Chapter 6

We were a week away from election now. We were all sweating, but the polls were moving our direction. The incumbent was down by 20%, the independent was hovering around 18%, and Barbara had moved into the majority, at 52%. Too close! What to do, what to do. I called the chair of the state Democratic party for advice.

'Hi, this is Peter Hancock, and I'd like to speak to the Party chair, if I could?'

'Oh, ' said the receptionist, 'we've certainly been hearing a lot about YOU! I'm sure the chair would like to speak with you. Just a moment while I connect you.'

Several seconds later, a gravelly voice came on the line. 'This is John Norton, and I'm so glad you called. How can I help you today? You've done wonders for Barbara's campaign, and the whistlestop tour with the signs was a stroke of genius. I wish I could hire you to manage all our campaigns!' he laughed.

'I'm only interested in one campaign right now and that's Barbara's. Her polling has definitely improved but it's too close, and there's only a week left. I want your advice on how I can spend money in support of Barbara within the legal limits, and what we can do.'

'Well, you could contribute to the state party, and we could spend it in support of her campaign. The problem is, where to spend it. Almost all the advertising time available on TV and radio has been booked. For one, I'd suggest concentrating on buying ad space in all the rural papers in the state, for one. The other candidates have basically ignored that market, concentrating on the two big cities. Second, it would be good to see if we could set up a debate between the three candidates within the next few days. I don't know if that's doable, but I could get on that today to see if we could schedule it with the public broadcasting system. They're the most likely candidate, so to speak, as they have some flexibility in their scheduling, and reach most of the state. Third, I just don't know. We have so little time left.'