Chapter Eight A: Calm in Washington

“Now holiday plans,” Nina said, moving down her agenda. “The Congresswoman is planning to spend President’s Day weekend back home. She plans to spend an extra day so I want everybody scrubbing the calendars to make sure there is nothing significant coming to the floor on Tuesday. Jason, if The Great Lakes Bill suddenly makes an appearance out of committee on Tuesday and she’s not here to speak on it, your ass is grass.”

“That bill is never coming out of committee,” grumbled Jason. “It was sent there to starve to death.”

“I thought we had a motion to consider,” Nina said.

“Tabled,” Jason answered. “Whoever got to these guys locked it down tight. No one is moving and no one is saying anything. The President might as well have killed it. Only we could track that down.”

“Anybody come up with anything yet?” Nina asked the rest of the staff. They all shook their heads. “People, do any of you know how much the Congresswoman wants this bill to move? We can’t even give her a lead? Come on.”

“How about you, Nina?” Jason asked. “Anything from steel?”

“Insists that he intended to lobby it, but someone beat him to it,” Nina responded. “I think he’s being honest for once.”

“I thought you had to sleep with that guy to get info from him,” snickered Betts. Everyone looked a little glance at Nina. She didn’t flinch.

“If I thought it would get the answer we need, I would,” she said flatly. People audibly swallowed their thoughts. “Unfortunately my best bargaining chip isn’t my body and it’s been snatched out from under me.”

“What’s going on, Nina?” Al Sisson asked. He normally worked the back office, but everyone recognized that he was a sharp strategist who preferred to be in the background. “Why is the Congresswoman taking an extra day in Indiana? Are we about to get the announcement that she’s going after Lugar?” Nina hesitated a moment before answering. She’d been holding this news from the staff until the right moment, but there didn’t seem to be one. People were going to be very disappointed.

“She’s meeting with her new campaign press manager,” Nina said calmly although inwardly she was seething. “But don’t get your hopes up. He hasn’t got the balls to run a Senatorial campaign. The official word is we’re running for re-election. That should be good news for all you yahoos. There isn’t one out of three of us that could make the jump to a Senate office. Let’s use this next two years to go get really good at making this office run. Like getting bills to the house floor.”

“Why would she hire a new press manager if we’re not ramping up for a bigger campaign?” Al persisted. “Sounds like overkill to me.”

“It was ‘Be Kind to Old Hippies’ week when she was back in Indiana the last time. Believe me, having this guy as a press manager is not ramping up for a bigger campaign.”

“Bitter?” Betts quipped. She instantly regretted the minor lapse.

“Anyone who takes a place in the Pol Stamos office or campaign without my personal stamp can assume that they are going to walk on coals for the entire time they survive in this office,” Nina snarled. “And anyone who expects to keep working in this office had better stop with the sarcasm and do some serious ass-kissing before I remember what a shitty job they did on keeping the Congresswoman informed on her pet projects, like dredging in the Port.”

“Sorry, Nina,” Betts shrank back. Technically it wasn’t her fault that she didn’t know about the dredging before Uncle Alex walked into the office. It isn’t in the Congresswoman’s district. But all the same, Nina could make life hell for her if she chose to.

“Nina,” Al continued, “you still haven’t said what she’s doing for an extra day in Indiana.”

“She’s ditching the new guy,” Nina said. “Remember when she took the whole staff to the Port? She told us the entire history of Burns Ditch harbor and the historic battles that had split Indiana over its creation in the sixties. Then she made us walk in the sand dunes with our shoes off so we’d know why she was so passionate about protecting the natural resources of Indiana’s Lake Michigan shoreline. Come on people. Did you think that was just for us? Every person she brings on staff has to make the pilgrimage. Aaron Case is getting the same treatment. I’m just thankful that we got ours during the summer break. This dude is getting sand and snow.”

“When do we get to meet the new boy?” Jason asked.

“Remember, technically he is not a part of the Congresswoman’s staff. He is on her campaign staff which is a separate entity. Of course we all believe in the Congresswoman so much that we each and every one of us volunteers our off-hours time to help in her re-election.” Nina carefully enunciated each and every word of that last sentence, just to make sure that they all understood the expectation that was coming up in a few short months. Even though it was not part of their jobs, they were expected to help anyway they could to get their boss re-elected. It wouldn’t be prudent to act otherwise. “But Representative Stamos wants us all to know who is working for her back home, so she’s bringing him back with her after the weekend. You’ll get to meet him next Wednesday or Thursday.”

“You’ve met him?”

“Yeah. I met him the day she hired him.”

“Well, what’s he like?”

“Yeah, dish!” Nina looked around the table at each of people seated there.

“He is a washed up old hippie who is so old and out of it that he can’t even stand up straight. He’s a disaster,” she said. “We will all be better served if we make sure that his tenure on the Congresswoman’s campaign staff is as short as possible. I’ll expect everyone’s best efforts. I have someone in mind for that position and I want to move on it as soon as possible. Understand?”

Everyone nodded their heads. When Nina came at them in her gunslinger mode, they knew better than to contradict her. But this was particularly vicious. No one was going to take a bullet for the guy they hadn’t even met yet. Better to do as she said and get on with it.

“Okay. We’re finished for today. Let’s make sure the decks are clear for the Congresswoman’s weekend in Indiana.” Nina stood and left the room. The others gathered their things and glanced at each other. Occasionally there was a nod of understanding among them, but no words were spoken.

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