Enforcing The Pre-Nup

"Of all my party friends, I only keep in contact with about five, all girl friends from college. I could care less about the rest. It shames me to say it, but I've had sex with a lot of guys. But I've only had one lover, you. I promise you, I'll never go back to the way I was. What I want with you is far too valuable to ever risk."

There was a lot of sniffling during her little speech, and I could tell it took a lot out of her to make it. I hugged her tightly.

"Honey, the past is the past, and there's nothing we can do about it. I didn't know you then, I can only base my feelings for you on what you've done since we got together. I wake up every morning with you beside me and savor it, thinking how lucky I am. So no, I don't need to hear details. It wouldn't matter or change you from who you are now. That will always be enough for me."

And it was, for three years.

..................................................

Her Dad was filled with burning ambition. He had done two terms as Speaker of the House, and had set his sights on the governorship. He and his committee had spent three years laying the foundation. The week before he announced, he had Eve and I over for dinner. He told us his plans, saying he needed the support of all his family. He was looking directly at me.

Although I didn't like him personally, he was a good politician and had orchestrated several pieces of legislation that I liked, including one that actually benefited small businesses.

"If you're directing that at me, Stanley, I have no problem supporting you."

He beamed.

"Good, good. I need you to know you two will have to appear with me from time to time. The committee may even asked you do a commercial or two. Think you can handle that?"

I felt Eve lock down on my hand. I shrugged. I hated the bastard, thought he was a slimy son of a bitch, but I loved his daughter.

"Sure, as long as it's not too time consuming."

He rushed to reassure me.

"One or two days at the most, I promise."

She seemed on edge as we drove home, holding my hand like it was a lifeline. Something felt odd, but I couldn't place it.

"Thank you, honey, for helping my dad. But promise me you won't let politics seduce you. I don't think I could stand it."

I couldn't understand her intensity, but tried to reassure her.

"No worries, babe. My volunteer work opened my eyes enough to realize I could never be a politician. You have to trade so much of yourself away there's nothing left of you at the end of the day. Not a lifestyle I could enjoy."

.................................................

My career as a member of various committees began by accident. Eve served on a few to keep herself busy, but I usually kept away from that part of her life. I even resented it from time to time when it took time away from us. But they were all good causes that she believed in, so I kept my grumbling to a minimum.

This one came looking for me, and I couldn't turn my back. My first cousin had a daughter that had contracted scarlet fever when she was young. Her temperature rose to one hundred and nine, giving her a fever induced heat stroke.

It left her mentally challenged. Her mind never developed past that of an eight year old. She could do most mundane things, but she would never be able to support herself and lead a full life. Her parents were devoted to her.

The state had a program that had been in operation for several years. It was a social center/workplace for the adult handicapped. Anyone over school age that could function in a social setting could participate. Vans were supplied for transportation. Local companies would subcontract work, packing simple boxes, folding t shirts, one paper tube manufacturer had them punch holes in the end of tubes. They each drew a check at the end of the month, usually just above or below a hundred dollars. It gave them a sense of pride to be contributing to society and earning their own money.

The federal grant was up, and the state refused to pick up the program, reneging on the promise of the previous administration. We had a month to come up with enough money to operate until funding could be secured.

The fallout would be catastrophic for the families. Parents would have to quit jobs to provide care, incomes would decrease, houses could be lost.

I was asked to attend the organizational meeting because of my connection to politics via my father in law. They were sadly mistaken. I deliberately distanced myself, never having been interested in politics to begin with.

It became pretty obvious there were no natural leaders in the group, most were in a mild panic.

Finally my cousin asked me to say a few words.

I took the podium.

"Look, the first thing we have to do is calm down. Yes, it's a terrible problem, but panicking will get us nowhere. As I see it, the first thing we need to do is to come up with enough operating money to last another month. That will give us time to appeal to the ones in power and the public. You need a spokesperson, a planning committee, and some direction.

"Now, anybody got any ideas how to come up with operational money?"

Various fundraisers were discussed and considered. Tentative plans were formed.

The debate got a bit heated when over the chairmanship. Our group were composed of two small counties, tied together by districts. Both counties felt one of their own should be the leader.

"Why not have co-chairs, one from each county? That way each could handle their own, and meet once a week with the committee to review progress and entertain suggestions."

This was quickly agreed on. The committee was formed, three people from each county. A local businessman was proposed[read lobbied]and accepted from the other county. Then I got blindsided.

"By unanimous decision, we have only one choice for us. Tommy Yount"

There was a lot of applause.

I hesitated briefly, but accepted.

The other chair made a speech, making promises without thoughts of how to make them come true. I took a totally different approach.

"This is going to be hard. The politicians have made their minds up and they're going to be difficult to sway. Our work is going to be cut out for us."

"One thing I do know. Each of his has some kind of talent that will help us, and knows someone else who can do the same. We need to find and exploit those talents. We need researchers to look for loopholes in the old grants or the possibility of new ones. We need to work the politicians on the local level for some stopgap money. We have to prepare to work on the state and federal levels. If we can't get them to commit we need to find out why, and make that available to the media. One thing a politician hates more than anything is adverse publicity."

Our first appeal was to our county commissioners. We figured out what it cost to run the program for a month and asked for a one time grant of thirty five hundred. I had talked to one of the local radio personalities to see if he could help with a fundraiser. He not only agreed to help but put me in touch with their news department.

We made sure we were on the agenda, and showed up in force. Parents, siblings, friends, and of course all the adult challenged showed up, overflowing the meeting room. I had met with the county commissioners two days before to give them information, facts and figures that would warrant keeping the program going. They assured me we would probably get the money. When the time came, I made the request, stating our position as concisely as possible, citing facts and figures that showed that discontinuing the program would actually cost the government five times the amount in other costs.

What surprised me was the amount of media attention it generated. My radio friends were there, but there was also journalists from two local papers, and a TV news crew that had been tipped off by my DJ friend.

We made the eleven o'clock news and the morning programs. The response numbers were huge, guaranteeing follow up interviews and other news crews.

We all got a surprise when the senior commissioner responded to out plea.

"We appreciate you bringing this to our attention. All residents of this county deserve respect. This is a worthy program that should have never faced termination. Our state government did a woeful job in not giving the parents and caretakers warning or time to prepare."

"That being said, we intend to give you all the help we can. Unfortunately, we can't honor your request for thirty five hundred dollars. Sorry."

There was a collective gasp in the room. The commissioner, all of them actually, were grinning.

"We feel the amount is too low. Instead, we feel five thousand is an acceptable amount. Use the money wisely. Hopefully our neighboring county will feel as generous."

The room echoed with the applause, while I stood there in the glare of the TV lights. We made sure at the end of the meeting every one of our group shook the hand of every commissioner and thanked them. One of the challenged, a woman in her middle age with a mongoloid face, cried and hugged every one, thanking them in her halting speech. The media ate it up.

The project took on a life of it's own. People we didn't know were calling offering monetary support and volunteering time. I gave an exclusive interview with the radio station to thank them, going over the progress we were making and talking about the help we were getting. It turned into a three day a week update.

My first brush with politics was a walk in the park. When we got to the other county commission it was a whole different ball game. The head Republican and the head Democrat, besides differing politically, hated each others guts personally.

The Republican, a florid faced blond giant, slammed his hand on the table during our meetings.

"No! We don't have the money for this. The feds and the state screwed this up, let them fix it."

The Democrat, a small man with a dark complexion and thick black hair, came right back.

"Can it, Jim! It doesn't matter at this point who's responsible. The media is all over this thing. These people we're going to see Thursday are all locals. Besides doing the right thing, if you tell them no it'll amount to political suicide. So we may have to give up a project or two, this is more important. Tell you what, we'll take a vote right now, and I tell you now, I'll make it my mission for the public to know how we voted, and who voted no. Want to take that chance with your political career?"

They squabbled for a bit, but in the end it was never in question. The vote was unanimous. The one thing the Democrat insisted on was that the junior Democratic commissioner, who was facing an election battle, be allowed to present the money.

The night of the meeting the room was again packed, except this time there were three TV crews, six newspapers, and four radio stations being represented. The crowd knew well of the relationship of some of the commissioners, and many expected[hoped]there would be fireworks.

It was exactly the opposite. There was a sense of calm. They saved us until last. My counterpart couldn't be there, so I did the speech.

It was agreed, that when it became time to award the money, the Republican would introduce the junior Democratic commissioner, in a show of harmony.

That wasn't what happened.

The senior Republican stood.

"This is a very good cause, a viable program that does a great service to the community. We're aware of our sister county going above and beyond. We feel that we, too, should give more help than asked for. My esteemed colleague was going to announce the grant, but just a bit ago we had a bit of a conference. We were going to give your organization seventy five hundred, but the esteemed senior Democrat did a small poll, and we decided to give you ten thousand instead, mostly due to the kindness of our Democratic members. I'm sure they'll be glad to field any questions. As Republicans and human beings, we are happy to follow their lead."

He slammed his gavel down. "Meeting adjourned." He smiled as he left, watching his competition give statements to the press.

.................................................

One afternoon I came home from work to find four guys waiting for me in my living room. Eve kissed me and introduced them as new volunteers.

"Listen to them, honey, they could be a lot of help."

They were all political science majors working on a master's degree. The leader, Thad Emerson, gave me their pitch.

"I'm not going to lie to you, we're going to use this as part of our school work. It's going to be in our thesis work, kind of a David vs Goliath battle, a grass roots organization against the political establishment in the technological age. We've already got some stuff worked up we believe can help you, if you'll have us. Where's your headquarters?"

Eve, who had been listening quietly laughed and pointed at our kitchen table.

"There you go."

Thad was shocked.

"You don't have an office? How do you get anything done? Never mind, do you have a list of your members and what they do?"

He turned and pointed at one of his friends.

"Billy, get on that. We're going to need an office and a conference room. Phones, computers, copiers, anything you else you think we might need."

He pointed at the other two.

"Jerry, you research grant history and see if anything else is out there. Eve told me they have a few locals on it, touch base and see what they've got. Zane, go through their history and see which state and federal politicians are for, against, or undecided. Find anything you can. And particularly, who's up for reelection."

"What are you going to do?" I asked.

He grinned.

"Stick like glue to you. If your group approves, I'm your new campaign manager. It's not a traditional campaign, you're not running for office. But you are trying to sway public opinion, and I'm a damn good speech writer. Are we in?"

I shook all their hands, and my core group was formed. They were all on individual studies, so their time was their own.

It was the one of the best decisions I ever made, and I got four lifelong friends out of it.

In forty eight hours we had a committee headquarters, the offices of a defunct textile mill. The owner gave us the space free but we had to pay for the power. I was a little concerned about that, but Thad convinced me it was necessary.

Soon we looked like a regular office, people working phones and computers. it was bevy of activity from early in the morning until late at night. Thad asked me if we were coordinating with the other committees.

"What other committees?"

He was shocked.

"Surely others have organized. After all, this is a state wide problem. We need to coordinate our efforts, present a united front. The more people, the more potential voters. The more voters, the more leverage we have with politicians. Those state boys aren't gonna be as easy or as eager as the locals. Never mind, we'll look into it."

In a week his technowizard had the names and addresses of the people affected by the loss of the grant. We had a fourth class mailing permit now, and mass mailings to all registered voters were going out regularly, in addition to internet contact. Mostly updates and pleas urging them to contact their representatives at both state and federal levels and voice their approval for the program to continue. We never asked for money.

There was a bit of an argument over it. We could use every dime we got, but it made me feel too much like a real politician. Thad got around that by posting our finances on the blog they had created, updated weekly. Every one interested could see at a glance where we were.

Soon unsolicited donations were coming in, some of them quite large. Several of our members were lawyers, and they drew up papers listing us as a nonprofit watchdog group, with a four person committee formed to track the money.

Soon we were getting requests from across the state to help them form groups, and Thad and I were crisscrossing the state, giving advice. People started showing up at our public meetings and conferences to watch us operate. Ninety percent of the state counties were operating their own groups, but we operated as a state alliance. We split the state into four sections and they each elected a representative to meet and coordinate state activities. I was voted president, only one person objected, my counterpart from our group. He got three percent of the vote. It caused a rift that kept getting wider.

We placated him somewhat by giving him the seat for our part of the state, with me remaining in charge. It worked out well because that way the committee could never be deadlocked. If the vote was tied, I cast the deciding vote. Otherwise I didn't have to vote.

Things got a little tense on the home front when we discovered Stanley was one of the biggest opponents to renewing the grant. He tried to talk me into toning down a little, when we posted a list of all the state and federal politicians who were for and against renewing.

I was even asked about it in one of my interviews.

"How do you feel about your father in law opposing this?"

I had worked with Thad, knowing the question was coming.

"I have great respect for my father in law. The beauty of our form of government is we can agree or disagree without rancor. He's done many good things for the state in his tenure. It's just in this case I think he doesn't have all the information he needs to understand the situation fully. But either way, he can't help but follow his belief in what is right for the state. And I respect him for it."

Great job of walking a tightrope, huh?

In the end, we lost the grant, but got two new federal and one state grant that more than doubled the funds the programs had gotten previously.

Stanley was a gracious loser in public, actually supporting the approval of the state grant. His quote about my role?

"I'm happy, and glad he's not the least bit interested in politics. He's too good at it. He did a great thing, a service to the state, and we're all appreciative of his efforts."

Privately he held a grudge.

................................................

This episode led to me serving on various committees on state and local levels. Both parties approached me, urging me to run for county commissioner, training ground for bigger things. Both were surprised to find out I was a registered Independent.

But if it was a cause I believed in I would help, but never more than one at a time. I almost burnt out crisscrossing the state on the first one, and deeply resented the time it took away from Eve.

Vivian and I had become fairly close. She found out early she couldn't have children, and adopted us, me in particular. She was the one who started recommending me for committees.

"You'll do a good job, and you'll follow your conscience, something rare these days. It's why you'll never be a good politician, and I love you for it."

Stanley, of course, resented it, and tried to get me to influence her. It pissed him off when I laughed and refused.

The capitol had a big Christmas parade every year, and this year she was the Grand Marshall. Eve and I brought Amy, now nine, to watch it. We were her house guests, and Amy, being Amy, soon had her charmed. It was no surprise to me when Amy wound up in the convertible with her, waving to the crowd as they sat up high. Fred, Celeste, and the rest of my family teased her unmercifully later, but they were proud. The announcers tentatively identified her as a granddaughter. Nobody bothered to correct them.

There was a picture on the front page of our local paper, identifying her as a local. Her classmates were awed, even more so when Vivian made an appearance at her school for career day, at her invitation. It was unannounced deliberately, so it wouldn't disrupt the school.