gestures. The one thing that stood out immediately was that Levi never said a word. He never agreed with Richard. On the flip side, he didn’t try to stop him either. At the end, when Richard had finished his tirade, Levi said, “OK, Richard. Let’s go inside now. Let’s let the voters make up their minds. I think they can be trusted to make good choices.”
Levi’s faith in voters was something I could use. It was a small thing, but it provided the foundation necessary to build a plan for responding. The bitter irony of the moment settled upon me as I prepared to conference in Gabriel and Levi. I had assumed Stoner Halbert would try to do something directed at me personally. Now, it appeared that either Halbert’s demon had come in contact with Richard and egged on his outburst, or we’d been walking around with a ticking time bomb inside the campaign for weeks.
I’d warned Levi not to jinx us.
I pulled out my phone, which was beeping frantically, to see what the noise was about and ran smack into a set of Twitter feeds from Lacy Smith’s campaign.
Barnes must quit campaign.
Intellectual elite have no place in government
It’s of the people, by the people.
William leaned over my shoulder as I scanned the tweets. “I call it Constitutional haiku,” I said. “It’s a favorite of conservatives.”
“Smart,” William said. “They are striking while the news cycle is hot.”
I nodded in agreement. I had to acknowledge their discipline, but I had no intention of letting Levi resign, at least not yet. I picked up the phone, resolved to put Humpty-Dumpty back together again. I dialed Levi and conferenced Gabriel in to the conversation.
“Levi, get Richard on the line,” I said, as I rummaged around for a piece of paper in William’s desk. I found a yellow legal pad and began to doodle as I spoke to relieve some of my nervous energy.
“Richard isn’t answering his phone,” Levi said, sounding apprehensive.
“I bet,” I said. “Listen, I’ve reviewed the video, as well as the story JP wrote. I also reviewed Lacy’s tweets calling for your resignation. It looks bad, but I think it can be fixed.
“Here’s what we’re going to do,” I continued. “First, Richard is going to issue a big, fat apology for his thoughtless remarks, which I will write for him shortly. Next, we will hold a press conference in Palo Alto tomorrow to discuss what he said. We’re going to make sure everybody knows this is about him at the moment and what Levi’s response is going to be.”
“That’s it?” Levi asked.
“No, there’s more. I will be leaving shortly for Palo Alto to begin on-the-street interviews with voters, to gauge what they really think about this situation. Patrick and Maggie from the campaign will conduct a quick phone survey, using some of the voters we identified in our poll.’
“While we do our work, Levi, you need to come up with a gesture, a donation of some kind that will unequivocally demonstrate your respect and belief that no one gets left behind in this new economy. Unemployment is still high with blue-collar voters; you must reassure them that you will help them find work. We need a donation to a major foundation that funds job training and career transition programs. Finally, both of you should plan on being in Palo Alto later this evening. We’ll regroup then and put all of these pieces of the puzzle together. Is everything clear?”
“Sounds like a solid plan,” said Levi. “What time is the conference tomorrow?”
“I’m recommending 3 pm; that way we can make the 5 pm news cycle.”
“Will you let JP into the conference?” asked Gabriel.
“Of course,” I said. “It won’t do at all to shoot the messenger. I’m leaving now to pick up my gear and go. As ritzy as it sounds, I will be checking into the Four Seasons by the highway. I’ll see you later this evening.”
Time was ticking away… I was anxious to get started. I put my phone away and gathered my things to leave.
“You’re as good as any general in the field,” William said, standing in the doorway watching me.
“I don’t know about that,” I said. “I led our troops right into this mess, this is my fault.”
“You think because you didn’t go out to dinner, JP decided to write something negative?”
“Sure, isn’t it obvious?”
“Darlin, you’re a campaign manager, not an escort. If JP was basing his favorable coverage on your affections, then this was bound to happen, regardless.