Chapter 51
The countdown was on. For the Win had worked for several days on the upcoming candidate visit. The Lopez-Stone ticket was making a stop in Cedar Falls, and Dot, Fletcher, and Rose had been working around-the-clock to help with stage, crowd, and message management.
They’d split up the duties—Rose on ticketing for interested visitors and Fletcher on logistics with the candidates’ advance teams.
Meanwhile, Dot was working with a local reporter on a large profile of Lucy Lopez with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that would run the morning of her visit. She’d also set up a panel of Wisconsin-based influencers so that they’d get as much as possible out of the hours Lopez would be there.
In the lead-up to the big day, the three of them took a midday shift at the Democrats’ fair booth.
“I wonder if she’s giving them a piece of her mind,” Dot said to Fletcher as they observed Rose talking to a group of local Republicans who had their booth across and down from their section.
“Hope she’s picking up some good intel. She comes off as so innocent, but she’s stealthy. Could’ve been a CIA agent,” Fletcher said.
“Think we should go over and extract her like I have to do with Mary when guys won’t leave her alone?”
“Well, if one of those guys hits on Rose, I’ll allow it.” Fletcher stole glances at Rose and tried not to make it obvious he was keeping tabs on her.
The fair was hopping that Saturday afternoon in mid-August, and they’d been lucky with the weather.
There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and a gentle breeze had picked up.
It was welcome after a couple of weeks of extreme heat.
Kids rode on their dad’s shoulders or ran this way and that, safe under the watchful eyes of the adults.
Teens moved in packs, sharing their inside jokes and flirting out of sight from their teachers, coaches, and parents.
It was the culmination of summer—the crops were coming in nicely, and everyone in Cedar Falls seemed to be in a good mood.
Later that afternoon, The Crew was meeting up with the Taylor boys and Danny at the midway, and Dot was getting anxious to see them.
Well, specifically, to see Danny. The pair had been dating for several weeks—mostly casual dinners, runs out to the covered bridge and back, and a few late nights talking and making out on the porch.
Danny was running through her mind on a loop, and it had become her favorite daydream.
Dot jolted out of her daydream and turned to a young woman carrying a small boy who had reached toward the treats on their table.
Rose had nailed it—they literally needed eye candy to lure people over so they could get them to talk.
Mimi had made individualized Flour Power cream puffs, packaged in cellophane and tied with blue and white ribbons.
“Hi! What a beautiful boy. Are you registered to vote?” Dot asked.
“Oh, um, no. I’m not into politics,” the woman said, a bit shy about her son wanting the cream puff anyway.
“I can understand that,” Dot said as she handed her the treat. She’d heard this reply often at their get-out-the-vote events. “Though with your little guy there, I’m sure you’re taking more of an interest. And if you’re a Wisconsin resident, your vote matters more than ever this cycle.”
“Why is that?” She set her toddler down then opened the bag and tore off some bites for him.
Dot explained Wisconsin’s unique value in that year’s electoral college map. Then she encouraged her to come back the following day to hear Lopez give a speech at the fairgrounds.
“Oh, I’ve seen some of her videos pop up in my feed,” the woman said. “What do you think of her?”
“She’s amazing, and I think she’s got what it takes,” Dot said.
“She’s a state senator from Georgia, not a Washington insider.
And she’s different compared to the party’s more recent candidates—young, smart, beautiful, and funny.
Her passion is education, women’s rights, and making life fairer and more affordable for working people. I think you’d like her.”
“Maybe I’ll try to make it tomorrow. I just have so much going on.” She wiped her child’s hands and mouth with one of the wet wipes and took a flyer from Dot. Then she scooped up her son and set him on her hip.
“He’s a cutie,” Dot said.
The woman smiled warmly, appreciating the compliment. “Thanks. He’s also a handful.”
“I know you want the best for him. Come tomorrow if you can. Her speech is at two—just before the championship steer round. Wouldn’t want to miss that either!” She hoped her fair barn pitch would be the closing argument.
“I’ll give it a shot,” she said as she got her son to say thank you for the treat and wave goodbye.
When the woman and child had walked away, Fletcher said, “Nice job, Dot. Light touch, focus on the future,” he said. “Who could say no?”
“We’ll see if she comes back. I know it’s not easy to make time for politics when they’re just trying to get through the day.
And babysitters are so expensive,” Dot said.
“But we need these moms to vote for Lopez. Otherwise, we have no hope of winning in November. Or any time after that, the way things are trending.”
The state of the race had Dot nervous. That week a new poll from a reliable outlet showed the Republicans had pulled ahead nationally and in Wisconsin. Kitty was in meltdown mode and crushing Dot and Fletcher.
On their video call that week, Kitty had been a minute late. Dot immediately sensed something was up.
“What are we all doing to get these numbers back up?” Kitty implored. “I’m counting on you to make this work.”
Fletcher had jumped in to calm her down. “Hey, that poll could be an outlier. There’s no logical reason that they’re ahead by that much.” He made a good point. It was the only poll that had them down that much.
Then Dot had used her PR climb-down tactics with Kitty.
“We hear you,” Dot had said. “The good news is, the fair’s a big deal, and we’ve got a plan.
Plus, there’s a feature on Lopez coming soon in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The reporter seems completely charmed by her.
Once it’s out, we’ll get that up on all the socials.
I promise, we’re pulling out all the stops for the candidate’s time in state. ”
That seemed to calm Kitty down for a moment. But then Dot knew things were dire when Kitty made them an unexpected offer.
“Look, we all know that Wisconsin matters the most, even if these whiz kids at the DNC think they know better,” she said, taking the edge out of her tone. “I’ve got an incentive for you. If Lopez wins Wisconsin, I’ll give you and Fletcher twenty percent of the win bonus to split.”
Dot did some quick math in her head. If Kitty was to get $500,000, that meant she and Fletcher would split $100,000. An unexpected fifty grand? That would be amazing—especially since she didn’t have a job lined up for after the election.
“You know we’re not in it for the money,” Fletcher said. “We’re in it for the country.”
While Dot agreed, she also thought she could be in it for the money as well. “It’s an incredibly generous offer. You’ve got a deal.”
“Great,” Kitty said. “Keep me posted.”
The gravity of their situation wasn’t lost on Dot. For Kitty to offer to give them part of her win bonus must mean she knew that Lopez’s chances of victory were dwindling.
Back at the fair, Fletcher pointed to where Rose was still laughing with the Republicans over at their booth. “She’s sure having a good time.”
“She’s got friends everywhere, doesn’t she. People who are too online wouldn’t believe that people from opposite sides of the aisle got along that well here in the real world.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean, and I’m all for civility,” Fletcher said. “But I still want to kick their ass on Election Day.”
“Same,” Dot said, nodding sharply. “It’s going to be so close.”
“Yep. Too close for comfort.”
Rose walked back to them smiling.
“Get any dirt on what the Republicans are up to, Rose?” Fletcher asked.
“Ha! From Charlie Cooper? Heck no. We’re just friends from way back. He and my late husband used to play tennis over at the club. I haven’t seen him in a dog’s age. It was good to catch up.”
“How are they feeling about their chances in November?” Fletcher asked.
“I don’t know. I didn’t ask.”
“You didn’t?” Dot asked, incredulous.
“No, I didn’t. I vowed long ago never to let politics get in the way of a friendship.”
Dot and Fletcher looked confused.
“You two see me every day, and you know that I’m a true-blue Democrat.
I’ve never voted for a Republican. Politics is what I do, but it’s not who I am,” she said.
“And some of my best friends are Republicans. Charlie and the other guys over there, well they didn’t ask me how we’re doing either We just live our lives respecting each other.
It’s always been that way around here, at least for the folks our age. ”
“Sort of like the Jankowskis at Reader Falls,” Dot said.
She’d long admired how their mixed political marriage had worked out perfectly for them.
She couldn’t help but think of Danny then.
She knew Danny voted Republican, but he rarely brought it up.
And even if he was conservative, he’d never held her politics against her.
He was the most supportive guy she’d ever dated who understood her passion for politics and didn’t give her a hard time for working evenings and weekends.
More important, she realized to her surprise that her attraction to him and how she’d come to care about him meant that she didn’t really care how he voted—she just loved being around him.
It made her realize she didn’t really like Ryan all that much after all.
And then her mind flashed to how he’d held her the night before when they had slow danced to one of Dierks Bentley’s latest tracks in front of the headlights of his truck.
“Snap out of it!” she told herself. She had too much work to do to daydream about Danny.
“Rose, I have a lot to learn from you,” Dot said, bringing herself back to the here and now.
“Oh, stop.” Rose brushed off the compliment. “Senator Lopez’s visit tomorrow is going to be critical. The stakes are as high as the corn. We need to have a good turnout.”
“Yep. That’s on our minds, too.” Dot tapped her fingers on the desk.
“We’re on it,” Fletcher said. “We’ve got a bunch of folks already signed up, and I just hit social media one more time. Plus, Kitty increased our budget to provide food for everyone who shows up. We’re offering free soda and brats. Gotta feed this crowd to keep them happy in their seats.”
“All right. Let’s get to it,” Dot said. “Rose, you might not feel competitive with those guys, but we do.”
Rose winked at her. “Oh hey, listen. The local GOP knows I fight to win. And they don’t underestimate me.”
“Well, maybe everyone in politics is smarter than I thought!” Dot said.
Rose laughed. “Don’t count on it.”
Dot’s phone vibrated in her back pocket and she pulled it out and saw a message from Kitty.
“Oh no, guys. We’ve got trouble,” she said.
“What’s wrong?” Fletcher craned his neck to read Dot’s phone.
“They’re canceling Lopez’s visit tomorrow and sending her to Texas to be a part of that education protest.”
“But that’s crazy!” Fletcher was exasperated. “We’re not going to win Texas! It’s redder than Mars. We’ve actually got a shot here.”
Rose folded her arms across her chest. “Typical. This is what the D.C. whiz kids did to us last time, too. They chase all the wrong rabbits. Then they wonder why we lose.”
Dot went quiet. This was a huge problem. They’d built up this visit so much that breaking the news that Lopez wasn’t coming was going to cost them the momentum they’d gained over the weekend.
“I’m heading back to the office,” Dot said. “I need to figure out how we’re going to fix this mess.”
Her first call was going to be to the one person who needed to weigh in more heavily—Kitty Bell.