Girl Power (25 page)

It was Lindy and Melissa. After hugging and cheek kissing, they slipped

into the suite, where the new arrivals sat beside each other on the settee. Sally wondered for a second about how inseparable they'd become, but decided it was

none of her business. "I was just going through the refrigerator. Would either of you like something? They have beer, wine, water, soda and snacks."

Melissa opened a bag she'd brought revealing two bottles, and smiled.

"Actually, Lindy and I would like a little of this Bordeaux. Won't you join us?"

Sally cocked her head and smiled. "I'd love some. Thank you."

Melissa, jumped up. "Good, have a seat future Ms. President." She pulled Lindy to her feet and grabbed one of the bottles. "Your campaign manager and personal assistant will take care of everything."

Thirty minutes later, Lee let himself in. "Hi, everyone." He raised a magnum of wine, showing it to everyone. "I see somebody beat me to it. Well, on a day like this you can't have too much wine."

The glasses were all used so Lee poured some wine into a coffee cup. Then

he sat next to Sally on the davenport and kissed her on the cheek. "Mmm, tastes like honey."

Sally shook her head, but smiled. "Behave yourself."

"I can't help it."

Sally started to rise. "Then I'll move to the other end of the couch."

Lee, grabbed her forearm. "Just stay put. I'll be all business."

When she settled back in, Lee said, "I came from the banquet room. Have

you been down there lately?"

Sally shook her head. "No, I came up here an hour ago. Why?"

"Lots and lots people. The room is already full." He laughed. "For your reelection night, I suggest a larger venue."

Sally set her hand on his knee and chuckled. "You're sure optimistic."

He nodded. "I am, aren't I? I guess that's one of the benefits of being around you." Someone knocked on the door. "It's probably my niece." Lee rose. "I'll get it.

I invited her and Ricardo."

Lee opened the door. It was Carla and Millie bringing food and drink to the

foursome.

This pleased Sally. "Thank you ladies. That was thoughtful of you."

Both ladies bowed their heads. "Oh, think nothing of it. Just leave the dishes outside the door. Room service will get them later."

As they left, the expected couple showed up. Everyone embraced and shook

the newcomers' hands. They settled on the other end of the davenport.

"Did you eat?" Sally asked.

Kelly nodded. "Yes, we did, thank you. Downstairs. It was quite good.

Ricky and I wouldn't mind some of that wine, if we may."

Melissa started to rise. "Of course."

Kelly stayed her. "I can get it. You finish eating."

Sally said, "I saw some glasses on the bathroom vanity."

"Thanks." After retrieving two glasses, Kelly went to the eating counter and poured two glasses of Bordeaux. "That's quite a crowd you have downstairs.

Mostly women."

Lindy chuckled. "Big surprise. Lots of women at a women's party function."

Kelly handed one of the glasses to Ricardo and sat. "I know. I just thought there'd be more men—husbands, boyfriends, men on the prowl, etc."

Melissa laughed. "When word gets out, they'll be at the next event. By the

way, I just love your show. How's it going?"

"Not bad. Winfred thinks if the Pinks win a few contests, interest will spike and if she and Sally manage to win, it'll be 'Katy Bar the Door'. By the way, I

have a film crew down there filming the whole event. Ricky and I can only stay

an hour or so, because I plan to interview some of our supporters for the show."

Chapter Twenty-two – The Results

One function of the income gap is that the people at the top of the heap have a

hard time even seeing those at the bottom. They practically need a telescope.

— Molly Ivins

"While we're waiting for the results to come in, we're going to take you to a polling place in the capital of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, where Erica Hilton is

standing by. Hello Erica. What do you have?"

"Good evening, Jeff. As you know exit polling is unscientific, but polling

shows some interesting trends."

"Such as?"

"Well, so far the Pink candidate is ahead of the other candidates by quite a bit. That in itself is astounding for a third party candidate, but the statistics are revealing. Overall women voted 42% for Cummings, 21% for Richardson and

27% for Taylor. Men on the other hand, voted 36% Taylor, 33% percent

Richardson and 31% percent Cummings."

"Anything else?"

"Yes, something else I found interesting is that 90% of the people, men and women voted a straight ticket."

"Hmm. Looks like we're in for an incredible night."

Around 7:30, the networks started posting the returns from the Eastern

Time Zone.

Melissa bounced up and down in her seat. "Look, Sally is ahead in

Maryland and Virginia."

Sally said, "Yes, I'm ahead, but it's only four percent of the vote. If we're still ahead when it gets up to thirty or forty percent then it's time to start getting excited."

Lee chuckled. "And if you're more than two points ahead."

Ricardo remarked, "That's interesting."

Sally asked, "What's interesting?"

With his gaze fixed on the screen, he explained. "New York. Cooper is

falling way behind and it's between you and Taylor."

Lindy explained, "Not that surprising, since New York is one of the most

liberal states, along with Massachusetts and Vermont."

Melissa said, "And California. That's the big enchilada."

Entwining his fingers behind his head, Lee leaned back. "Melissa's right.

California is over 10% of the 538 electors. I would say we have a decent chance

there."

Sally sighed. "I hope you're right…Oh, oh, it looks like they're getting ready to make a call."

Everyone's attention turned toward the screen. "National News Network is

predicting that in the south, Republican candidate, Cooper Richardson III, will

win Georgia with 16 electoral votes and South Carolina with 9 electoral votes."

Lee shook his head and leaned forward. "That's no surprise."

"Shush!" Lindy gestured. "He's not finished."

"And up in the northeast our analysts predict the new third party candidate, Sally Cummings, is off to a good start, winning New York and Massachusetts,

while Democratic candidate Clovis Taylor, will win the District of Columbia,

New Hampshire, Vermont and New Jersey."

Everyone cheered, and Lindy made a quick analysis of her own, "That puts

Sally ahead of the others with 40 electors to Coop's 25 and Taylor's 23."

They all cheered again.

Kelly turned to Ricardo. "We should probably get going now."

He nodded and Kelly explained, "We're going down to the banquet room

now." Thirty minutes later, the moderator announced, "The polls have just closed in the Central Time Zone, so while we're waiting for new returns, I'm going to

take you to a polling place in St Louis, Missouri where Jenna Kenner is standing by. Hello, Jenna."

"Good evening, Jeff. From what I can see this looks like a record turnout."

"Yes, I've been hearing that. What do you have?"

"Apparently, people like the idea of a third party candidate, especially a

woman candidate. Based on our exit polling, Sally Cummings is slightly ahead of

the other candidates. Overall, she received 60% of the women's vote. I'll bet 80%

of them were young to middle-aged and they were unbelievably enthusiastic."

"What about men?"

"Some of them voted for Cummings. I even talked my husband into voting

for her."

"I mean do you have any figures on the men."

"Sure. About 39% voted Richardson and 32% voted for Taylor. The rest

were for Cummings."

"Fascinating. Thanks for the report."

As expected, West Virginia and Indiana went to Richardson, and Virginia

and Maine went into Taylor's column. Meanwhile, Sally picked up the coastal

states, Maryland, Delaware, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, leaving five very

important, electoral-plentiful states, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida and North Carolina, too close to call.

Sally maintained her lead over the others with 64 electors to 41 for

Richardson and 39 for Taylor.

Melissa's grabbed Lindy's arm. "Look, Sally's killing both of them."

Lindy laid her hand over Mel's and nodded. "Sally's doing great, but a

minefield of red states lies ahead."

National News Network had made nine additional calls when the polls

finally closed in the Mountain Time Zone. Undecideds, Pennsylvania and

Michigan, in the Eastern Time zone, went to Sally, and North Carolina went to

Richardson. Ohio and Florida continued to be too close to call.

As the network posted the returns, Sally began to worry. "Cooper seems to

be winning the entire south."

"And he will," Lee said, "but so far you have states to offset that. When we get into the plains and Rockies, Taylor or you will have to steal a couple states."

As Lee foretold, Central Time Zone states, Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas,

Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi and Oklahoma went overwhelmingly for

Richardson. Sally balanced that by picking up Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota keeping her in the lead with 150 to Richardson's 106 electors. Taylor

still had 39 electors.

By the time the polls closed in the Pacific Time Zone, the National News

Network predicted previously too close to call states, Ohio and Florida would go to Richardson. This alone gave him the lead over Sally, 153 electors to 150.

When Melissa saw this, she said, "Oh shit!" She promptly covered her

mouth, "I'm sorry. I just got worried when Sally lost the lead."

Lee laughed. "It's gonna get a lot worse. Sally still has a chance, but it's going to look hopeless before things get better. Historically Republicans have the middle and the south and the Democrats have the Northeast and the West coasts,

but things will be different with a third party, and frankly, I'm not sure how."

As Lee predicted, things got worse—a lot worse. After the network called

Colorado for Sally, giving her a short-lived lead, the election seemed to unravel.

In fact, things were downright bleak when the TV moderator predicted

Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, and Texas

would all go for Richardson. The only bright spot was Taylor managed to get

New Mexico and Arizona—his home state.

Everybody jumped when Lee slapped his knee with his open palm.

"Damn!" Lee glance around. "Sorry, didn't need to startle. We coulda used New Mexico. We were in second place there, only fifteen thousand votes behind. Oh

well, at least Richardson didn't get it." He wrapped his arm around Sally's shoulder. "Don't worry, baby, you haven't lost yet."

The moderator said, "National News Network political analysts predicted

that Sally Cummings will win Iowa's six electoral votes.

"Phew!" Lee pulled Sally close and kissed her cheek. "We needed that."

Despite Lee's assurances, it looked hopeless to Sally. Richardson had 229

electors to her measly 165, with only six states to go. "How can I possibly win?

There's only six states left and I'm down 64 electoral votes."

"Ah, my sweet, except for Alaska, which Coop will win, all the states are as blue as the ocean whose shores they're on. Your biggest danger right now is not

from the Republican candidate. It's from your Democratic competition. If Taylor

wins California, Coop Richardson will be the President."

As if fate were saying oh no! NNN made its next prediction. "Our analysts

predict that the big prize of California and its 55 electoral votes will go to…Sally Cummings."

Sally inhaled deeply. She won California. She was now behind by nine

electors.

Jeff, the National News Network announcer laid it all out, in layman's

terms. "It's not likely that Cooper Richardson III will win any other states beside Alaska, where he has a twenty point lead in the poll, so whether Sally Cummings

wins or loses depends on whether her Democratic opponent wins any

combination of the other states with electoral votes over sixteen." The announcer paused as if someone spoke to him through his earphone. Then he faced the

camera. "Folks this is getting real interesting. The polls just closed in Alaska and our analysts are predicting Cooper Richardson will win Alaska's three electors."

He paused again as if getting more instructions.

Doing quick math in her head, Sally realized Washington was key. If she

lost it, she would need all three other states, Nevada, Oregon and Hawaii. Or she could tie with Washington and Hawaii.

The announcer faced the camera. "National News Network predicts that

Clovis Taylor will win the states of Oregon and Nevada with seven and six

electoral votes each. Also that Sally Cummings will win Washington's twelve

electoral votes."

"What happens in case of a tie?"

Lee smiled. "You and Coop arm wrestle for the Presidency."

Sally frowned deeply. "Funny! What happens?"

He shrugged. "I'm not sure what'll happen, so let's hope it doesn't come to that." Sally reached into her purse to retrieve her ringing cell phone. "Hello?"

"Hi, I hope you don't mind, I got your number from Brad Nelsen."

Sally worked to place the voice. "Debra?"

"You remembered. Good."

Sally snickered. "How could I forget the Democratic National

Chairwoman."

She laughed. "I didn't forget you either. You and all your candidates ran

excellent races. I called to congratulate you."

Sally frowned. "I don't understand. I haven't won yet."