hey @dovebalitang I heard you wanted a West Wing / Tortall AU fic so here’s how Presidential Candidate Jon picked
Jon allowed himself one frustrated sigh as Alanna shut the door behind the 8th candidate he’d met that day.
“Oh no, you can’t be tired yet. Democratic Party nominee for President, don’t let a day of meetings bore you,” Alanna said.
“I’m not bored,” Jon hated the defensiveness that crept into his voice, but the day had worn on him. “I’m disappointed. This is really the cream of the crop?”
“Jon.” Now it was Alanna’s turn to sound frustrated. “I arranged meetings with every governor, senator and Congressperson I could. You didn’t exactly give me an expansive criteria to work with. I had to pull state assembly representatives for goodness sake.”
“I didn’t think it would be this hard to find someone,” Jon said. He knew he was outside the mold of what the Democratic Party was looking for. The son of a wealthy Congressman from Connecticut, no one had been surprised when Jon Conte II was elected to take over his father’s seat. But Jon had shocked and alienated some of his base after he passed his first bill, a tax increase on millionaires and billionaires, with the revenue supporting a program that helped low income people heat their homes. He’d lost a fair amount of donors, but gained even more loyal volunteers.
During his ten years in Congress and six years in the Senate, Jon had proved himself to be an effective legislator and negotiator, as well as a champion of progressive ideals. His filibuster against the repeal of restrictive gun laws in his first year in the Senate has catapulted him onto the national stage, and created a significant amount of pressure that the bill was dropped.
When the presidential election rolled around, some in the party worried that Jon wasn’t electable outside of the liberal east coast enclave he represented. But Jon proved to be popular across the country, due in no small part to his wife.
Thayet Wilima was a Senator from Idaho with a fierce determination and a strong moral compass. Jon had fallen in love with her almost immediately. She’d been elected during his second term in the House, and carried many of his bills in the Senate. The two got married four years after they started dating and were something of a political power couple. When Jon decided to run for President, Thayet helped him craft a platform that would appeal not just to educated eastern progressives, but to working class people all across the country.
He looked at his wife now, who was sitting in on his meetings with possible vice presidential candidates. “What do you think, Thayet?”
“I think your best choice is the Governor of North Carolina,” she said. “He’s older, so he lends experience and gravitas to the campaign, and he may help in the South.”
“No disrespect, but he was so boring I don’t think he’ll help anywhere,” Jon grumbled.
“Jon!” Alanna sounded exasperated. His campaign manager, Alanna had been working 12 to 16 hour days since Jon first announced his run. She believed whole-heartedly in the candidate, but sometimes she wished he wasn’t so stubborn. It was times like this his “Rich Congressman’s Son” side showed through. She shot a glance at Thayet. The two women, both from working class backgrounds, served as a strong check on some of Jon’s elitism. “What exactly do you want in a candidate?”
“I do want someone who can appeal outside my own base, which means someone from the South or the Midwest,” Jon said, with a nod to Alanna. That had been her idea. “But I want someone dynamic, someone with governing experience, and for the love of all the Gods above, someone who’s not a white man!”
Alanna was quiet for a moment, and then an evil looking smile spread across her face.
“No, what’s that, that’s your Idea Face,” Jon said. “Last time I saw that face I ended up running for President.”
“As your Vice President,” Alanna said.
“Alanna, don’t be ridiculous,” Thayet said. “I couldn’t be the First Lady and the Vice President.”
“Why not? The responsibilities are basically the same, and you meet every one of Jon’s qualifications. You’re highly intelligent, you’re incredibly progressive, and middle America loves you. Hell, they love you more than they love Jon.”
“No way. Categorical no. Right Jon?” Thayet asked, looking to her husband for support.
Jon was looking intently at Alanna. “She’s my main policy advisor anyway. It’s actually probably better if she’s elected, then she has a constitutionally protected way to give me advice.”
“It would help you fend off any charges of a meddling wife who pulls all the strings, which you know the Republicans will do,” Alanna said.
“And it presents us as a partnership, equals, which is what we are. I actually think this could work.”
“Hello!” Thayet said. “Isn’t anyone going to ask what I think about all this?”
“Sorry. But think about it Thayet. We would be unstoppable,” Jon said. “And beyond that, I think you’d be good at it. I think there’s no one I’d rather have take over if I die.”
“Romantic,” Thayet said sarcastically. But Jon could tell from the look in her eye that she was considering it.
“Do you think it would hurt Jon politically,” Thayet asked Alanna.
“Truthfully, Thayet, I think it would help him.”
Thayet nodded seriously and looked back at Jon.
Jon leaped out of his chair to give his wife a hug. “Thayet! We’re going to be history makers! The husband-and-wife team changing this country for the better.”
“I’ll start working on an event where you can make the formal announcement,” Alanna said, already composing an email on her Blackberry.
“Ok,” Jon said. “What’s next?”
