Parties in Congress Read Free

produced a graph that she handed Donna. “Really. It hasn’t been a radical swing, but a steady one nonetheless. Chalk most of it up to slow urban sprawl in the areas that aren’t rural, and the rest to the fact that the median age of residents is much lower than it used to be. Younger voters tend to be more liberal.”
    “Do we know why they’ve gotten younger?”
    Bijal glanced back to her legal pad. “Palmer College opened several years ago. The district now has several thousand new residents under thirty.”
    Donna paused and seemed to turn this information over in her mind like compost. “This is good information,” she finally said.
    “There’s more.”
    “Oh?”
    “Congresswoman O’Bannon is very helpful in that she publishes a daily schedule on her website. She definitely has someone tech savvy on her staff, and she seems very interested in transparency.”
    Donna stood and started eying O’Bannon’s website over Bijal’s shoulder. “Hmm, that is good.”
    “But after a fairly thorough search, I discovered she’s had a surprisingly blemish-free first term in office.”
    “Here we go,” Donna said, rolling her eyes.
    “She’s co-sponsored a couple pieces of legislature—both of which were very popular and passed easily. She’s bucked her own party more than a few times when she disagreed with either aspects of their bills or their questionable methods. I’ve found no allegations of corruption or impropriety. In fact, many members of both parties regard her quite highly.”
    “Yeah, I’ve heard this sermon before.” Donna shifted closer to Bijal. “Let me share with you what I told your predecessor. Everyone, and I mean every-fucking-one , has dirt. And this woman is no different. We may just need to scratch a little deeper to find it.”
    Bijal had a sinking feeling in her gut—not just from Donna’s inexplicable mood swing or even her disquieting use of profanity. But something in the words themselves seemed to hail back to what Fran had been telling her just the night before. “I’m assuming you don’t want to run against O’Bannon’s sexual orientation.”
    “No, a large portion of moderates wouldn’t like us making that an issue. So you need to find an issue that we can use.”
    “Um—”
    “And whatever you do, don’t come back to me later and tell me O’Bannon has never misspoken, never made an error, or never supported a grossly liberal measure.”
    “Because?”
    “Because I’ll shitcan you like I did the asshole who sat at this desk before you.”
    “Riiiight,” Bijal rasped incredulously. “Which is precisely why I’d never do that.”
    “Well, not if you want any kind of career in politics, right?”
    Bijal suddenly doubted what she really did want. Up until about a minute and a half ago, she’d thought she’d known. “I do, yes. And, on the outside chance this carries any weight with you, my landlord was kind of counting on my paycheck. He’s elderly.”
    Donna straightened her jacket. “Then I’d say we’re all working toward the same goal, Roo.”
    “To keep me gainfully employed?”
    “And ensure you a job recommendation, yes—something free of public ridicule.”
    This was becoming surreal. “Wow, I didn’t even realize that public ridicule was an option. Are there any other possibilities that I should know about? Caning? Stoning?”
    Bijal’s nervous attempt at humor didn’t seem to remotely faze Donna. “Here’s my expectation, Roo. You’re to burrow yourself into the congresswoman like a tapeworm.”
    Bijal began writing on her legal pad. “Let me just add latex gloves to my shopping list.”
    “I want to know every person she’s misled, every math test she ever failed, and every goddamn check she’s bounced. I don’t care how insignificant it seems, just bring everything to me. I’ll judge what’s useful. Don’t stop digging until you hit pay dirt.”
    “Or the digestive tract, apparently.”
    “Right.” Donna glanced