The Founders' Plot

THE NEXT MORNING, Stern called Jack Huber, the young senator she’d befriended, and asked him to stop by after lunch. Then, she made an appointment with the senator she rankled so much.

An hour later, the young senator was shown into her office. He’d been elected when he was twenty-eight years old. He was bright and affable, but also green and vulnerable. He’d virtually memorized the senate’s parliamentary rules and thought he was ready for everything. But Stern knew you can’t always fix a car by reading a manual. Experienced technicians know the tricks and short cuts and pass them on to younger mechanics.

For this young senator, the mentor was Elizabeth Stern. She wasn’t always politically cold-hearted. That’s why she’d helped him. But she was always a calculating one. Someday she might need the young man, and she saw him as a person who wouldn’t forget her kindness.

Stern greeted him with a warm two-handed handshake, and they sat on the sofa together. She started with small talk, occasionally dropping a subtle reminder of her past assistance. Then, she got to the point. “What’s your take on a new immigration bill?”

“I’ve got mixed feelings. I’m not sure what the governor’s doing is right. But I wouldn’t want to go against my party. I haven’t thought it out.”

“Well, I’d like you to please start thinking about it,” she said pleasantly. “And don’t worry about breaking with your party. It’s not that unusual. Don’t concern yourself about it. I’ll look out for you. I have in the past, haven’t I?”

“Yes, you have, Liz, and I appreciate it.”

Perfect. Time to play the trump card. She touched his arm. “I need you to show that appreciation now. This is a big issue for me, and I need your help. Can I count on you?”

“You need my vote for the immigration bill?”

Stern sensed his nervousness. “Don’t be so edgy. Your career is just starting, and this vote isn’t going to affect it much one way or another. I do need your help. I’m sure of all my people, but we need a few from your side to come with us.”

He paused. “I need to think about this.”

“I understand. But things are moving quickly. There’s not much time. I need a commitment from you.”

“Today? Right now?”

“Yes. I don’t like putting you in this kind of spot. I think you know I’m not that kind of person. But we’ve got to act fast. I have to know if I can rely on you. Are you with me?”

“This is a tough call, Liz. How would you feel if I refused?”

She sat back into the sofa. Now came the closer. “How would you feel if the situation were reversed? If you’d taken me under your wing and I turned down a favor you asked for. I wouldn’t hate you, of course, but I’d have to rethink our friendship and perhaps my opinion of you. I don’t think a little reciprocity is too much to ask. And remember that there may be times when I can help you again in the future.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Okay. I’ll vote with you. It’s the least I can do.”

She smiled. “You won’t regret it. I promise.”

He stared down for a moment, and Stern thought he’d realized what she’d just done. He scratched his forehead. “Listen, Liz, I’m happy to help you out on this. But that doesn’t mean you can count on me every time. As I said, I’m at odds with myself on this immigration thing, so I’ll go along with you. But I won’t on something that’s really important to me.”

“I know. And I wouldn’t ask you to. This will be the exception to the rule for you and me.” She put her hand on her heart. “I promise.”

He seemed soothed, so she chatted with him a little longer, then looked at her watch. “Oops, I’ve got another meeting coming soon, and I need to bone up for it.”

She thanked him again, took his arm, and led him to the door. “Let me know if you ever need anything.”

She returned to her desk and planned her next move. This one would be easier for her emotionally —none of the mild remorse she’d had with the young senator. She didn’t think much of the man she’d meet next, considered him a weakling. She’d exploited that more than once.

She tugged her right ear three times as she thought, then the left one, also three times. Maybe she’d take a different tack this time, maybe use the carrot instead of the stick. She’d had her staff find any legislation he was interested in, especially about appropriations. Now, she studied that material.

Like any general, Stern knew that surprise is worth a mountain of ammunition. When she walked into the senator’s office, her greeting and pleasant demeanor were different from anything she’d shown him before.

She took a seat in front of his desk, which was cluttered with disorganized stacks of papers. And it wasn’t just his desk. More stacks of paper, two empty coffee cups, and candy wrappers covered the conference table to her left, two boxes filled with who-knows-what were on the floor under the window behind him, and his suit coat lay crumpled on his couch. The messy surroundings enhanced her antipathy of the man.

“Thanks for taking the time to meet with me,” she said. “I appreciate it very much, especially since you and I haven’t seen eye-to-eye on a whole lot.”

“I’m always willing to talk,” he said.

“I think it would be good for both of us to make amends and work together on a few things,” Stern said. “Bumping heads all the time doesn’t help either of us. Don’t you agree?”

“Sure. It’d be an interesting change of pace to be on the same side now and then. But we’re so far apart on so many issues, I’m not altogether sure we can find common ground.”

“Money. Money is common ground. I have pet projects and so do you. We could work together there. I know you want funding for a private airport just outside of Los Angeles, and you know I’m trying to get more money for the state’s healthcare program.

“We can work on those things together. I know you’re not crazy about pouring more money into state health care and, frankly, I don’t think we need another private airfield for corporations and rich guys. But I could buy into the airport if you can buy into more money for health care.”

“This state’s health care system is a disaster. I don’t see how throwing good money after bad is going to help.”

“It would help us. It’s a start. A chance to deal with each other in a way that we both get something. Here’s another thing. You want to keep senatorial staffers at their current pay level. But some of my people want to increase them. I’m minority leader and I think if I talk to them, I could change their minds.”

“I’m sure you could.” He nibbled his lower lip and his eyes squeezed into narrow slits. “But why would you?”

“As I told you,” Stern said, “it’s a start. I just think we’d both be better off if we settled some of our differences and worked in tandem once in a while. I don’t want you to compromise your principles. But I don’t think a few trade-offs here and there means you’re losing your integrity.”

She paused, imagining what he was thinking. “And there’s another way I can help. Word is you’re trying to move from the Transportation Committee to Ways and Means. I have influence to help you there.”

He tapped a pen on his desk. “That all sounds nice. But I’ve got to tell you, Liz, I’m not sure what this is all about. You and I have been at each other’s throats for years. Why the sudden turnaround? Get to the point. What is it that you really …?” Then he leaned forward with a knowing smile. “It’s the immigration bill, isn’t it? You need my vote.”

Stern sat back. It was time to go back to the stick. “Okay, I’m not as good at being friendly as I am at being a conniving bitch. I thought you’d like it better this way rather than the way things were in the past. Now, I’m not so sure. So, I’ll level with you.

“Yes, I want your vote on that bill. And I’m willing to pay for it. Forget siding with me on health care.” She could probably get that through without him. “But I want that immigration bill to pass. So, I’ll side with you on everything I just mentioned if you stand with me on this. What do you think? Do we work together, or do we fight?”

He folded his arms in front of him and stared at Stern. She could read his mind. This might be a chance to square some of the things she’d done to him in the past. But she was making one hell of an offer. That airport would mean some heavy corporate campaign contributions. And he’d wanted that move to Ways and Means for a long time.

“Let me think about it,” he said. “I’m not used to this generosity from you.”

“I think you could warm up to it. All right, think about it. But I need to know soon. I hope this works. Who knows, this may be the start of a wonderful relationship.”

She stood up and shook hands with him. “It’s a good offer. You should take it. Now, I’ll get out of your way.”

Stern grinned when she entered the corridor. He’d cave. Walking back to her office, she reflected again on something she’d considered for days. Despite increasingly good prospects for getting the bill she wanted, she wasn’t fully convinced she could get it past the governor’s veto.

This had to be a lead-pipe cinch. And the only way to be sure of that was for the governor not to veto her bill. Stern really didn’t want to; she had a sick feeling about it. She was a tough, tooth-and-claw fighter, but didn’t see herself as an evil woman. Still, she had to take the fight as far as necessary. She put the matter out of her head and glanced at her watch. It was just after 5:00 p.m., and she was meeting her daughter for dinner at 6:30.