The Invitation(17)

As the Vice President sits back, he picks up the piece of paper listing the names of twelve senators who need additional coaxing before the upcoming vote on the energy bill. He knows that if he is unable to persuade at least seven of them, the likelihood of its passage is doubtful. As he considers his best strategy, a knock on the door by his chief of staff breaks his chain of thought.

“Yes, come in.”

“Sir, they just faxed me a copy of the new language you asked for in the energy bill. I thought you’d like to see it.”

“Oh good, I’ll look at it later. Thanks, Carl. I just spoke with Senator Billings.”

“Is he tractable?”

“Not entirely, but I think he’s leaning in our direction. I need to call him again next week before I go to Florida.”

“You’ll be leaving on Friday, the 20th,” Carl says.

.

“That’s right. I really don’t want to go, but he insisted. What are you going to do?”

“Can’t say no to the boss.”

“I don’t know what I can add to the occasion. He’s going to be there. He’s the President. How much more prestige can you add to that?” the Vice President asks.

“I don’t know.”

“I understand the Olympics is a special event, but it’ll be over in a few weeks, and largely forgotten. The vote on this energy bill will affect this country for decades to come.”

“I completely agree, Sir.”

“Oh well, we’ll be leaving after the opening ceremonies. So anyway here’s a list of those senators I haven’t talked to yet. Call their staff, and let ̓em know I’d like to talk with their Senators sometime next week, when it’s convenient for them.” says the Vice President as he reaches for his jacket.

“I will, Sir.”

“We need seven votes. Eight or nine would be better.”

“We’ll get it done,” Carl says.

“I hope so. Okay, I have a meeting to go to. I`ll see ya tomorrow, Carl.”

“Yes, Sir, see ya then.”

As the Vice President leaves to attend his meeting, his Chief of Staff looks over the list of names just given to him by his boss. The legislation they are working on has already been passed by a narrow margin in the House of Representatives. The upcoming vote in the Senate is the last hurdle to overcome before the President’s energy bill becomes law. Comprehensive in scope, it charts a new direction in national energy policy. Its emphasis on solar, wind, and tidal sources of power is viewed skeptically, and even as threatening by many tied to the fossil fuel industry.

Lobbyists are working incessantly to influence the outcome of the Senate’s vote. With so much at stake, both Washington, and the nation at large are preoccupied with the heated, sometimes acrimonious debate.

Meanwhile, far from the high stakes maneuvering of Washington’s powerful elites, the third Congressional District of Iowa is by comparison a relative backwater. Still getting to know its thirty-four-year-old Congressman elected only sixteen months ago, life in this rural district is lived very differently from the frenetic pace of the nation’s capital.

Steve Kearns is a well-motivated newcomer to the political arena. His life is a story of overcoming personal challenges. The victim of an I.E.D. when he was in the Army, he is a wheelchair-bound triple amputee. Through determination and sheer force of will, Steve Kearns campaigned indefatigably to win his election. A well-liked Democrat in a conservative district, he makes it a point to be accessible to all of his constituents. This afternoon finds him in his home town where he grew up, and where he and his wife Rebecca maintain their modest home. The topic of their after dinner conversation today is highly atypical. The President has asked Steve to come to Miami for the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. Unsure as to why the invitation was offered, he hesitantly agreed. His wife Rebecca would prefer his company at home. Still adjusting to the unpredictable work schedules of a freshman Congressman, she jealously protects the time they have together. Rebecca knows all too well the practical difficulties involved in her husband’s travel schedule. Seeing the trip to Miami as needless, she voices her opinion to her husband.

“I don’t understand it. It doesn’t make any sense.”

“It sure took me by surprise.”

“You said he called you?” Rebecca asks.

“Yeah, I’m sitting there having lunch with two other Congressmen, and my cell phone rings. I almost didn’t answer it. I said hello, and heard a man say, ‘Congressman Kearns, the President would like to speak with you.’ I thought it was a prank. Then I heard, ‘Steve this is Ken Myers. Do you have a few minutes?’ That’s when I realized who I was talking to.”