From around the scene there was a lot of applause from various policemen and the employees of the diner. George stepped back from the podium and Brew nudged me forward. I shook hands with George, and then I stepped up to the podium. I looked at the cameras and said, "I would like to thank Chief Tilden for both his kind words and his endorsement. Even more than an endorsement of my run for Congress, this is an endorsement of my belief that the police and fire departments and emergency squads are the first line of defense for all of us, and they need to be supported by all of us. When I was a kid, there was a popular bumper sticker that said, 'You don't like cops? Next time you're in trouble call a hippie!' Back in the Sixties that sounded pretty funny, but the older I got, the less funny it seemed. Policemen and firefighters and paramedics and doctors and nurses truly are the first line of defense all of us have, and I promise that as Congressman, I will do everything I can to support them. I urge everyone here to do the same."
I paused and there was a round of applause from around the group. I made a few other quick campaign remarks, and then asked if anybody had any questions. I knew they would. The first one was easy - 'Can you tell us in your own words what happened that night'
"Sure. Well, it had been a pretty normal day so far, with several campaign events and a dinner at the American Legion. I got to meet a lot of really nice people that day. I had with me a reporter, Fletcher Donaldson of the Baltimore Sun, who was doing a ride-along with me. Anyway, it was the end of the day, and we decided to stop for some coffee and pie at the Westminster Diner before calling it a day. We had just been served when this really big guy comes in, totally out of control. He grabs this woman in one of the booths, and then smacks around Nick and Amy. I grabbed my cell phone..." I lifted it out of my belt holster and showed it. " ... and handed it to Fletcher, and told him to call the cops. Then I got up and told this guy to leave the diner. That's when he started swinging at me."
The reporter from WMAR asked, "How were you able to subdue Haywood Collins if he is so much bigger than you?"
I smiled at that. "Haven't you ever heard that the bigger they are, the harder they fall? Seriously, though, I have two black belts in the martial arts and have been in these types of situations before. I was never in any danger, and somebody needed to stop him before he killed somebody!"
"Congressman Stewart has claimed that you only did this for the headlines.", commented WBAL.
"Congressman Stewart claims a lot of things. It doesn't make them true."
"Then why didn't you wait for the police to arrive?"
"Because there simply wasn't time to do that. Haywood Collins was about to haul this woman out, dragging her if necessary. I had no idea she was his wife, but I suspected she was a relative. By the time the police arrived - and I do not mean to imply that they were late showing up - he would have left with her. Unless the police were in the parking lot already, he would have gotten away. What would have happened then?! You do know that most violence against women comes from family members, don't you?" I wasn't sure of the exact statistics, but I knew this was true.
"Why did you feel the need to make a donation to the women's shelter?", asked Fletcher.
"Domestic violence and spousal abuse is a national problem, but right here and now, it's a problem that we can help with on a local level. I didn't know it at the time, but Jolene Collins was six months pregnant, and was suffering from a broken arm and a black eye. Her husband has been using her as a punching bag for years. She was so afraid of him she only left after he threatened their unborn baby. A shelter can protect women like Jolene Collins and give them options for the future. I urge everybody here to support shelters like this."
Some of the questions were unexpected. "Are you a regular diner here?"
I blinked at that one. "Well, I have eaten here a few times. I mean, who hasn't!? Still, it's not like I'm a regular on a first name basis with Nick Papandreas."
"Had you ever met Mister Papandreas before?"
I shook my head. "No, we had never been introduced before, although I knew who he was."
"How did you know who he was?"
Good Lord! Time to draw this to a close! "Probably because his picture is on the menu. Listen, I think it's time to close this down. I appreciate all of you attending and I promise you all that once I am elected I will do my best to support the first responders in our community. Now, I want to take my lovely wife Marilyn inside for some pie and coffee, and then we have to get home for when the kids get home from school. Here's an endorsement from me - Nick Papandreas and the Westminster Diner serve up the best pie! Now, come on in. The pie's on me!"
I stepped away from the podium and led Marilyn over to the side and introduced them to Nick and Amy. I wasn't the first politician Nick had ever run across, but the young waitress was starstruck. She wasn't quite stuttering, but she was tongue-tied and red-faced. I teased her a touch, and Marilyn put her at ease by asking her if she was a Democrat or a Republican.
Amy shyly admitted, "Democrat.", as she blushed in embarrassment.
"That's okay. I'm a Democrat, too. I still haven't made up my mind who I'm voting for. Is this going to be your first election?" Marilyn and Amy started talking, and I led them inside. Amy insisted on being our waitress. A handful of other people from the crowd came in. Brew McRiley and George Tilden sat with Marilyn and me in the same booth this all started at the other night. I pointed out what I had witnessed and how it went down.
The security video made the entire event the lead item on all three Friday night news shows, and by Sunday had made the national news. I drove down to Washington with Brew and we made the round of the Sunday morning talk shows, this time without Andy Stewart able to toss in his two cents worth. That was fine by me. CBS had even commissioned a poll in conjunction with the Sun that showed me for the first time leading Stewart, and by a ten point margin to boot.
This was just totally surreal to me. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. I mean, really, there was no way anybody was going to vote for me for Congress.
Chapter 104: Momentum
The campaign continued to gain momentum after the diner incident. During the next month I picked up another fourteen endorsements from various local police chiefs and fire department captains. We were on a roll! Okay, the Sun had endorsed Stewart, but everyone had known that was going to happen. He was a Democrat and the Sun was a City paper, which heavily favored the Democrats, and they had endorsed him for every election he had run to date. It wasn't an issue for us; we didn't expect it to matter to anyone out in the Ninth.
Andy Stewart was running scared. He was spending money like he owned a printing press, and he had bankers donating cash to replace it. We matched him ad for ad, and what surprised me was how many donations I was pulling in. It wasn't all coming out of my own pocket. I was constantly calling people and thanking them and writing notes to them. He was slinging mud left and right, and any semblance to the truth was accidental. He brought up the 'billionaire buying a seat' theme, the 'murderer' theme, the fact I was disowned, that I was a 'rogue vigilante', I was 'unstable and mentally deranged' (that one he got from some shrink he bought who never even met me.) He even claimed that I didn't need a cane and that I was faking the limp for sympathy! We just released the medical report from Walter Reed declaring the damage to be permanent and qualifying for a medical discharge from the Army.