“Thanks for coming out tonight. You all know me and you know what I stand for. For nearly eighteen years now I’ve served you in the United States Senate. I’ve worked hard to bring jobs to you, to improve our schools, to see to it that our state is a fine place to live and bring up your families.

“Okay. Now we’re facing an election again. You have a choice. Are you going to vote for experience and solid accomplishment, or are you going to vote for an amateur who has nothing to offer but vague promises of pie in the sky, of technological miracles that won’t benefit anybody but a tiny group of elite scientists?”

Leeds hesitated a heartbeat, trying to gauge the impact of his words on the crowd.

“My opponent has never run for political office before, yet now he wants to be a U.S. senator. And what does he represent? Not you! Not the honest, hard-working people of our fine state. He represents a narrow elite, a group of very wealthy old men who want to protect their interests, not yours. And an even smaller group of intellectuals and scientists. He’s a playboy who’s being put forward as a serious candidate when in fact he doesn’t have the experience, the knowledge, or the interest to represent you in Washington.

“What’s his big accomplishment? A gimmick with an experimental power generator that lit up some decorations for a few hours. We need solid experience and accomplishment in the Senate, not gimmicks. I know! I know how to get things done. All he can do is talk about some wild scheme that can’t possibly be of any real use to you or me for another ten or twenty years!

“Vote for him and you vote for his wealthy family and his elitist friends and his crazy ideas. Vote for me and you vote for experience and accomplishment. You’ll be voting for yourselves and your own interests.”

The crowd got to its feet and applauded wildly. Jake glanced at Amy. Over the noise of the cheering he hollered in her ear, “Did you have any idea that Leeds would take this approach?”

“No,” she yelled back, looking worried.

The crowd quieted and sat down. Tomlinson stood there, his face stern, solemn. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a small packet of papers. His notes, Jake realized.

“I guess I won’t be using these,” he said, and let the papers flutter to the floor.

Jake swallowed hard.

“It’s true I’ve never run for political office before,” Tomlinson said. “So why am I running now? I’ll tell you. I’m running to make this state better, to make your lives better, to bring new industry and thousands upon thousands of new jobs to our state. I’m running to end the politics-as-usual complacency that’s got our state in its death grip.”