Chapter 5
Eric flipped idly through the channels in, what was for him, a rare moment of repose. He was hoping to find a rerun so that he wouldn’t have to think too much. But his attention was suddenly snagged as a large picture of himself, smiling, came up on the screen. He tried not to watch news programs about himself unless it was absolutely necessary, but the words under his picture caught him off guard: “Eric Ellsworth: Hawk or Dove?”
He left the channel up and kicked off his shoes. It was typical talking heads. No one had anything interesting to say, but they said it fast and loud and with exaggerated articulation. He frowned as the hawkish pundit completely obliterated the dove. She wouldn’t even let the man get a word in. And not only that, she considered being called a hawk as a high compliment. “In times like these,” she said, “hawks are pulling doves out of their fearful hiding places.” She sounded like a two-bit radio preacher.
Eric wanted to think of himself as a statesman, someone who made the right decision, not someone who always made the same decision no matter the circumstances. The hawk pundit was framing him as a guy who would declare war on someone who insulted his tie. But it was more than the personal accusation that bothered him. It was that lately, the more he knew about the world, the more pieces he put on the board, the more he thought that hawks get elected, the more hawkish he noticed he became.
The dove talking head had managed to find a picture of Eric in college at a Gulf War peace rally. He was holding a sign. It was retro even at the time. It said “Give Peace a Chance!” His young face was smiling. There were friends in the picture. He remembered all of their names. They would be tickled to be on television. They would probably email or message him. And he would have to write back, “Haha! I know!” or something similar that made it seem like he was really too busy to notice. In the picture, young Eric had a full head of brown hair. Eric recognized a man who had never run for office, who could only cook hot dogs, who had only one suit. There was a man who hadn’t met Sarah yet. Now she was a hawk for sure, if only where family was concerned. As Eric looked at the college picture of himself, he narrowed his eyes at the young, cheerful, political activist. He knew those pictures would ultimately have no effect on his campaign, but he honestly disliked young Eric at that moment. What right did that young man have to give him a moral lecture? Try living in the real world, young man.
The graphic disappeared and the hawk talking head went back to talking over everyone in her loud voice. She was talking about Bahrain. If it all went south in the Middle East, what would a hypothetical President Ellsworth do? Exactly what we need him to do! He would show the world that we are the most powerful nation on Earth. He would not be ashamed or surprised to find himself making hard choices for global security. He would stand tall! He would be the man we need in our hour of need!
Eric sighed and changed the channel. He found a rerun of Seinfeld, exactly what he had been looking for, but now he couldn’t keep his mind on it. The situation in Bahrain was complicated, not least because of the finding of new, rare, offshore mineral deposits. The sea border was tricky. Right now fringe groups were mining illegally and smuggling the stuff out of the country. It was being used to fund terrorist organizations. Anyone, even young peacenik Eric, could justify bringing that dangerous and illegal trade to a halt. But would brute force accomplish that?
Eric hadn’t talked directly to Henry, or anyone at Sonintech for that matter, about any kind of policy or vote. They had made no asks. Only, rather jokingly, had the man they called “Boss” at Sonintech ribbed Eric that if he wanted to be elected, he could not be seen on the company jet. But Eric knew when it came down to it where they would stand on the Bahrain issue. Where did he stand? If he wanted to be president, he would stand with them.