The countdown was on. For the Win had worked for several days on the upcoming candidate visit. The Lopez-Stone ticket was making a stop in Cedar Falls, and Dot, Fletcher, and Rose had been working around-the-clock to help with stage, crowd, and message management.
They’d split up the duties—Rose on ticketing for interested visitors and Fletcher on logistics with the candidates’ advance teams.
Meanwhile, Dot was working with a local reporter on a large profile of Lucy Lopez with theMilwaukee Journal Sentinelthat would run the morning of her visit. She’d also set up a panel of Wisconsin-based influencers so that they’d get as much as possible out of the hours Lopez would be there.
In the lead-up to the big day, the three of them took a midday shift at the Democrats’ fair booth.
“I wonder if she’s giving them a piece of her mind,” Dot said to Fletcher as they observed Rose talking to a group of local Republicans who had their booth across and down from their section.
“Hope she’s picking up some good intel. She comes off as so innocent, but she’s stealthy. Could’ve been a CIA agent,” Fletcher said.
“Think we should go over and extract her like I have to do with Mary when guys won’t leave her alone?”
“Well, if one of those guys hits on Rose, I’ll allow it.” Fletcher stole glances at Rose and tried not to make it obvious he was keeping tabs on her.
The fair was hopping that Saturday afternoon in mid-August, and they’d been lucky with the weather. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and a gentle breeze had picked up. It was welcome after a couple of weeks of extreme heat. Kids rode on their dad’s shoulders or ran this way and that, safe under the watchful eyes of the adults. Teens moved in packs, sharing their inside jokes and flirting out of sight from their teachers, coaches, and parents. It was the culmination of summer—the crops were coming in nicely, and everyone in Cedar Falls seemed to be in a good mood.
Later that afternoon, The Crew was meeting up with the Taylor boys and Danny at the midway, and Dot was getting anxious to see them. Well, specifically, to see Danny. The pair had been dating for several weeks—mostly casual dinners, runs out to the covered bridge and back, and a few late nights talking and making out on the porch. Danny was running through her mind on a loop, and it had become her favorite daydream.
Dot jolted out of her daydream and turned to a young woman carrying a small boy who had reached toward the treats on their table. Rose had nailed it—they literally needed eye candy to lure people over so they could get them to talk. Mimi had made individualized Flour Power cream puffs, packaged in cellophane and tied with blue and white ribbons.
“Hi! What a beautiful boy. Are you registered to vote?” Dot asked.
“Oh, um, no. I’m not into politics,” the woman said, a bit shy about her son wanting the cream puff anyway.
“I can understand that,” Dot said as she handed her the treat. She’d heard this reply often at their get-out-the-vote events. “Though with your little guy there, I’m sure you’re taking more of an interest. And if you’re a Wisconsin resident, your vote matters more than ever this cycle.”
“Why is that?” She set her toddler down then opened the bag and tore off some bites for him.
Dot explained Wisconsin’s unique value in that year’s electoral college map. Then she encouraged her to come back the following day to hear Lopez give a speech at the fairgrounds.
“Oh, I’ve seen some of her videos pop up in my feed,” the woman said. “What do you think of her?”
“She’s amazing, and I think she’s got what it takes,” Dot said. “She’s a state senator from Georgia, not a Washington insider. And she’s different compared to the party’s more recent candidates—young, smart, beautiful, and funny. Her passion is education, women’s rights, and making life fairer and more affordable for working people. I think you’d like her.”
“Maybe I’ll try to make it tomorrow. I just have so much going on.” She wiped her child’s hands and mouth with one of the wet wipes and took a flyer from Dot. Then she scooped up her son and set him on her hip.
“He’s a cutie,” Dot said.
The woman smiled warmly, appreciating the compliment. “Thanks. He’s also a handful.”
“I know you want the best for him. Come tomorrow if you can. Her speech is at two—just before the championship steer round. Wouldn’t want to miss that either!” She hoped her fair barn pitch would be the closing argument.
“I’ll give it a shot,” she said as she got her son to say thank you for the treat and wave goodbye.
When the woman and child had walked away, Fletcher said, “Nice job, Dot. Light touch, focus on the future,” he said. “Who could say no?”
“We’ll see if she comes back. I know it’s not easy to make time for politics when they’re just trying to get through the day. And babysitters are so expensive,” Dot said. “But we need these moms to vote for Lopez. Otherwise, we have no hope of winning in November. Or any time after that, the way things are trending.”
The state of the race had Dot nervous. That week a new poll from a reliable outlet showed the Republicans had pulled ahead nationallyandin Wisconsin. Kitty was in meltdown mode and crushing Dot and Fletcher.
On their video call that week, Kitty had been a minute late. Dot immediately sensed something was up.
“What are we all doing to get these numbers back up?” Kitty implored. “I’m counting on you to make this work.”
Fletcher had jumped in to calm her down. “Hey, that poll could be an outlier. There’s no logical reason that they’re ahead by that much.” He made a good point. It was the only poll that had them down that much.
Then Dot had used her PR climb-down tactics with Kitty.