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sheepishly. “OK, Kate. You wanna hear me say it? I can’t win without the female vote. And Katherine Miles is the most influential female politician in the country.”
    “That’s an arguable point, but thank you for being truthful.”
    “I hope you don’t think I was trying to be dishonest.”
    She smiled. “A little wimpy, maybe, but not dishonest. As long as we’re baring our souls, David, perhaps I should tell you what I expect. After you listen, you might come to your senses.” She took a moment to compose her thoughts. “You said that I need to be your right arm. That has to be a promise, not lip service. I refuse to play the role as the token woman who rode your coattails to Washington. I want to be knee-deep in every aspect of the administration, and I expect to be included in all significant decisions.”
    “Look, Kate, I don’t anticipate that Congress will receive two Independents with open arms. They’re going to fight us tooth and nail on every issue. I want you to be a hands-on VP.”
    “That’s great. But still, I have deep reservations abandoning the Democratic Party.”
    Rodgers laughed. “Kate, I can relate to your concerns. It isn’t necessary that you abandon all your Democratic principles. But make no mistake about it, you owe the Democratic Party nothing.”
    Kate digested his words for several minutes. She surmised, considering not one Congressional seat was occupied by an Independent, that significant change would take decades.
    “If we do win, David, how do you suppose we’ll be able to accomplish anything? We have few allies in Washington.”
    “Neither the Democrats nor Republicans have complete continuity within their respective parties. You’d be hard-pressed finding two to agree on any issue. That’s our advantage. Nothaving an allegiance to any particular party gives us the flexibility to reach across both aisles. This may be our most powerful tool. If you truly believe that big government has stripped Americans of the basic freedoms our forefathers died for and wish to give the power back to the voters, then fundamentally your goals are parallel to mine. And I believe we can muster enough support from both sides to pass some groundbreaking legislation.
    “There’s no way that the executive office can strong-arm Congress. But we
can
influence and educate voters. It’s a long, tedious process. We must open their eyes to the failing system and show them a better way. Our goal is not to effect immediate change. That’s a naive ambition. We must inspire Americans with new ideals. We’re farmers, Kate. Plant a few seeds of ideas here and there, cultivate and water them, and eventually they’ll blossom.”
    With great anticipation of one day entering Washington politics, for years Kate had been diligently working on a project she’d titled Healing of America. The concepts, many radical, consisted of innovative reform bills and amendments to the Constitution.
    “Have you read my Healing of America bills?”
    He reached into his briefcase and removed a folder as thick as a ream of paper. “I’ve made several notes throughout. It’s brilliant, Kate.”
    “Does that mean you’ll help me introduce it to Congress?”
    Rodgers didn’t reply immediately. Kate felt a slight pang at the base of her neck. This was the deal breaker. If he hadn’t taken the time to review a project so vitally important to her, then perhaps her decision had already been made.
    “I have two conditions. First, you must agree to some minor modifications—nothing too drastic. Mere technicalities. And second, I don’t want to create false hopes, Kate. You need to know right up front that Congress is going to blow this out of the water.”
    Kate had no delusions that Congress would embrace her Healing of America bills with even a morsel of enthusiasm, but just to introduce them would be historic, the first important step toward achieving her long-term objectives and exposing Congress to a new