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so I thought it might work.
    My first step was to talk to Cary about producing or consulting on this documentary and/or the shorts for the web. He wanted to meet with Johnny to see if he liked him. I set up a dinner meeting at Serafina with Johnny and Cary in NYC and they hit it off, as I suspected they would. I joined them for part of the dinner. It was a go, but because of Cary’s schedule, he only wanted to commit to consulting.
    The next step was for Cary and me to meet with Nick Baldick, the guy running Johnny’s political action committee, or PAC as the people in politics call it. I set up the meeting in DC and took the train down the night before the meeting. I was in Johnny’s living room, eating takeout from Paolo’s, when Nick called to get my date of birth for a flight. Nick wanted our info because Cary and I were invited after our meeting to travel via private plane to Raleigh with Johnny for a Dave Matthews Band concert. I was excited about this because, thanks to Mimi, I was a new Dave Matthews fan.
    After I hung up with Nick, Johnny’s “other woman” cell rang. He didn’t answer, but boy I was not happy about it ringing. It was his old girlfriend (again), which really bugged me. He insisted (again) that she was his friend, and he wanted to handle it the right way. Because I am friends with most of my exes, and he wasn’t hiding this from me at all, what could I say? After I expressed my jealousy, I dropped it.
    The next day I met with Cary, who had taken the train down from New York. Cary told me he could not go to the concert because he needed to return to New York right after lunch. I called Johnny from the lobby of the Ritz Carlton where we were meeting Nick for lunch to tell him about this new development.
    Cary and I had a good meeting with Nick. Both of us were surprised how much we liked him. Despite his political operative side, Nick had a really soft, nurturing side and a good sense of humor.
    After the meeting, Cary and I parted way. I went back to Johnny’s house, where I met with Matthew Nelson, one of Johnny’s staffers. It was funny to discover Johnny’s alias (the name his rooms were listed under) was a real person who worked for him. Matthew and I waited and chatted in the living room while Johnny showered and got dressed so we could drive to the FBO, or fixed-based operator. An FBO is basically the small airport, often next to the large commercial airport, used for private planes. Apparently Matthew had earned himself a seat on the private plane and a concert ticket because Cary couldn’t make it. I don’t know who decided this (Johnny or Nick or maybe both of them), but someone thought that it probably didn’t look good for Johnny to be arriving in North Carolina with just me on a private plane. This was my first experience of the micromanaging that goes in politics. Every move was handled: What will it look like? How will it affect the candidate’s image? Will this help us or hurt us? Welcome to politics. Many cooks in the kitchen all armed with their own recipes.
    We landed, and Johnny’s loyal aide Andrew Young was there to meet him. I was told before we landed about Andrew’s love for the senator. There were many jokes within the PAC: Andrew was so in love with Johnny that he would meet him with rose petals to scatter under his feet as he walked.
    This was my first meeting with him, and initially, I really liked Andrew. He was working for Johnny, someone he very obviously loved, so he radiated happiness. He was completely joyful and a little flirtatious. But he also displayed signs of a pattern I observed with most of the people around Johnny. Like so many of his aides, Andrew had a false sense of his own importance. Andrew was not the first one (nor would he be the last) who believed Johnny was gifted but couldn’t cross the street, let alone get to the White House, without his assistance in every last matter. In fairness, Johnny’s behavior played into this pattern