke so I’m a bit bitter about that.” he chuckled
“Well, the deeper in the south, the better the Southerner,” she replied in her thick Alabama accent. Bob was aware of what she was waiting for.
“Shall we take our seats?” Bob gestured to the couches.
Deborah waited for the President’s lead. Richardson nodded and sat down
“I’m a big fan of your Endless Frontier Act, I know I said as much publicly but I want to reiterate it.” Richardson was earnest and in a fairly good mood.
“I’d normally be more hesitant to spend federal dollars given the shape of our budget, but China’s behaviour this past year has been despicable, we best not be planning to budge an inch,” she directed her remark at both Bob and the President, “this bill is a big part of how we confront them.”
“I don’t need to tell you this… I don't want to say New Cold War, but we are almost there… this conflict has dozens of prongs… Your bill and the infrastructure bill are going to catch us up to them in a lot of sectors where we were caught sleeping over the years…” Richardson took a more serious tone
“We still have problems… and some people I respect are pushing me to have a bit more of a reconciliatory approach with them, mainly due to the ongoing trade conflict… But frankly I…”
“I’ll interrupt you right there, Mr. President,” Deb’s voice indicate restraint, though she did not pull her punches, “how you handle China is ultimately at your discretion, and whatever I say will not change that,” she acknowledged her own influence in this White House, “but this bill should be your first priority. Before any crap Democratic bill, and before that whopper of a spend you’ve got coming out of the House, because it sends the right message. That Congress and the White House, across the aisle and including both parties, will not pull their punches in catching up and going beyond China’s supposed capacity.”
Nate gave a respectful nod not happy at the interruption but willing to allow it for the sake of building a relationship
“It is at my discretion but I would be a fool to not heed your advice,” Richardson gave a small smile “Mr Abernathy has indicated we can get your bill done quickly, and while I do have some concerns regarding directing the funding I tend to agree. Your bill has my full support and backing as a priority. As long as it doesn’t delay the initial economic relief bill.”
“It won’t,” she smiled, leaning in, “if you throw your support behind it’s immediate passage this week. The libs are suffocating the Senate in their blue state bailout bill, I’ll filibuster it if it comes up before my bill.”
Now it was Richardson’s turn to interrupt “Senator I don't want to see that bill pass either at the same time I don’t want to see them looking for revenge and taking it out on Frontier. Do it if you have to but if you can avoid such measures I would ask you to try.”
Bob glanced at Nate, recalling some vague promise to sign the bill if it passed while Deb continued her spiel, “if the Democrats want to pass their commie load of trash before the bill to fight commie loads of trash, I would hope you’d publicly call them out on it, Mr. President.”
“Unfortunately while the Democrats have the Senate Majority I will have to be a bit more… delicate about things. Senate Majority Leader Hertzog indicated taking a hard line on BUILD would be justification for them jamming up the works. So it will require a bit more… subtlety to handle” For the first time in the conversation Richardson showed some frustration “I do however think that the broad nature of the Democratic Party can be played against this bill however.” Richardson nodded at Bob
“Bob in your estimation would BUILD pass if it got voted on today?”
“There aren’t sixty votes to break the Senator’s filibuster,” Bob acknowledged, “but there are Republican votes for it until such time as the whip is cracked,” he vaguely alluded to his own skills.
Richardson gave the CoS a look indiciatinghe wished to discuss that a bit more later
“If you make clear how hopeless it is,” Deb looked at the President, “a man as old as Obradovic will pull it until the numbers stack up for them.”
Richardson considered this momentarily, “I’ll be candid with you, I don’t have as good an estimation of the man as I’d like yet…. So I can’t comment on it either way. Regardless, I will try that tact and should I fail then we can have one of the Republicans give it a poison pill or refer it to the committee.”
“Well,” Deb responded, “if that is your desire, Mr. President.”
Her tone indicated that it was something she took particularly seriously.
Richardson took a beat and shifted to a mildly more intense posture “At the end of the day we are going to sink the bill… That I promise you.”
“Let’s hope so,” she smiled, “for yours and the party’s sake,” she raised her hand in preparation to farewell.
“Before you go Diane I wanted to discuss a few other items with you? I promise not to take up too much of your time…” Richardson said almost apologetically
Deborah’s face didn’t drop so much as she pursed her lips, “I’ll fetch the New Englander for that if you’d like.”
“Sorry I need to call her directly after this meeting… Truly I apologize…” Richardson’s sincerity was evident
“What I wanted to ask about was trade… The current economic crisis isn’t going to just be solved by boosting infrastructure or domestic capacity… even if it was…”
“Mr. President,” she stopped him once again, “my ability to support any trade deal depends on the details. Deals that put America first, I’ll back.”
“Senator, I was hoping you could be a bit more specific on what that means to you?” He continued “That means many different things to different people… Specifically I want to build up in the IndoPacific, I would appreciate any recommendations you had.”
Deb appeared somewhat amused, though she did not show anything else, “don’t sell us out,” she declared vaguely.
Richardson’s brow furrowed for just a moment at the woman who supposedly led foreign policy in the Senate for his party before deciding to drop it.
Richardson looked to Bob and back at Deb looking to change the track of the conversation “The other items I wanted to discuss were investing in the Defense of the Indo Pacific. I spoke with Senator Colbert yesterday and he volunteered to take point on some of it… I recommend contacting you on it for support… Finally I wanted to gauge where you were on Infrastructure?”
Deb, who by now was becoming increasingly tired of this conversation and sensed the President wanted to barter for her support much further down the track, stood as she spoke, “as with everything, Mr. President, my views are conditional on the details. I’m all for a stronger Pacific, but I won’t back it if it costs good Americans their jobs,” she said politely.
“I’m not asking for support here Senator” Richardson clarified “I am asking for advice on a path forward.”
She studied him for a moment, god was he short, “Mr. President, my advice is to pass Endless Frontier and get these tariffs dropped, without selling the house in the process. I struggle to see how our donors will accept entry into a deal with the far east without the protections that had been negotiated by us four years ago and are no longer in it because we pulled out and the others didn’t care,” she dropped her perspective, very barely, unconvinced of the worthwhileness of this Presidency, “Mr. President, if you’ll excuse me, there are hearings all afternoon and I must get a bill onto your desk, at this stage without your complete support.”
“Senator, allow me to be absolutely clear and candid” Richardson said, not quite understanding where she got the idea she didn’t have his support, “I support the bill fully, I will say so publicly as I did during the campaign… I will push for it… and I WILL clear any bill out of the way that needs cleared I just need to consult with Mr. Abernathy here about the most effective way to do that.’’
“Mr. President,” she sighed, “you said minutes ago you don’t want the Democrats to be angered by a hardline stance, you indicate you want conciliation with confrontation, that we don’t want some new cold war, but support passing a bill that affirms there is a cold war,” she said coldly, “I don’t know what you want, to be completely frank with you, sir. While you and, Mr. Abernathy sort out exactly what you want, and what stand you will take, I shall do what I do best and stop a Democratic strong-arming of the Senate.”
She paused before continuing, “I hope to see you sledge them for choosing their bailout over this necessary bill, but I’ve seen no indication that this is something you’ll do, I’ve seen every indication that the cultural elite from out of this world who’s got his head in the clouds can come into this room and you are prepared to tiptoe around him.”
“Understood,” Richardson said standing up “Well I hope that I can prove to you exactly what I stand for and earn your trust.” He extended a hand to shake
Deb shook his hand, “I don’t often trust men from Florida who cheer for a North Carolinian team,” she gave one slight smile, “but let’s hope so.”
With that, she left, the door swinging closed behind her and Bob sighing, “that went better than I thought it would.”
“Was I out of line saying I wanted to try and be a bit more subtle before calling for blood?” Richardson said a bit exasperated
“I wouldn’t worry about it,” Bob shook his head, “her opinion will always be that you’re budging on too much, too much of the time. In my experience, she dislikes discussing anything that catches her by surprise. Any other Senator would be flattered to be asked their view on your foreign policy, but she sees that as an ambush or insincere inquiries. When I worked for Moe,” he mentioned his late old boss with a faint smile, “we foreshadowed whatever we wanted to discuss with her staff, and if she requested the meeting, we avoided anything that she didn’t bring up herself. It kept her happy in the room and cool headed. She’s a good attack dog when she’s on your side.”
“Bob..” Richardson said awkwardly trying the man’s first name out for the first time “I worry about her more than the Progs or most of the Dems… I don’t know where she stands on a dozen issues especially with foreign policy and she is supposedly our leading expert in the Senate… How the hell did she think I wouldn’t ask about it? I can’t formulate a foreign policy platform to put to the Senate without knowing where she stands because I’m damn sure she has no problem undermining my position. And that is one area where her objection would carry incredible weight.”
“If she doesn’t clarify her positions and work with me I can’t move forward on basically anything outside our borders. She is not someone I can ignore or work around.”
“She doesn’t know you and judging by her rant at the end three, she doesn’t know where you stand either,” Bob paused, “we can formulate our foreign policy with the input of your cabinet, some four thousand people work under your seal, consult her and Congress when absolutely needed but they will accept your actions. Beg for forgiveness not permission.”
“So youre saying I need to do that without the input of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee head? Of my own party? She wouldn’t WANT input on that?”
“No sir,” Bob paused, “she’d happily give you input, but bringing up her view on trade deals and pacific defence in a meeting we’d indicated would be mostly to do with Endless Frontier and Senate business gave her, and admittedly myself, the impression that you were attempting to barter your support in exchange for hers. In future, my advice is to stay to the agenda or at least give her office the heads up she needs to come to a meeting prepared. When she’s warned, she will engage,” he vaguely recalled her monologous rants about American decline as he said his piece.
“Fine” Richardson said, annoyed and letting silence linger for a few moments “Miscommunication happens… Regardless, we need to get our Foreign policy team up and running, Eliza to South Korea… What's the status on the Secretary of State?”
“Whenever you pick a replacement to not-Scott Brown,” Bob extracted a manila folder with the shortlist, “we’ll have Bryan pile pressure for a quick confirmation.”
“Alright someone a bit less moderate this time… One last thing… What’s your take on BUILD?”
