“Hi,” Dot said, waving to the screen and noting Kitty’s light makeup and hair in a topknot . Kitty wore a sleeveless navy blue top and small diamond earrings. “This must be her Sunday casual look,” Dot thought. “Did this woman ever just throw on a T-shirt?”
Kitty was in her office, a bookshelf behind her where everything had been arranged by a decorator who never intended for the shelves to hold books useful in an office.Diorin Bloomwasn’t exactly something you’d need for reference in political communication. But she had to admit, the aesthetic was on point.
“Hi, there. Thanks for getting on. Where’s Fletcher?”
“He just texted me. Should be on any second.” Dot prayed that was true, hoping his tardiness wasn’t a reflection on her.
And right on cue, Fletcher beamed in, unaware thatearlyis on time.
“Hi, there! This must be good, Kitty. Or bad.”
“Well, it’s not great. The DNC got word about a story that’s going to hit soon. Super-negative about Lucy’s personal life,” Kitty said. Dot clocked the first name reference. The two women must have grown quite close.
“What did they find?” Dot asked, cringing at how bad this was going to be.
“They have oppo research about a disgruntled former boyfriend of hers from years ago, and apparently he’s willing to talk. That’s what gotThe New York Timesto bite.”
“Does the DNC know which reporter is on the story?” Dot ran through a mental list of political reporters on the election beat wondering who it could be.
“Not yet—working on it. Chances are I’ll have crossed paths with them—especially if they’re D.C.-based.
“What do they get out of digging up an old boyfriend from years ago?” Fletcher asked. “What’s their angle?”
“I imagine it’s that she’s single, unreliable, unable or unwilling to commit. A frenzied mess. Apparently, they’ll plant seeds of doubt about her because she’s never been married. They couch it as ‘just asking questions,’ but we all know that’s code for a childless woman who can’t hold on to a man; and someone who doesn’t have the right temperament to be commander-in-chief.”
“They’re going to throw it all against the personal wall,” Dot said.
“So, we have to make sure it doesn’t stick.” Fletcher tapped his index finger on his chin in thought.
“That’s the play. Any ideas?” Kitty asked.
“Can we go back a second?” Dot asked, needing more information. “Going after her for being a single, independent woman... that’s not going to help them with the youth vote they need.”
“In theory, yes,” Kitty said. “But the youth vote is somewhat fickle, and we’ve been shedding young people’s support for a few cycles now. But the GOP also wants to drive up their numbers with older women. Heck,anywomen. If they can win more of their vote, they don’t have to worry as much about the other groups.”
“And if they do that enough times, in enough states, they’ll take the electoral college again,” Fletcher finished Kitty’s thought.
“Okay, let’s say this attack strikes,” Dot posed. “How do you think she’ll react? It’ll be good to be ready for whatever her response is going to be.”
“Good question. I can’t say for sure, but I’ve been around her enough to believe we’ll get a decent mix of gracious and sharp. She’s cool under pressure, which is reassuring about how she’d react in a crisis. But there’s a fine line between resolute and overreacting, especially for women. If she can ignore it or manage it with a smile and a spark, that’d be the best outcome.”
“This is why I’ll never run for office,” Fletcher said. “I’d get so mad.”
“Well, we can get mad on her behalf,” Kitty said.
“And we can also get even,” Dot said.
“I like where you’re going with that, Dot. Make no mistake, the story will be brutal. Jilted lover stories will draw headlines and clicks. I think that’s why she’s always been very protective of her private life—she wants to focus on the issues, while social media just lasers in on her personal life.”
“So, there’s a danger in under-responding, too,” Dot said. “If she decides not to dignify it with a response, all the accusations go unanswered.”
“Exactly. And those impressions are hard to erase,” Kitty said.
Fletcher clapped his hands together. “So, where do we come in?”
“We have about forty-eight hours before this story is supposed to hit. I was hoping you two can put your heads together and see if we can offer something to break through the DNC’s brick wall of running scared responses. It takes forever and a day to get them to approve anything. So many of them are canned and just don’t work. I want to go around them.”
“Do you have any suggestions?” Dot asked. “Or do we have a blank slate?”