PAGE 3
Hail To The Chief
by
“Sure, Jim; sure.” He got up and walked over to the phone.
Horvin, the PR man, said: “Well, Senator, now that you’re the party’s candidate for the Presidency of the United States, who are you going to pick for your running mate? Vollinger was the only one who came even close to giving you a run for your money, and it would be good public relations if you chose him. He’s got the kind of personality that would make a good image.”
“Horvin,” the senator said kindly, “I’ll pick the men; you build the image from the raw material I give you. You’re the only man I know who can convince the public that a sow’s ear is really a silk purse, and you may have to do just that.
“You can start right now. Go down and get hold of the news boys and tell them that the announcement of my running mate will be made as soon as this demonstration is over.
“Tell them you can’t give them any information other than that, but give them the impression that you already know. Since you don’t know, don’t try to guess; that way you won’t let any cats out of the wrong bags. But you do know that he’s a fine man, and you’re pleased as all hell that I made such a good choice. Got that?”
Horvin grinned. “Got it. You pick the man; I’ll build the image.” He went out the door.
* * * * *
When the door had closed, Governor Spanding said: “So it’s going to be Fisher, is it?”
“You know too much, Harry,” said Senator Cannon, grinning. “Remind me to appoint you ambassador to Patagonia after Inauguration Day.”
“If I lose the election at home, I may take you up on it. But why Matthew Fisher?”
“He’s a good man, Harry.”
“Hell yes, he is,” the governor said. “Tops. I’ve seen his record as State Attorney General and as Lieutenant Governor. And when Governor Dinsmore died three years ago, Fisher did a fine job filling out his last year. But–“
“But he couldn’t get re-elected two years ago,” Senator Cannon said. “He couldn’t keep the governor’s office, in spite of the great job he’d done.”
“That’s right. He’s just not a politician, Jim. He doesn’t have the … the personality, the flash, whatever it is that it takes to get a man elected by the people. I’ve got it; you sure as hell have it; Fisher doesn’t.”
“That’s why I’ve got Horvin working for us,” said Senator Cannon. “Whether I need him or not may be a point of argument. Whether Matthew Fisher needs him or not is a rhetorical question.”
Governor Spanding lit a cigarette in silence while he stared at the quasi-riot that was still coming to the screen from Convention Hall. Then he said: “You’ve been thinking of Matt Fisher all along, then.”
“Not Patagonia,” said the senator. “Tibet.”
“I’ll shut up if you want me to, Jim.”
“No. Go ahead.”
“All right. Jim, I trust your judgment. I’ve got no designs on the Vice Presidency myself, and you know it. I like to feel that, if I had, you’d give me a crack at it. No, don’t answer that, Jim; just let me talk.
“What I’m trying to say is that there are a lot of good men in the party who’d make fine VP’s; men who’ve given their all to get you the nomination, and who’ll work even harder to see that you’re elected. Why pass them up in favor of a virtual unknown like Matt Fisher?”
Senator Cannon didn’t say anything. He knew that Spanding didn’t want an answer yet.
“The trouble with Fisher,” Spanding went on, “is that he … well, he’s too autocratic. He pulls decisions out of midair. He–” Spanding paused, apparently searching for a way to express himself. Senator Cannon said nothing; he waited expectantly.