“What scandal?” Harper didn’t stay up to speed on Washington politics.
“Oh, you never heard about that? When she left NYU, she got a job working for her home-state senator—from Minnesota. And not long after she moved to D.C. to take the job, he had to resign after an influencer posted that he was having an affair with a lobbyist.” Dot tried to make a long story short. “It was a mess. Kitty had to scramble to get a new job, and from what I know, she almost gave up on politics altogether.”
“Then what happened?” Mary asked, intrigued.
“Well, as I understand it, that’s around when she met her fiancé, Casey Morgan. He’s a big shot lobbyist. I looked him up today. His firm represents everything from big oil to vaping—the new tobacco companies. He makes a ton of money and gives a lot of it to politicians on both sides of the aisle. And he connected her to these Democratic donors who created For the Win.”
“And so, his name helps her get her foot in the door all around D.C.?” Mary was catching on.
“Correct. And now they’re like a power couple. They have a townhouse in Georgetown and host a lot of cocktail parties. She’s always posting these pictures of them as ‘seen around town.’”
“Oh, that sounds awful,” Harper said. She wasn’t the type that wanted to rub elbows.
“But Kitty loves it. And she appears to be living her best life,” Dot said, with a twinge of envy.
They turned their attention back to the call.
“Let me show you what we’re up against.” Kitty pulled up a county-by-county map of the US. The red states for Republican, the blue Democrat. “And the purple states switch back and forth between the two. These are your battlegrounds: Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Of all these, we believe Wisconsin is our best bet for a flip from red back to blue this cycle.”
Kitty continued her presentation, giving some statistics on the slim margins of the last election.
“You might be wondering what you can do to help,” she said. Then she smiled, signaling she was about to make her pitch. “I thought you’d never ask!”
The Zoom counter was now over 7,500.
“There are several ways to volunteer. Of course, For the Win will support traditional phone banks plus door knockers and convention helpers.”
Harper’s eyes watered after she accidentally consumed too much wasabi and she flapped her hand in front of her mouth to try to cool it down.
“I bet this is where they ask us for money!” she said through the pain.
But that’s not what Kitty needed. She needed something more valuable and complex than donations.
“So, this is the new idea I’m proud to announce. I’m looking for a few good people to move to a purple state for the year—well, ten and a half months, starting in January this year. Why? Because I don’t believe we have enough real-time information about what’s going on in those states, and that’s why we lost some very close races, including the White House, the last time around. We need more eyes and ears on the ground sending back observations and intelligence to For the Win, or, as we like to call it, FTW.”
Mary gently rolled her eyes. “Doesn’t she realize that FTW takes longer to say than For the Win? Abbreviations are supposed to make things shorter.”
Dot giggled and then double checked they were on mute. She didn’t want to offend Kitty.
“And For the Win, thanks to our generous donors, will pay for everything—housing, transportation, and living costs. This effort could make all the difference. And, as I mentioned, our top target is Wisconsin. It’sessentialto victory—without those ten electoral votes, we’ll lose again.”
Dot imagined that Kitty would also benefit if FTW was able to help deliver the White House to the Dems. Was this ploy part of her plan to land a job at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?
Dot felt another sting of career-choice regret watching Kitty make her pitch. Coming out of college, Dot had thought about following her passion, which was politics, but she hadn’t wanted to leave the city, and local politics seemed too small for her. Plus, she thought she’d make more money in tech. Not to mention that living in D.C. sounded dull.
But watching Kitty command a conference call with thousands of people and being able to wield influence through a Democratic organization flush with cash made Dot feel like maybe she’d made the wrong decision. Kitty had put herself on the fast track and had a glamorous, meaningful job. It was everything high-tech PR was not.
An impulse came over Dot, and she pushed the “raise hand” button. Kitty immediately called on her.
“Dot Clark, my longtime friend from NYU, thank youso muchfor being on the call. Everyone, Dot’s the best! Go ahead.” Kitty was laying it on a bit thick.
Dot started to speak.
“Dot, you’re on mute,” Kitty said with mild annoyance.
“Oh, sorry. Hi, Kitty. You remember my friends Mary and Harper—they’re here, too.”
Kitty waved to them.