Chapter Text
Amy Gardner pushed open the door to the lobby of a brick building on K street where she kept her offices. She saw what was waiting for her and tried to walk past towards the elevators, but Mandy Hampton pounced on her as soon she opened the doors.
“Are you kidding me? I mean, really, are you joking with me? Is this one of your funny jokes?” asked Mandy furiously.
“Considering I haven’t told you a joke and also have no idea what you’re talking about, I’m gonna say I’m serious.” Amy said as she called the elevator.
“You put an exclusivity clause in my contract? You really want my firm to work exclusively for you for the next two years?”
The elevator dinged and they stepped inside.
“First, its not for me, its for the Committee, and second, yes I do. We’re asking you to work on several races across the country. Its a monumental task that requires your full attention. And since your firm is just two people, I don’t think you should be angry about this.”
“What I’m angry about is that Hampton and Reese is under contract while you let Angela Blake keep freelancing. We want to be able to take on other clients. There are plenty of qualified men that we want in congress too. Ones that will push women’s issues as hard as everyone the committee will elect.”
Amy turned to her, “Angela Blake has candidates in New York state level races she is working for. We need her and she wouldn’t do *this* unless we let her keep doing *that*. Also since we’re paying you a boatload of money, I think you should stop being so angry about it.”
Mandy stood, fuming, until the elevator stopped on the 10th floor and they stepped into the hall.
“All I’m saying is that there may be times where you want us to work for a candidate we can’t put national weight behind. I can’t do that job if I’m under exclusive contract with the Committee to Elect Democratic Women.”
Amy paused in front of the glass door etched with her name above the names Hampton and Reese. “That’s why we have Angela.”
The two of them walked past the bullpen of eager interns answering phones and dialing fundraisers (a polite term for people with a lot of money) to the conference room. Already seated were Daisy Reese and Angela Blake, with her new protegé, Deanna Young.
Mandy took her seat next to Daisy. Amy took hers at the head of the table.
”Tell me we finally have some names. I’m meeting with the Congresswoman this afternoon and I want to be able to show her some progess or she is gonna shutter this whole committee and put our money somewhere else.” Amy knew the congresswoman would never shutter the committee. It was too important to her. But she needed to light a fire under their asses. There was only two years until the midterms and they’d need the first one just to fundraise enough for each candidate to prove feasibilty to the DNC.
Deanna Young spoke first. “City Councilwoman Yvette Clark for the New York 11th.”
“That’s Staten Island for all you Southerners.” added Angela.
“It’s a reliably Democratic district and she’s the only woman with any prominence there. A couple of men want the seat, but I think we can elect her there with minimal cost. And we only have 14 black women in the house. Thats 3% when the country is 7%.”
Amy said “Sold, who’s next?”
Daisy chimed in with “Mazie Hirono in the Hawaii 2nd. Asian-American, she’d be the first buddhist in congress. She was Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii and narrowly lost the 2002 gubernatorial race. Should be a shoe-in if she wins her primary.”
Amy looked over her file. “I’m not sold. I think she’s gonna have a tough primary, but I’ll bring it to the Congresswoman. Who’s next?”
Angela said, “I think we can elect the first woman as speaker of the house if we create a unified front now. Let people get used to the idea for a couple years before the vote actually happens. I’m thinking Pelosi. She has a long history, moderate, shouldn’t piss anyone off.”
Amy glanced up, “You really think we can get her elected Speaker?”
Angela looked sternly around the room. “We want a woman to be President after Santos, right? 6 years of a female speaker should soften that blow with the white suburbans.”
“Alright. Let’s do it. Anyone else?”
Mandy spoke up, “The Maine 1st. Its more liberal than the 2nd; they already have women for both Senate seats.”
“Republican women.” Daisy said. “Snowe and Collins.”
“But the 1st district is consistently democratic. And the incumbent is retiring to run for Collins seat. He called my office to ask if we can run his campaign.” Mandy stared daggers at Amy. “If we can’t help him, we should at least make sure the seat stays Democratic, and it would put us 3/4ths of the way to an all woman delegation, considering he will absolutely lose to Collins. They like her too much in Maine. She’s good for the shipyards.”
“Who did you have in mind?” Amy asked.
“Chellie Pingree. She was the Senate majority leader in the state legislature for Maine, when she lost to Collins in 2002 she came to D.C. to work for Common Cause. I think she wants another shot at a federal seat.”
“Sold.” Amy said. “I’ll take them to the Congresswoman.”
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Amy Gardner straightened her skirt as she walked through the pillars of the Rayburn House Office Building. The Congresswoman would be walking through the tunnel beneath the building that led from the Capitol right about now. She had said she just had a few minutes to meet with Amy today.
The vaulted ceilings brought an elegance to the building. Amy wondered, not for the first time, what it would be like to work here, to be a congresswoman herself. She knew it was impossible, though. She didn’t have the patience to wait through committee meetings and vote on resolutions thanking the Boy Scouts of America for their contributions to the young men of the nation. She needed to work.
Maybe thats why she was chosen for *this* job. Chosen by the new chairwoman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to be the first ever chair of the Committee to Elect Democratic Women.
Amy walked up a side stairwell. She’s sure it had some official name. The John Winston Jones staircase. Whatever it’s name, it led up two floors to another hallway. 3 doors down she knocked on the door of Congresswoman Andrea Wyatt.
A staffer opened the door, and recognizing Amy, led her to a chair on the side of the bullpen near the Congresswoman’s office.
“The Congresswoman should be in any minute,” the staffer said. Amy thought the staffer’s name might have been Ronnie. She checked the nametag.
Amy thanked Ronnie and sat down while Ronnie sat at the assistant’s desk by the office door.
When Andy Wyatt walked in, everyone in the bullpen stood. Staffers surrounded her, telling her about this congressman who wanted to meet with her on the budget for a new class of Navy destroyers and another who needed her support for a Chesapeake Bay cleanup bill that failed a few years ago but was back in committee.
Ronnie opened the door to her office, telling her that Donna Moss asked her to the Residence to see First Lady Santos, National Security Advisor Kate Harper, and Nancy McNally, the Secretary of Defense for an informal meeting on women in the Armed Forces that may be candidates for congressional office. Andy looked at Amy Gardner and told Ronnie to schedule the meeting and ask that Amy Gardner be invited as well.
“It will make a good debut for our new chair of the Committee to Elect Democratic women.” She said. “Come on Amy, step into my office.”
Amy obeyed, closing the door behind them.
“What do you have for me?” Congresswoman Wyatt asked as she sat at her desk, looking through the piles of paperwork that she was just given.
Amy sat across from her. “We have 3 candidates for the Maine 1st, the Hawaii 2nd, and New York 11th.” She paused. “And Angela Blake thinks we can have a woman as Speaker of the House as soon as the midterms.”
That made Andy look up. “Who? I’m certainly not going to do it. I couldn’t be elected even if I wanted that stress.”
“She says Nancy Pelosi from California. I think she’s right. She also thinks its a necessary step to our ultimate goal.”
“Does she think its possible?” Andy was pessimistic. As much as she wanted to put a woman in the White House, she didn’t think the country would be ready for it in just 8 years.
“She does. And I do too. We have to start getting used to the idea that after 16 years of progressive Presidents the country might finally be persuaded to elect a woman. Even if we have to drag them to it kicking and screaming.”
“Give me the files on those house candidates. If they check out, I’ll have Ronnie schedule the calls. I want you here with me when I make them.”
“Of course, Congresswoman. Is there anything else?” Amy asked, standing.
“Sit back down, we’re just getting started.”