Rock was intrigued by Daniel’s comments about personal integrity. He asked Daniel to continue out of clarification rather than out of exploring possible exploitations by the other party. Daniel recalled his thirteenth birthday when he didn’t invite his friend Lee to his party. Lee wasn’t a close friend but a good friend of Daniel. He knew that he should’ve invited Lee to the party, like any good friend would. However, Daniel’s class at school was small and snobby. A majority of the children in the class disapproved of or disliked Lee. Lee was a little effeminate, even at thirteen. Effeminate, was too sophisticated for thirteen, but Daniel saw it and Lee was persecuted for it.
Daniel always wanted to be above that but sunk to the common denominator when he didn’t invite Lee because of his lack of acceptance by others. Daniel suffered pain, to this day for betraying himself and his friend. Lee wouldn’t have done it to Daniel, in fact Lee didn’t. Lee had a thirteenth birthday and invited Daniel to the party. Daniel attended the party and enjoyed it. At the end of the party, Lee’s father drove Daniel and some of the other kids home in a large station-wagon. In the car was a bullhorn. It was used by Lee’s father at work on construction sites. Daniel remembered walking out of the car and to the front door to his house. Daniel turned when he heard Lee’s voice through the megaphone cry out with sincerity: “Daniel, thanks for coming to my party, buddy!” Daniel knew that Lee had forgiven him for not inviting him to his party, but Daniel never did. His need for acceptance outweighed the respect for his friendship with Lee, and it shouldn’t have. It was not the only time that Daniel felt he betrayed himself. Daniel believed most of his life was a betrayal of himself, but within the confined framework, he chose not to violate his code.
That episode in Daniel’s life inspired him to want to be a teacher. Teach people to stick to what they set out to do and be. Daniel’s life calling was to be a teacher. He was a teacher. He felt it was a worthy calling. “Teach a person to fish, you feed him for a life time.” But it never happened. It was all an act. Daniel however, was programmed to achieve. He achieved. Daniel also pretended to be in love with a woman whom he could barely stand. Not finally, Daniel was forced to deal with people he couldn’t stand much—politicians. Within the framework, however, he maintained his code. He taught those he had to deal with—the young members of his staff and fellow members of the Senate. He was not in love with June, but he loved her continually for giving him children. Children with whom he loved so deeply it was the center of the pride he exuded daily. And the politicians had to deal with his lessons, which mostly were persuasive to the ones that cared even superficially for logic. Then if logic did not work, he spoke about his children. Thus, he had a system of internal personal integrity within a schema of personal betrayal.
So what did Daniel teach Rock at this meeting? Daniel taught Rock that he had the integrity to be the President of the United States, and in turn Daniel expected integrity from Rock, because come November 4th the election would be won or lost, but a transgression of integrity is a regret forever. If he convinced the American people that change in their thinking is required, then he would win. Progressive work was necessary. He was the forward thinking man for the presidency. Without ever ending improvement there would be stagnation. Stagnation is not standing still, but a slide downward. Americans had a tradition of being powerful. Daniel had a particular affection for that image too. It would require a change in thinking. A challenge to the rules that are the foundation of the Silent Majority will move the country upward, like a plane flying into the sun, to respond to the whirling wind of mediocrity, of sameness that forces a plane into a flat spin.
Peter shared the night’s last drink with Daniel. Peter, who had his usual Scotch, and Daniel, a club soda, asked Daniel what he told Rock. What were Daniel’s footsteps? Peter was the only person who could comfortably ask Daniel that question. He wanted to know Daniel’s secrets. Daniel told Peter that he had already known everything that would compromise the campaign. Rock told him that there was nothing for him to worry about.
Peter replied with a quick throat clearing and the conversation was dropped. “Did you tell him what you told me during our little walk after your honeymoon?”
“No, I did not.”
Peter replied, “Good.”
CHAPTER 14
The Campaign
The Senator walked into Crenshaw High School. He looked around and saw mostly Black faces, with a few Hispanic. So much for Brown v. Board of Education, Daniel thought. He didn’t ask to be introduced and thought it more befitting to introduce himself. As Senator Carlson walked next to the stool that was left there for him to sit on at different intervals of his speech, a muffled but distinct voice cried out, “Whitey!” The hand over the boy’s face was loud enough to be heard at the front of the room. Some people in the room were shocked. Most visibly, Charles Mathews and the teacher of the boy who said it. Daniel seemingly fielded the comment with ease even though some might have ignored it altogether.
“Whitey,” the Senator said. “Whitey.” There were releases of nervous laughter. Daniel surveyed his audience. Many of the students were smiling in anticipation. They were excited. Surely the Senator was going to address this outburst since he repeated it aloud. “What does Whitey mean anyhow?” Daniel meant it as a rhetorical question but a girl in the audience raised her hand to answer so Daniel pointed to her.
“What Richard meant was that simply because you are white you should be dismissed without consideration,” the girl said in a matter of fact tone. “I know this because Ricky is too stupid to read any literature about you, to find out what you stand for. And I apologize for him.” Laughter erupted in the large classroom. Daniel felt decorum was pretty much out the door so he abandoned his prepared statements and said what came to mind.
“I think we might be a little rough on Rick. After all, Rick is a budding activist. And Activism is the cornerstone of democracy. What do I mean by that? Rick just started his career as a person who wants to stand up and be heard.” There was continued laughter but most were locking onto the progressive Senator. “Rick needs a little work on his speech, though.” Some sincere laughter was heard.
“He ain’t Jessie yet.” More laughter and some applause erupted. Then intense silence was detectable. “That’s where the importance of education comes in. Education allows you to get to know the facts. How to find them out, and argue about them. That’s where you make a change in the world. That’s just not the white world either. I hope you don’t think that I hired Charles over there because he has a black face. He charges too much. Unfortunately Rick, most in government, and the rest of the real world don’t listen to people who aren’t in a position to speak. With education and understanding comes the power to be heard. The power is with the pen, not with the gun. The power is with your mouth, not with the drugs.”
Daniel stepped over the large blackboard and began to write. First, he wrote the number 1580 on the board. Then he wrote 3.95 on the board next to 1580. “These are the scores that I got in high school. I had a 3.95 average in high school and a 1580 on my SAT. I think they scored the SAT differently and now changed it back. But, a 1580 back then was missing one question. It was in math. I’m not really good in math. This may seem impressive, but I wanted to go to Yale. And I had a teacher in high school who hated me. Who wanted to see me fail as much as possible. He wanted me to go to community college.” Some of the students laughed. Most of them didn’t realize that he was making up the story. “His name was Mr. Bush. He would grade me harder than all my other classmates. He was old and couldn’t be fired and really had it in for me. Some of you may not feel sorry for me with a 1580 on the SAT, but that score with my grades wasn’t high enough to get into Yale. I knew I had to maneuver a way. So what did I do? I worked for a college professor from Yale the summer before my senior year. His recommendation to Yale gave me the boost that I needed.” Daniel waited. He proceeded when he felt the students we
re ready to accept his point.
“You see, I was responsible for getting into Yale. I had to get the grades, the score on a meaningless test. I had to get around Mr. Bush, because he was out to get me. That is the whole point. I was responsible. Because there’s always going to be someone or something that gets in your way. You have to work around it. Powerful influences will try and make you ordinary. Or worse, make you one of society’s losers. When I say you have to take responsibility, I’m saying you have to make it all work for you. Don’t complain. Get around. You have to slip and slide.” The Senator bobbed and weaved to accentuate his point. “Make it all work for you by getting involved and take responsibility for what happens to you.”
After the speech, the Senator began answering students’ questions. There were many parents there as well. It turned out to be a civics lesson that kept the attention of the students and had an impact that was not to dissipate for a long while.
The questions from these students were as hard hitting as any of the reporters that Daniel had encountered. These people had not been dulled into content or given up hope. They demanded solutions to the problems in education. Daniel outlined some solutions to them.
Daniel spoke of a choice schools program. This could get bipartisan support. The program puts the concept of the free market into public schools. Public schools should advertise in middle schools. They should develop programs to attract a certain type of student through magnet programs in engineering, medicine, or the arts. Students shouldn’t be forced to attend the school in their district. The choice schools program would encourage parents to get involved in the school their children attend because they chose it. If they don’t like it, they can change where they go.
Daniel also elaborated on how schools squelched creativity in students. He offered new innovative training of teachers that would demand new approaches to teaching, that make it seem like a crime to discourage students. As an example, Daniel had everyone move their desks out of neat little rows and told them to sit in any way they felt the most comfortable. “If you’re not comfortable doing what you’re doing, you’re not going to want to do it.”
When Senator Carlson finished, there was loud applause. There were even a couple of dog-like barks. Then the Senator walked over to Rick. Rick stood up and rubbed his hands on his pants and shook Daniel’s hand. He glanced at his teacher and then sheepishly looked at Daniel and said, “I’m sorry Senator Carlson. I didn’t mean to play you like that.”
“Rick, I’m supposed to talk to a few of your classmates about the school. I want you to be one of them and I meant what I said. Today is the first day of your life as an activist. What do you say?” Some classmates chimed in.
“Ah, DJ Slicky Ricky’s gonna be advisin’ the Senator.”
“Yo, Yo, Ricky’s gonna be the principal some day.”
“I’ll talk to you if you really want, sir.”
“Come along then.” Daniel looked at the boy’s teacher and got a nod of approval.
Daniel and Rick had a thirty-five minute conversation about Rick’s life and what he wanted from it. Rick was a typical inner-city kid who was raised in a single parent home. He bought into a handful of bad attitudes and beliefs, which Daniel and he corrected. Rick left with a feeling of hope, which gives a boy of a modest upbringing a chance to break out and be somebody. Daniel told Rick that they would be the same in a lot of ways. They would both dream, hope, and do for the rest of their lives. And one day they would die working to obtain a dream they never thought possible the day they thought about it.
Instead of alienating the boy, Daniel put Rick in charge of campaigning in his high school. Rick left with a box full of stickers, buttons, and other campaign literature. He walked away rappin’ about the new President Carlson and how Senator D.C. is going to D.C. to shake the town down.
CHAPTER 15
I Have a Scream
Whenever there was a primary race where there wasn’t an incumbent President, the field was wide open. Every Senator and Congressman from Iowa to California to Hawaii, thinks they have a shot. The race started with twelve. With Daniel Carlson in the race, a target of an attempted assassination and instant credibility, the race was now down to four. As Agatha Christie would put it: and then there were none. Today was a defining day, not by design, but all is unpredictable in love, war, and campaigns. Every day a candidate can say something smart, or worse, say something so stupid it devastates the candidate permanently. With the way media is becoming completely at large, one blunder can be repackaged and replayed over and over. Daniel Carlson had not made one, yet. Probably because he is himself, and he is a good person.
Every candidate falls prey to a blunder because the candidate gives a glimpse of truth about himself. Criticizes the British who are in preparation for the Olympics. He’ll tell an off-color joke, or say the wrong thing in private, then it becomes public. Then damage control must begin. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes it’s a fair destruction of the candidate, and sometimes it’s just an accident. But, there are no accidents in campaigns. It’s all image. Sometimes it has to do with which political party a candidate belongs to, but what is a voter to do when it’s a primary? The randomness of selection increases. Does the American public collectively know what’s best for it? Is it a mere accident if we have a good leader as President?
Today’s Republican rally was on Daniel Carlson’s home turf. The Party was determined not to let the State of Florida go Democrat, invigorating the electorate for the general election. So the next primary election event was in Miami, at the Miami Arena. The Arena is the old home to the Heat basketball team. At this point, it only served as a venue for concerts and other major events, like a Republican primary event. The last debate before the Republican primary. Very important. This is the last impression that the candidates can make. It can make all the difference.
The two running neck and neck were Dean Skipper and Daniel Carlson. Dean Skipper, also known as “Skip,” was a businessman/Senator from Ohio. He had an MBA from Yale and an undergraduate degree from Ohio State. Skip was popular in Ohio. He was becoming increasingly so in the rest of the country. He was a war hero and exploited it. On background, Skipper’s campaign has been leaking that Senator Carlson was a war dodger. Skipper was in country, knee deep in the rice patties. He lost his leg in the war. A frag grenade severed an artery in his right leg. It had to be amputated. The country thinks he’s a hero. He, like Daniel Carlson, had credibility on international issues, because he got his leg blown off. Skipper thought he has so much credibility that he, through his campaign to elect, can attack Carlson for his lack of action in the war. Daniel was behind in the polls in his own state. It was only by two points, but that was a loss, considering Daniel was from Florida. His own state wouldn’t reelect him as a Senator, but are willing to elect another Senator from a different state as President.
Daniel Carlson had been practicing for this debate. He had his quotes and stats down cold. He was a gifted orator and in his mind all he needed was a chance to be heard. The Arena was packed. There was media and thousands of people cheering, holding signs. High anticipation. There were many supporters of Daniel Carlson. Send D.C. to D.C. D.C. for President.
All the candidates were herded into one room offstage. It turned into a greenroom of sorts. All the candidates were very informal with each other. It was like being backstage at a play. The people about to walk onto the stage are different than the people about to enter onto the stage. Who they are behind the scenes not who they really are either, they are just different. Psych games are going on backstage. The front runners act like they own the world and are about to have the final showdown. The others act meek yet pretend to be optimistic. Their names are irrelevant, they have become unimportant. They become known as the others. One of the others actually asked if it was okay to take a donut. He was some Senator from a small State. He had a PhD. in economics. Sti
ll, no one cared what he had to say about the deficit or the economy for that matter. He just wasn’t good at making people feel good. Worse, he was honest about economics. Lastly, he didn’t look the part of President.
Daniel Carlson and Dean Skipper did. Dean Skipper fought in Vietnam. He lost his leg. Daniel Carlson didn’t fight anywhere. He wanted to, but that’s not enough. History doesn’t play out the truth on such matters. Skipper was going to exploit it because he had a better story on the subject. He was a hero, and Carlson was an evader, whether he evaded with intent or not, he didn’t fight, he evaded service. It would’ve been unseemly for Daniel Carlson to say something to Skipper directly about it. Besides, Skipper claimed innocence. He didn’t know who was making those claims that Daniel didn’t serve.
No class, Daniel thought. Daniel couldn’t help but dream that he himself would be President, and there will be no room for Skipper in a Carlson White House. He went over the line. Daniel couldn’t help but question the wisdom of a person who would attack a man who was almost assassinated by a foreign operative. Daniel couldn’t understand why Americans understood that when he was first almost stabbed to death, but it is since forgotten or rejected.
The candidates were called to the stage. After some speeches meant to be warm-ups, the men entered the stage. The Stage was lit up with multicolored lights, like the start of a rock concert. Rock music was blaring. Balloons were everywhere. Daniel came out and noticed that it felt like a basketball arena. All the candidates waved like the Queen of England , like screwing in a light bulb. The people roared like there were really rock stars on the stage. The diehards were in the audience. The true believers. To the diehards, the men on the stage were better than rock stars. The ones who think that the man in the White House can make a difference. The country would be different. The country would be better if one of these men, and not a Democrat, were President.
By Silent Majority Page 17