The Prodigal Daughter (40 page)

Finally, she
called the Chicago Baron and instructed them to leave the thirty-eighth floor
free, warning them she would need the entire floor left at her disposal for at
least a year.

“Taking it
seriously, aren’t we?” said Richard later that evening.

“Indeed I am,
because I’m going to have to work very hard if you’re ever going to be the
First Gentleman.”

26

“ARE YOIL
EXPECTING MUCH OPPOSITION?”

“Nothing of real
consequence,” said Edward. “There may be a protest candidate or two, but as the
committee is fully behind you, the real fight should be with the Republicans.”

“Do we know who
their candidate is likely to be?”

“Not yet. My spies
tell me it’s between two men, Ray Buck, who seems to be the choice of the
retiring member, and Stewart Lyle, who served on the City Council for the past
eight years. They’ll both run a good campaign, but that’s not our immediate
problem,
With
so little time left, we must concentrate
on the Democratic primary.”

“How many people
do you think will vote in the primary?” asked Florentyna.

“Can’t
be certain.
All we do know is that there are roughly a hundred and fifty thousand
registered Democrats and that the turnout is usually between forty-five and
fifty percent, So that would point to around seventy or eighty thousand.”

Edward unfolded
a large map of Chicago and placed it in front of Florentyna.

“The boundaries
of the constituency are marked in red and run from East Chicago Avenue in the
south to the Evanston border in the north, from Ravenswood and Northwest
Highway in the west to the lake in the east.”

“The district
hasn’t changed since the days of Henry Osbome,” said Florentyna, “so it should
all come back to me very quickly.”

“Let’s hope so,
because our main task is to see that every Democrat in that area is aware of
who
you are through the press, advertising, television and
public appearances. Whenever they open their newspaper, turn on the radio or watch
TV

Florentyna Kane
must be with them. The voters must feel you are everywhere and they must
believe your only interest is in them. In fact, there can be no major function
in Chicago between now and March nineteenth at which you are not present.”

“Suits mc,” said
Florentyna. “I’ve already set up my campaign headquarters in the Chicago Baron,
which my father had the foresight to build at the heart of the district. I
propose to spend weekends here and any free days during the week at home with
my family, so where do you want me to start?”

“I’ve called a
press conference for next Monday, to be held at Democrat~c headquarters. A
short speech followed by a question-and-answer session and then we’ll serve
them coffee so you can me,--t
all the
key people
individually. As you enjoy thinking fast on your feet, you should relish
meeting the press.”

“Any
paiticular advice?”

“No, just be
yourself.”

“You may live to
regret that.”

Edward’s
judgment turned out to be right. After Florentyna had made a short opening
statement the questions came thick and fast. Under his breath, Edward whispered
the names of the various journalists as each rose to his feet.

The first was
Mike Royko, of the Chicago Daily News.

“Why do you
think it appropriate that a New York millionairess should run for the Ninth
District of Illinois?”

“In this
context,” said Florentyna, standing to take the questions, “I am not a New York
millionairess. I was born in St. Luke’s General Hospital and brought up on Rigg
Street. My father, who came to this country with nothing but the clothes he
wore, founded the Baron Group right here in the Ninth District. I believe we
must always fight to ensure that any immigrant arriving on our shores today,
whether he
be
from Vietnam or Poland, has the
opportunity to achieve the same goals as my father did.”

Edward pointed
to another journalist for the next question.

“Do you consider
it a disadvantage to be a woman when seeking public office?”

“Perhaps to a
limited or ill-informed person I would have to answer yts, but not with any
intelligent voter who puts the issues before outdated prejudices. Which of you
if involved in a traffic accident on the way home today would think twice if
the first doctor on the scene turned out to be a woman? I hope the issue of sex
will soon be as irrelevant as that of religion. It seems a century ago that
people asked John F. Kennedy if he thought the Presidency might change because
he was a Roman Catholic.

I notice
nowadays the question never arises with Teddy Kennedy. Women are already playing
leading roles in other nations. Golda Meir in Israel and Indira Gandhi in India
are just two examples. I consider it sad that in a nation of two hundred and
thirty million people, women number not one of the hundred senators and only
sixteen out of the four hundred and thirty-four members of Congress.”

“What does your
husband feel about you wearing the trousers in your family?” demanded an
unsolicited questioner. Laughter broke out in certain parts of the room and
Florentyna waited for complete silence.

“He’s far too
intelligent and successful for such a pathetic question to occur to him.”

“What is your
attitude on Watergate?”

“A sad episode
in American political history which I hope will be behind us before too long
but not forgotten.”

“Do you feel
President Nixon should resign?”

“That’s a moral
decision for the President to make himself.”

“Would you
resign if you were President?”

“I wouldn’t have
to break into any hotels. I already own one hundred and forty-three.” A burst of
laughter followed by applkuse gave Florentyna a little more confidence.

“Do you think
the President should be impeached?”

“That’s a
question Congress will have to decide based on the evidence the Judiciary
Committee is considering, including the White House tapes if President Nixon
ever releases them. But no American can fail to have been moved by the
resignation of the Attorney General, Elliot Richardson, a man whose integrity
has never been in question.”

“Where do you
stand on abortion?”

1 shall not fall
into the trap that Senator Mason did only last week when asked the same
question, to which he replied,
‘Gentlemen, that
one’s
below the belt. “
‘ Florentyna
waited for the laughter
to die down before saying in a more serious tone. “I am a Roman Catholic by
birth and upbringing, so I feel strongly about the protection of the unborn
child.

However, I also
believe there are situations in which it is
either necessary
and
indeed morally correct for a qualified doctor to carry out an
abortion.”

“Can you give an
example?”

“Rape would be
an obvious one, and also in a case where the mother’s health is in danger.”

“Isn’t that
against the teachings of your church?”

“That is
correct, but I have always believed in the separation of church and state. Any
person who runs for public office must be willing to take stands on certain
issues that will not please all of 1he people all of the time. I think Edmund
Burke summed it up better than I could hope to do when he said, ‘Your
representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment, and he
betrays instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion.”‘

Edward sensed
the effect of the last-statement and promptly rose from his chair. “Well,
ladies and gentlemen of the press, I think the time has come to adjourn for
coffee, which will give you an opportunity to meet Fiorentyna Kane
personallyalthough I am sure by now you know why we feel she is the right
person to represent the Ninth District in Congress.”

For the next
hour, Florentyna faced a further barrage of personal and political questions,
some of which, had they been put to her in the privacy of her own home, she
would have found objectionable, but she was quickly learning that one cannot be
a public figure and hope to maintain a private stance on anything. When the
last journalist had left, she collapsed into a chair, not even having had the
time to drink one cup of coffee.

“You wen--
great,” said Janet Brown. “Didn’t you think so, Mr. Winchester?”

Edward smiled.
“Good, not great, but I blame myself for not warning you about the difference
between being chairman of a private k
,ompany
and
running for public office.”

“What are you
getting at?” asked Florentyna, surprised.

“Some of those
journalists are very powerful and they talk to hundreds of thousands of people
every day through their columns. Th,
,y
want to tell
their readers that they know you ,personally and once or twice you were just a
little too aloof. And with the man from the Tribune you were just plain rude,”
“Was that the man who asked about who wore the trousers?”

“
Yes .

“What was I
supposed to say?”

“Turn it into a
joke.”

“It wasn’t
funny, Edward, and it was he who was rude.”

“Possibly,
but he’s not the one who’s running for public office and you are, so he can say
what he likes.
And don’t ever forget hts column is read by more than five hundred thousand
people in Chicago every day including most of your constituents.”

“So you want me
to compromise myself?”

The Present:
1968-1982 251

“No, I want you
to get elected. When you’re in the House, you can prove to everyone that they
were right in voting for you. But just now you’re an unknown commodity with a
lot going against you. You’re a woman, you’re Polish and you’re a
millionairess. That combination is going to arouse just about every form of
prejudice or jealousy in most ordinary people.

The way to
counter those feelings is always to appear humorous, kind and interested in
people who do not share the privileges you have.”

“Edward, it’s
not me who should be running for public office, it’s you.”

Edward sb
)ok
his head. “I know you’re the right person, Florentyna,
but I realize now that it will take a little time for you to adjust to your new
environment. Thank God you’ve always been a quick learner. By the way, I don’t
disagree with the sentiments you voiced so vociferously, but as you seem to
like quoting statesmen of the past, don’t forget Jefferson’s comment to Adams:
‘You can’t lose votes with a speech you didn’t make.”‘

Again Edward
turned out to be right: the press the next day gave Florentyna a mixed
reception, and the Tribune reporter called her the worst sort of opportunistic
carpetbagger he had ever had the misfortune to come across on the political
trailsurely Chicago could find a local person? Otherwise he would have to
recommend for the first time that his readers vote Republican. Florentyna was
horrified and adjusted quickly to the fact that a journalist’s ego was
sometimes more sensitive than a politician’s. She settled down to working
several days a week in Chicago, meeting people, talking to the press, appearing
on television, fund raising and then going over it all again whenever she saw
Richard. Even Edward was beginning to feel confident that the tide was turning
her way, when the first blow came.

“Ralph Brooks? Who
on earth is Ralph Brooks?” asked Florentyna.

“A
local lawyer, very bright and very ambitious.
I’d always
thought his sights were set on the State Attorney’s office en route to the
federal bench, but it seems I’m wrong. I wonder who put him up to
this?
”

“Is he a serious
candidate?” Florentyna asked.

“He certainly
is. A local boy, educated at the University of Chicago befoie going on to Yale
Law School.”

“Age?” asked
Florentyna.

“L4te
thirties.”

“And of course
he’s good-looking?”

“Very,” said
Edward. “When he
rises
in court every woman on the
jury wants him to win. I always avoid opposing him if I can.”

“Does this
Olympian have any disadvantages?”

“Naturally.
Any man who has
been a lawyer in this city is bound to have made a few enemies and I know for
certain Mayor Daley won’t be ovedoyed about his entry into the race, since
Ralph Brooks is an obvious rival for his son.”

“What airi I
expected to do about him?”

“Nothing,” said
Edward. “When asked, you simply give the standard answer: say it’s democracy at
work and
may
the best man-or woman-win.”

“He’s left
himself with only five weeks before the primary.”

“Sometimes
that’s a clever tactic; he’ll hope you’ve run out of steam.