‘And how does Fitzgerald feel about us’?’ Hotchins asked.
‘Well, you got to remember that Fitz is an old party bull. He’s been chairman of the NC for ten years. He’s tough, probably the best machine politician this country’s seen since Tammany. He’s like an odds maker. He adds it all up and then he makes his bet.’
‘And?’ Hotchins said.
‘And he’s still betting on Humphrey.’
‘Humphrey!’ Roan bellowed. ‘Jesus Christ, he’s already been whipped once. Does he want to hand the election to Ford?’
‘The way he sees it, it’s going to be a free-for-all in New Hampshire, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and all the early runners are going to burn out in the stretch. We’re talking about a Jot of money and a lot of endurance. Hubert can afford to wait it out until May, maybe even June, then jump in at the last minute after all the shooting’s over and walk off with it.’
‘So,’ Hotchins said, ‘what it’s going to take is a long- distance runner with a lot of money.’
‘That’s it,’ Lowenthal said.
‘And he’s writing us off, right?’ Roan said.
‘He thinks Carter’s going to be the man in the South. And he doesn’t even give him a chance. He doesn’t think either one of you has a chance nationally. Doesn’t think you have the clout. You’ve stepped on too many toes. The insurance companies, the lobbyists, nuclear power. You’ve kicked a lot of ass, Mr. Senator.’
Hotchins smiled. ‘And there’s still plenty of kick left in my good foot,’ he said.
‘But that’s where the money is,’ said Lowenthal.
‘We got the money,’ said Roan.
‘We’re talking big money. Big money.’
‘We have big money. And we have stamina.’
‘How about Carter?’ said Lowenthal.
‘Well, how about him?’ Hotchins said..
‘He’s going to run. I talked to his people last week.’
‘We can take Carter,’ Roan said. ‘He hasn’t got the charisma Hotch has.’
‘And he’s soft on some key issues. I know Jimmy. We get along fine. I like him. But we can take him,’ Hotchins said. ‘We can beat him right here in the back room before be gets started. I guarantee it.’
Lowenthal nodded. ‘I agree. I think you can. But you’re going to have to beat him out of the gate and that means starting the race too soon. It’s dangerous.’
‘He’ll have to do the same. It’s a question of who comes out first. And we’re coming out next Monday,’ said Roan.
‘Next Monday!’ Lowenthal looked shocked.
‘We’ll lock the state before Jimmy gets out of bed,’ Roan said. ‘Then hit New Hampshire like the blizzard of ‘88.’
Lowenthal shook his head. ‘You’ll be on oxygen before spring,’ be said.
‘No way,’ Hotchins said and the intensity of his retort surprised Lowenthal. ‘I can hop faster and farther than any of them can run on two legs. I’ve been training for this for too long. Let ‘em think we’ll burn out. Let Fitzgerald think so.’
Lowenthal nibbled on his pipe. He was seeing a new side to Hotchins. Tough. Obsessed. A man who did not consider losing. Maybe he could do it. Maybe be just had the fever to do it. He decided to try another approach, another test. ‘Let me put it this way,’ he said, ‘You know how the National Committee works. They control party finances. They can also play hell with the convention, with delegates’ votes, simply by screwing with the convention rules. They browbeat, cajole, threaten, blackmail, call in favours
there are a hundred ways they can steal committed votes.
You could go all the way to the wire and see it vanish in a two- or three-ballot donnybrook.’
‘They tried it on Kennedy and got their ass handed to them,’ Roan said.
‘And Harry Truman,’ Hotchins added. ‘Talk about stamina. He whistle-stopped Dewey to death. We can do the same thing. To Carter, Udall, Frank Church, even Humphrey if we have to. We know all this. The question is, Do we need the committee?’
‘Academic question,’ Lowenthal said. ‘We don’t have ‘em, so why worry about it? Fitz’ll fight you all the way to the final ballot. I know him. I’ve been up against him before. He wants a winner; that’s the name of the game this year. And he doesn’t think you have a chance in hell. Look, you’re running, okay? You need money. If you’re a good party hack, they back you. If you’re a maverick, played by your own rules, voted against a few big party bills — which you have they run out of money just when you need it. So you can forget the committee for money and support. And it can get very lonely out there if the party strongarms are against you. They’ll throw everybody in the party at you in the early primaries. They may even quietly support some weak sisters to split the vote, throw it into a runoff. Make you spend more money. And what Fitz is looking for is for you to run out of breath in the stretch. He plays for longevity. Longevity is what counts.’
‘We’ll be waiting for him in New York come July,’ Hotchins said, with more than just confidence. The way he said it, it was a statement of fact.
Lowenthal shook his head and chuckled. ‘Well, if confidence alone could win it, you’d be on the way to Washington right now,’ he said. ‘But I must tell you, I don’t agree with this plan to announce on Monday. Hell, at least wait until after the New Year.’
‘We can’t,’ Roan said. ‘Carter’s getting ready himself.’
Lowenthal shook his head. ‘It’s Christmas. Nobody gives a damn about politics right now.’
‘They will,’ Hotchins said.
‘Damn, you’re determined!’ Lowenthal said.
Hotchins fixed himself a cup of tea and put half a spoonful of sugar into it. He stirred it slowly, looking at Lowenthal with his crystal blue eyes.
‘What’s your interest in me, Julius?’ he asked.
Lowenthal smiled. ‘Plain and simple? You’re a maverick and I like that, always have. I’ve been watching you for years. We believe in the same things.’ Then: ‘So much for idealism. Now we’ll get to the bottom line. You have style. You have a hell of a war record. But the big thing is, I don’t think Humphrey can beat Ford and I think you just might. Ford’s the weakest incumbent president the Democrats have ever run against, but that doesn’t mean he’s a pushover. He can shake the Nixon thing. He’s already done a pretty good job of that. My personal opinion is that a dark horse is going to take him. And they don’t come any darker than you right now.’
Hotchins and Roan both laughed.
‘Besides,’ Lowenthal said, ‘maybe, just maybe, you could make one hell of a president.’
Hotchins smiled warmly. Then he laughed out loud. ‘I’ll be a son of a bitch,’ he said. ‘That’s one hell of an answer.’
‘Good,’ Lowenthal said, ‘now let’s get to the nut-cutting fast. You got any secrets. Anything in the closet we ought to know about? Any illegitimate kids, bad friends, vices that may upset the little old ladies in Nebraska?’
Hotchins smiled to conceal a tiny shock that hit him in the stomach. A picture of Domino flashed past his eyes. ‘Of course not,’ he said casually.
‘We’ve been through this before,’ Roan said. ‘If there was anything, it would have been turned up by now.’
‘Not like this time. This time they’ll be all over you — into your business deals, your war record, your family life. Both parties in the beginning. I don’t want any surprises popping up at the last minute.’
‘What else?’ Hotchins said, killing that conversation.
‘What’s your net worth?’
Hotchins thought about that for a few moments. ‘I suøpose I’ll show close to a million dollars when my CPA finishes the audit. But most of that’s on paper. Investments, stock in trust to protect me from conflicts of interest.’
‘How much liquid?’
‘Less than two hundred thousand dollars.’
‘Our credit position is very strong,’ Roan said. ‘We can tap several banks. I’d say we can raise a million, maybe more to start with.’