John Kerry's response was slow to come, but he eventually agreed. He was speaking at the Spectrum in South Philadelphia. With any luck, he would get some coverage of a sound bite or two. I suspected that my butting in like this was going to get him all the coverage he could ask for!
Doing this quietly was difficult. Philly was close enough that I could take Marine One up. I told Brewster, Ari, and Josh – and no one else. Those three I swore to secrecy. None of them were amused. It would be vastly simpler to stay out of it, let the Swift Boat Vets do their thing, and take whatever lumps came our way. I was taking a big chance with this, and professional politicians don't like taking chances. Josh simply shook his head and sent the War Wagons and the rest of the zoo to overnight in Philadelphia. Brewster would drive up with them; Ari, Josh, Marilyn, and I would fly up in the morning.
Marilyn was quiet while I told the others what I was doing. Afterwards, she came to me and sat down sideways on my lap. "They're wrong. I understand why you are doing this, and I think you are right."
I put my arms around her waist. "You do, huh? So why am I doing this? Even I'm not sure I should be doing it."
"You're doing it because you're an honorable man and you are ashamed of what is happening. I am proud of you."
I snorted out a laugh at that. "Marilyn, I am many things, but an honorable man is somewhere way down the list."
"You are always too hard on yourself."
"And you are always too idealistic." I hugged her and added. "Maybe I'm just trying to live up to your expectations."
"Well, I'm still proud of you." She gave me a kiss that made me think tonight might be interesting.
We flew out in the morning, a little before the normal daily press briefing. Ari's deputy, Will Brucis gave the briefing, and was simply told that if anybody raised any questions about where we were flying to, to simply reply it was a campaign event. Under no circumstance was he to say more than 'a campaign event', and since he didn't know what I was up to, he couldn't speculate anyway. To be fair, nobody would really know what was happening until the evening news showed anyway, so even if the reporters found out, it was too late for them to yap about it.
This was a very low key and quiet trip, so when we landed at the Philadelphia airport there were no brass bands and politicians to greet me. We landed, the limo came out to the helicopter, and we got in. Fifteen minutes later we were sneaking in through a back entrance. It was easy to know where to go, since Senator Kerry had Secret Service protection just like I did. One of his agents greeted us and took us inside.
The look on some of the Senator's aides' faces was priceless. It was as if they were witnessing Darth Vader coming to talk to Luke Skywalker. I whispered to Marilyn that a few of them seemed to be holding up crosses so as to ward off evil. My wife giggled at that and told me to behave. Brewster was already present, and you could see the eyes on him as well, worried that he might brush against somebody and suck their thoughts and plans out by skin-to-skin osmosis. He came over to greet us, and a Kerry staffer came up and asked me to follow him to see the Senator.
John was using a back room as a conference room for his people, but he was the only one present. I had known Kerry ever since I had gotten into Congress, dating all the way back to my first bill, on Gulf War Syndrome. He had been one of the co-sponsors, just like almost every other veteran in the House and Senate.
"Good afternoon, Mister President.", he told me.
"Thank you for letting me come, Senator."
Kerry looked at his staffer and said, "I won't need you for a few minutes, Tim. I'd like to speak to President Buckman for a bit."
"Senator, you..." The staffer's eyes flicked back and forth between us, as he faltered in his speech. "You are scheduled to speak in half an hour."
"I'll be ready then." He politely showed the young man out the door and shut it behind him. Then he gestured towards a couple of chairs. "Please be seated."
"Thank you, John. I hope this doesn't put you behind your schedule. Perhaps I should have gotten here earlier."
"I don't think it's going to be a problem. You said you were planning to read a statement. Was that all?"
I nodded. "I have no intention of high-jacking your speech. I just want to go out there, with you by my side, say what I have to say, and leave. No questions or answers.", I told him.
"Could I see your statement?" I nodded and handed it over. He read it several times, and looked thoughtfully off into a distance that I couldn't see. Handing it back, he said, "Thank you. I would imagine that will cover everything."
"Good. As I told you, I never wanted something like this, and I can't seem to turn these jackasses off otherwise."
We chatted about our families until there was a knock on the door. John called out for them to enter, and Tim came in and said, "It's time, sir."
We both stood up, and John said, "We'll go out onstage together. I'll go to the podium and introduce you, and then step back. Sound right?"
"Sounds fine."
Out in the room with the others, Marilyn came up and shook the Senator's hand, and then kissed me. "I am very proud of you.", she said quietly.
"Yeah? Then how come you keep voting Democrat?", I teased back. John laughed at that. I turned my wife over to the others. She would watch from off stage. Instead, I fell in after Kerry as he was led towards the stage.
I saw a lot of shocked and surprised faces on some of the VFW big shots as we neared the stage. I had to give credit to Kerry, though. This was a tough audience for him, medals or not.
The chief big shot was at the podium, and he must have been cued in on the upcoming festivities. We waited in the wings while he said, "Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce Senator John Kerry, the Democratic candidate for President, and President Carl Buckman, the Republican candidate."
I followed the Senator out onto the stage. In the audience, there was massive consternation, although there was a lot of applause as well. When John's name was first mentioned I had heard the beginning of some catcalls, but they shut down immediately as I was mentioned. John immediately went to the podium and said, "Thank you. It is always good to be here in Philadelphia, one of the true birthplaces of America. Before I say anything more, however, it is my privilege to introduce the President of the United States, President Carl Buckman."
Kerry stepped back and I moved up to the podium. There was a fair bit of applause, but also an awful lot of confusion. I pulled out a copy of my speech from a jacket pocket and set it on the podium. We didn't bother with a teleprompter, though one could have been made available, and instead simply had it printed double spaced with a big font. I waited a minute for everybody to settle down, and then began.
"I would like to thank Senator Kerry for graciously allowing me to speak to you today, and through you to the rest of the nation. This is a singularly appropriate venue because you, like the Senator, are veterans of a foreign war.
Several days ago a group calling themselves the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth began running a television ad claiming that Senator Kerry's honorable service in the Navy during the Viet Nam War was anything but honorable. This group claims that Senator Kerry did not earn his medals, and never served in the places and times he claimed. I say to you now that these claims are false and misleading. John Kerry did indeed serve bravely under fire, was wounded multiple times, and earned the Bronze and Silver Stars awarded him in combat.