Matthew. The senator's ability to remember the names and facesof his constituents caused one pundit to remark that "it's a wise Cannonthat knows its own fodder."
They whooped with joy when the senator's plane was delayed by badweather; causing him to arrive several hours late to a bonfire rally inTexas. Only a strong headline writer could resist: CANNON MISSES FIRE!
As a result, the senator's name hit the headlines more frequently thanhis rival's did. And the laughter was _with_ Cannon, not _at_ him.
Nothing more was heard about the "mysterious craft" that the Sovietclaimed to have shot down, except a terse report that said it had"probably been destroyed." It was impossible to know whether or not theyhad deduced what had happened, or whether they realized that the newcraft was as maneuverable over the surface of the moon as a helicopterwas over the surface of Earth.
Instead, the Sino-Soviet bloc had again shifted the world's attention toAfrica. Like the Balkan States of nearly a century before, the small,independent nations that covered the still-dark continent were acontinuing source of trouble. In spite of decades of "civilization,"the thoughts and actions of the majority of Africans were still cast inthe matrix of tribal taboos. The changes of government, the internalstrife, and the petty brush wars between nations made Central and SouthAmerica appear rigidly stable by comparison. It had been suggested thatthe revolutions in Africa occurred so often that only a tachometer couldkeep up with them.
If nothing else, the situation had succeeded in forcing the organizationof a permanent UN police force; since back in 1960, there had not been atime when the UN Police were not needed somewhere in Africa.
In mid-October, a border dispute between North Uganda and South Ugandabroke out, and within a week it looked as though the Commonwealth ofVictorian Kenya, the Republic of Upper Tanganyika, and the Free andIndependent Popular Monarchy of Ruanda-Urundi were all going to try tojump in and grab a piece of territory if possible.
The Soviet Representative to the United Nations charged that "this is apurely internal situation in Uganda, caused by imperialist _agentsprovocateur_ financed by the Western Bloc." He insisted that UNintervention was unnecessary unless the "warmongering" neighbors ofUganda got into the scrap.
In a televised press interview, Vice Presidential Candidate MatthewFisher was asked what he thought of the situation in East Africa.
"Both North and South Uganda," he said, "are communist controlled, but,like Yugoslavia, they have declared themselves independent of themasters at Moscow. If this conflict was stirred up by specialagents--and I have no doubt that it was--those agents were Soviet, notWestern agents. As far as the UN can be concerned, the Soviet Ministeris correct, since the UN has recognized only the government of NorthUganda as the government of all Uganda, and it is, therefore, a purelyinternal affair.
"The revolution--that is, _partial_ revolution--which caused thedivision of Uganda a few years ago, was likewise due to Sovietintervention. They hoped to replace the independent communist governmentwith one which would be, in effect, a puppet of the Kremlin. Theyfailed. Now they are trying again.
"Legally, UN troops can only be sent there at the request of theNorthern Uganda government. The Secretary General can send police troopsthere of his own accord only if another nation tries to invade Uganda.
"But--and here is the important point--if the Uganda government asks theaid of a friendly government to send troops, and if that friendlygovernment complies with that request, _that cannot be considered aninvasion_!"
Question from a reporter: "Do you believe that such intervention fromanother country will be requested by Uganda?"
"I do. And I am equally certain that the Soviet representative to theUN, and his Superiors in Moscow, will try to make a case of invasion andaggression out of it."
* * * * *
Within twenty-four hours after that interview, the government of NorthUganda requested aid from Victorian Kenya, and a huge contingent ofKenyan troops marched across the border to help the North Uganda army.And the Soviet representative insisted that the UN send in troops tostop the "imperialist aggression" of Victorian Kenya. The rigidlypro-Western VK government protested that the Sino-Soviet accusationswere invalid, and then asked, on its own accord, that a UN contingent besent in to arbitrate and act as observers and umpires.
"Win one, lose one," Matthew Fisher said privately to Senator Cannon."Uganda will come out of this with a pro-Western government, but itmight not be too stable. The whole African situation is unstable.Mathematically, it has to be."
"How's that?" Senator Cannon asked.
"Do you know the Richardson-Gordon Equations?" Fisher asked.
"No. I'm not much of a mathematician," Cannon admitted. "What do theyhave to do with this?"
"They were originally proposed by Lewis Richardson, the Englishmathematician, and later refined by G. R. Gordon. Basically, they dealwith the causes of war, and they show that a conglomeration of smallstates is less stable than a few large ones. In an arms race, there isa kind of positive feedback that eventually destroys the system, and themore active small units there are, the sooner the system reaches thedestruction point."
_Sometimes "resignation" means the highest determination... when you can't simply resign._]
Senator Cannon chuckled. "Any practical politician could have told themthat, but I'm glad to hear that a mathematical tool to work on theproblem has been devised. Maybe one of these days we won't have to berule-of-thumb empiricists."
"Let's hope so," said Matt Fisher.
* * * * *
By the end of October, nearly two weeks from Election Day, the decisionhad been made. There were still a few Americans who hadn't made up theirminds yet, but not enough to change the election results, even if theyhad voted as a bloc for one side or the other. The change from theshouting and arguing of mid-summer was apparent to anyone who knew whathe was looking for. In the bars and restaurants, in the subways andbuses, aboard planes and ships and trains, most Americans apparentlyseemed to have forgotten that there was a national election coming up,much to the surprise of Europeans and Asians who were not familiar withthe dynamics of American political thought. If a foreigner brought thesubject up, the average American would give his views in a calm manner,as though the thing were already settled, but there was far morediscussion of the relative merits of the horses running at Pimlico orthe rise in Lunar Developments Preferred than there was of the election.There were still a few people wearing campaign buttons, but most peopledidn't bother pinning them on after the suit came back from thecleaners.
A more detailed analysis would have shown that this calmness was of twotypes. The first, by far in the majority, was the calmness of thecomplacent knowledge of victory. The second was the resignation to lossmanifested by those who knew they were backing the wrong man, but who,because of party loyalty or intellectual conviction or just plainstubbornness, would back him.
When Senator Cannon's brother, Dr. Frank Hewlitt Cannon, took a shortleave of absence from Mayo Clinic to fly to the senator's campaignheadquarters, there was a flurry of speculation about the possibility ofhis being appointed Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, but theflurry didn't amount to much. If President Cannon wanted to appoint hisbrother, that was all right with the voters.
After a tirade by the Soviet Premier, charging that the UN Police troopsin Victorian Kenya were "tools of Yankee aggressionists," Americanssmiled grimly and said, in effect: "Just wait 'til Cannon getsin--_he'll_ show 'em."
Election Day came with the inevitability of death and taxes. The pollingbooths opened first on the East Coast, and people began filing in totake their turns at the machines. By the time the polls opened in Nome,Alaska, six hours later, the trend was obvious. All but two of the NewEngland states were strongly for Cannon. New York, Pennsylvania, NewJersey, West Virginia, and Ohio dropped into his pocket like ripeapples. Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Floridadid the same. Alabama wavered at
first, but tagged weakly along.Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, and Michigan trooped in like trainedseals.
In Mississippi, things looked bad. Arkansas and Louisiana wereuncertain. But the pro-Cannon vote in Missouri, Illinois, Iowa,Wisconsin, and Minnesota left no doubt about the outcome in thosestates. North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma,Texas--all Cannon by vast majorities.
And so the returns came in, following the sun across the continent. Bythe time California had reported three-fourths of its votes, it was allover but the jubilation. Nothing but an honest-to-God, genuine,Joshua-stopping-the-sun type of miracle could have saved the opposition.And such was not forthcoming.
* * * * *
At Cannon's campaign headquarters, a
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