His handsome face dead serious, Tomlinson sat in a far corner of the studio in what looked to Jake like a barber’s chair, while a makeup specialist brushed a light powder across his jaw.

Standing well behind the cameras, Jake whispered to Amy, “He doesn’t look happy about this.”

“He will when the reporters come hounding after him tomorrow morning,” she said tightly. She was wearing business attire: pearl gray slacks and a navy blue hip-length jacket. Jake was in his usual jeans and sport coat.

Tomlinson got up from the makeup chair and pulled on his suit jacket, then allowed the show’s producer—a pudgy female student from the university’s journalism department—to lead him to the set where he was to be interviewed. It looked threadbare to Jake: a single sofa, one armchair, and a coffee table. Behind them was a pair of fake bookcases. Turning to look at the monitor screen set up behind the cameras, Jake saw that the set appeared presentable: the backdrop for a serious interview.

The interviewer was an old hand: silver hair thinning, midsection going to paunch. Jake remembered watching him on one of the local commercial TV newscasts back in his childhood. Now the man had retired from commercial television and did these PBS interviews as a public service. And a tax deduction, Jake thought.

The overhead lights went on, bathing the set in glaring brightness. An amplified voice announced, “In five … four … three…”

Tomlinson’s face suddenly lit up brighter than the overhead lights as the interviewer looked into the cameras and said, “Good evening, and welcome to Face the Issues. Tonight we’ll be talking with B. Franklin Tomlinson, one of the state’s leading citizens and—if the rumors are correct—a potential candidate for the United States Senate.”

Turning to face Tomlinson, he said, “So let me start off by asking you straightaway, are you going to run against Senator Leeds?”

Smiling his megawatt smile, Tomlinson said, “I’m thinking of it, George. Thinking very hard about it.” Before the interviewer could ask another question, Tomlinson added, “And let me tell you why.”

Looking mildly surprised, the interviewer fell for the gambit. “Why?”

“MHD,” said Tomlinson, as if speaking a magical word.

“MHD?” asked the interviewer. “What’s MHD?”

Headlines and Propositions

HEADLINES AND PROPOSITIONS

The first thing Jake did when he woke up the next morning was to turn on the local news broadcast. Sure enough, there was Tomlinson—looking earnest even while he was smiling brilliantly—telling his interviewer how MHD could bring prosperity back to the state’s coal mining industry.

As he showered and shaved and brushed his teeth, Jake clicked from one local station to another. Tomlinson was on every one of them. Amy’s done her job well, Jake thought while he dressed. He’s in the spotlight for sure.