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.'

'Let me call Barbara and her campaign manager and see what's agreeable to them, and I'll call you right back. What's your direct number?' He gave it to me, we hung up, and I speed-dialed Brady and shared Norton's advice. He said he would talk with Barbara and they would conference call me right back. Which they did.

'Peter, this is Barbara, and I have Rob on the line as well. Now what does your devious mind have in mind now?'

'I just spoke with John Norton and asked what we could do to give you a final push. He suggested buying ads in all the rural papers in the state, for one, because there's no room left to buy advertising on television or commercial radio, this late. Second, he suggested seeing if we could set up a last-minute debate on public radio between all three of the candidates. And third, he went blank. No idea, but I think we need one. Rob, any suggestions?'

There was silence on the line for some time. 'We've spent a lot of time on the rural parts of the state, but the deciding votes are going to be in our two largest cities, ' Rob said. 'The only thing I can think of is to have two major rallies in each of the cities, just a day or two before the election. What about a concert? Get the Blue Jays or the Thundering Herd to perform, and have Barbara speak? You think that would work?'

'Can we set that up in a matter of days?' I asked.

'It's doable, but expensive, ' Rob replied.

'Barbara, what do you think, ' I asked.

'I can't come up with anything better, ' was her answer.

'OK, Rob, set it in motion. Get me cost estimates as soon as you can, so I can cover this with the state party.'

'Will do, Peter.' I'll get back to you later today or tomorrow at the latest.' There was a hint of excitement in his voice.

'Barbara, for the newspaper ads, I'd suggest we run your stump speech. It was worked so well so far, it's all there, and can be put in place immediately. Many of these papers are weeklies, so we have to move fast.'

'Sounds good to me. Go for it.'

I called back Mr. Norton and told him 'our' campaign was in agreement. I wanted half-page, if not full-page in as many newspapers as he could place them, using the stump speech, with 'Go Get ÔEm Barbara!' in big bold print at the bottom of the ad. Tell me what the tab was, and I'd send them a check. I also gave him the go-ahead to try to set up a debate on the public broadcasting system. I also shared Rob's idea of the two rallies, and we would put that in motion, but wanted the state party to take the bill, and I'd cover those costs as well. He was elated, and said he'd get right on it. I told him Rob would be setting up the rally concerts, so he didn't need to worry about the logistics of those. It was about time Rob started to really do some real sweat work.