[indent]Senator Abigail Reubens sat in her usual café with the only annoyance and difference being that it was more crowded than usual; they were mostly gawkers, and on behalf of the economy they paid for their nuisance. Strong, brewed coffee poured endlessly as Abigail waited for the mystery that was Jakob Keyes. Certain senator friends had recommended him and she figured that if they were, in fact, senators then the man must've done something right. However, she wasn't sure if he had worked on something of this magnitude before. Campaigning for the Presidency was a tad far off from that of a senator from Harrisburg. As long as she didn't get one of those off-year campaigners'those poor chumps who specialize in petty mayors and councils'she'd be okay.
[indent]The fact that she had even been nominated for her quaint Realist party still brightened her eyes every time she thought of it. Further beaming erupted within her from the success at the primary election; these realizations came on her with such suddenness that she absolutely had to pause what ever she was doing and smile from where she had risen. Could there possibly be a Reubens/Stark '20? Would her husband, Jim be the very first First Gentlemen? Surrounded by bustling baristas, Abigail realized again the position she was in. Good thing, too. With the dull clank of the rusting bells above the door, Mr. Keyes had finally entered the café.
[indent]He was, to say the least, different than had been expected. She had been warned of eccentricity, but his tie was a tad too much. It was a flamboyantly striped hot carmine red and a delicate sky blue emblazoned with the slogan: 'Reu/Star: 20/20 Vision of America!'� Clever, but did Mr. Keyes even have an inkling of her vision yet?
[indent]He sat down with confident ease and jumped right into business, ordering himself a frap from a passing waitress.
[indent]'Reubens! How the heck are ya! Let's start, shall we?'� Jakob Keyes laid out pad and paper and rattled off issue after issue that would be important to the year's presidential race. Abigail, startled by his sudden and'�interesting appearance, didn't and couldn't pay attention to what the man was saying.
[indent]'I'm sorry, Mr. Keyes,'� She laid a hand gently, yet firmly on his arm. 'Are you aware of my feeling on these issues?'�
[indent]Keyes smiled. 'How rude of me.'� He uncapped his pen and wrote something down in his Steno book. 'Right now, I suppose we only need to concern ourselves with three strategies'goals, you might say. Repeat after me, Ms. Reubens: Message, Money, and Machine.'�
[indent]She glanced around quickly and hesitantly repeated verbatim. The man was nothing short of corny, she thought. 'What would be 'machine,' Mr. Keyes?'� She asked.
[indent]'Your supporters and partisans, o'course. But first things first, missus. The message is the key.'� He tipped her a wink and Abigail returned with a polite smile. 'Women suffrage is more or less a hundred years old and how many women presidents have we had? [i]That[/i] is your motivation, Ms. Reubens.'�
[indent]'Please, it's Abigail.'�
[indent]'Abby,'� He smiled.
[indent]'No, I'm more partial to Abigail.'� She smiled. 'Don't you think my opponents will think that I'm only playing the feminist card? That that's all I got going for me?'�
[indent]''Course not. It's 2020. Time for a change, I say.'�
[indent]'All right. What's your plan on encouraging public opinion? Brain-washing?'�
[indent]'No, I think that's more old Govenor-of-Hicksville Jettison's recurring plan.'� He took his first slurp of his now luke-warm coffee. 'Grand Old Phonies'�'�
[indent]'Public opinion says that he'll win again. He's a strong leader. Misguided and dishonest, but strong.'�
[indent]'I don't think so, and if you keep thinking that then you'll have absolutely no chance in all this. Personally, I've had enough of Republicans and Democrats in the House. I'm organizing the third party for the national level and I'll have nothing less, Abby.'�
[indent]It was apparent to Abigail that Jakob was on his own personal mission, and though she felt somewhat compelled to be threatened; she wasn't in the least. She counted herself lucky to have someone who was so determined when she herself knew it was impossible that straight-ticket voters loyal to the two oldest parties in the country would split their ballot just so they could occasionally glance at a change of scenery for four years. She wouldn't even make it to the end of the great rat race that was the general election. At least she would tell herself that she had made it this far and that she could pass at least that on to any future grandchildren'if she was even allowed to see them.
[indent]Her estranged only son-now-lawyer, Daniel, had moved to Wisconsin with her first husband some twenty years ago. Daniel had come to visit her once a year, if that, and now at age thirty, he rarely spoke to her. If communication happened at all, they mostly emailed one-liner jokes to each other, paving all hurt and resentment over with political humor'just about the only thing the two could call 'in common.'� Now, he was, at best, just another address on her forward list.
[indent][i]I hope he's planning to vote for me,[/i] Abigail thought. There was a chance, after all. Even just the novelty of voting for one's mother, how ever faraway emotionally and physically she was, could be enough. He was a smart guy, though. He'd vote for the one who truly needed it. He was a poster child for the dedicated Independents.
[indent]Jakob said something and it stirred Abigail from herself.
[indent]'I'm sorry?'� She asked.
[indent]'What's this 'amending the twenty-sixth amendment' business?'� Somewhere between the time she was being down on herself and thinking about her son, Jakob had reached the newspaper stand and was now reading the paper avidly. 'What's your take on it, Abby?'�
[indent]'Do you know what the twenty-sixth amendment is, Jake?'� Abigail raised her cup and found it empty. Kind of like her hope for the public's choice in the Electoral College. It would be a sour, awakening experience, indeed.
[indent]'Something regarding to voting. Just saw the headline.'� He unfolded the news further. 'Ah, they're deciding whether or not to give sixteen year-olds the vote or not.'�
[indent]'You say that in such a disapproving tone, Jake.'�
[indent]'Jakob,'� He smiled. 'Do you think they'd be responsible enough?'�
[indent]'If they're responsible to hold a job and pay taxes and that. And, well, they'd be eligible to vote, wouldn't they? According to the requirements?'�
[indent]'Hm,'� Said Jakob, over the paper, and that's all he said.
[indent]Abigail pulled it down from his face. 'How would we manipulate the voting factors?'�
[indent]'Manipulate? That's a little harsh, ain't it? Well, we get votes by being the voter and seeing what they see. They need to sympathize with you.'� He said, and then hesitated. 'If it's not too personal, what's your religion, Abigail?'�
[indent]'None so far.'�
[indent]Jakob winced. 'That'll cost ya, Abigail, but being female will forgive you that.'�
[indent]'I'm sorry? What's [i]your[/i] religion, Mr. Keyes?'�
[indent]'The same. How old are you?'�
[indent]'You first.'�
[indent]'That would be forty-one.'�
[indent]'Ha'I'm one up on you, Keyes.'�
[indent]'Well, you look German-American and I read that you went to law school'at Duquesne University?'�
[indent]'I used to be Catholic.'� Abigail said.
[indent]'You're from Harrisburg'the Senator capital of the world'and you make'' Jakob flipped through his notebook and recited accordingly. 'Exactly one hundred and sixty-five thousand.'�
[indent]'Give or take two hundred dollars'�'� Abigail added, hesitantly.
[indent]'Forgetting that most people don't make that much money, would you vote for yourself?'�
[indent]'Well, I'm certainly different, Mr. Keyes, but the honesty would do the government good''�
[indent]'Tanner Jettison is so to the right that he'll make sure to have every Christian organization on a smearing assault against you.'� He said. 'You see that. And Oliver Colette. Youngun as he is, he's a conniving little Demo. He'll be sure to pull the younger crowd in.'�
[indent]'So what do you propose I do, Jakob? Degenerate? Convert for four years and go back to my evil atheist ways?'�
[indent]'Don't you dare change your beliefs, Nightingale. This is going to sound somewhat after-school specialy, but being yourself amongst all of these politicians that are not their selves could win you this election.'� He paused. 'You were a lawyer, I assume you know a bit of Latin?'�
[indent]'Yeah. All through high school and a semester in college. Will it help anything?'�
[indent]'Perhaps. Have you heard the saying [i]'Carpe diem'[/i]?'� He asked.
Abigail did a quick mental translation. 'Seize the'�carp?'�
[indent]'That's close enough. 'Seize the day.''�
[indent]Abigail repeated it, tasting the words in her mouth. [i]Carpe diem.[/i] Seize the day. Could such an old saying have so much power? She said it aloud again, relishing in it.
[indent]What [i]wasn't[/i] stopping her from winning this election? There were billions of people in this world, let alone the country, that could see things her way. Third party or not, she could win the election'no, that wasn't the way to think. She [i]would[/i] win. She would also win back her son. She decided right then at her small, window-side table, overlooking D.C.'s busy Maine Street, that she would get in contact with Daniel as soon as she humanly could and see if he'd like to visit her new cottage on the lake for a week or two after all of this political huss and fuss had died down. Hopefully, he would eventually be able to stay in old Abe's room, as well. It would've been a stretch, but for once nothing seemed like one.
[indent]Seeing the relaxation and confidence he had witnessed in some many other clients, Jakob Keyes knew that he had defeated his biggest challenge yet. And with a wink towards Abigail, he assured, 'You're almost there, kid."

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