Chapter 12 - The Blind Side

Cain was feeling frustrated.  It had been several weeks and he had not heard back from Bob.

“I thought I was convincing enough, but he is just not the ordinary kind of guy who wants to be a mayor.  He lacks a ‘do anything to win’ attitude, so he is just about impossible to manipulate or buy off,” Cain spoke softly to no one.

His desk looked disorganized for him.  As elections were less than two weeks away, he had stacks of disheveled papers across his desk and a folding table he had put against the north wall.  Each stack represented a city level position that he was monitoring.

The only stack that appeared to be well organized was right in front of him, centered on his desk.  The top sheet had emblazoned ‘HILLIARD MAYOR’.

“Amber,” Cain shouted for his assistant.

The redheaded aide quickly entered the room.  She appeared to be surprised by his summons.

“I don’t usually shout for her,” thought Cain.

“I’m sorry,” Cain said to Amber as he held his hands outward, palms upward.   His elbows straddled the Hilliard Mayor stack.  “I am letting my frustration get to me.”

“Have you found anything, anything at all, that we can hang over this Griffith fellow’s head?”

Amber’s shoulders drooped.  She lowered her head, but not so low that she was unable to still make eye contact.

“The only thing I could find was a woman…” Amber began but was cut off by Cain.

“A woman!  Why didn’t you tell me?  That is the perfect flaw for us to find in him!”

Cain grinned but quickly sobered up when he saw that Amber was not smiling.

“This woman was fired by Griffith from the plant where he works.  In fact, in the years that he has been there, she has been the only employee he ever fired.

“So, I researched this from every angle.  I looked for a sex angle, and couldn’t find one.  He is a saint and a gentleman to every woman in the plant, even to the wives of his male workers.

“I looked for a prejudice angle, thinking maybe she was part of an ethnic group he hated.  But, researching the plant, they have one of the most ethnically diverse workforces in the entire state.

“The only thing I could find was possibly an act of favoritism on his part.  It seems that he approved an extension of benefits beyond the standard benefits.  When I got the details, I found that it was for employee assistance counseling.  He arranged for her to get more sessions than the benefits covered, but she didn’t use them.  It’s not clear, but he may have paid for those out of his own pocket.”

“You say it was for counseling sessions?”

Cain’s curiosity was piqued.

“What type of counseling?”

Amber shuffled through the papers she was holding, evidently searching for the answer.  She flipped several pages over as she perused the content on the backside.

“I can’t really tell.”

Cain let out a short snort.

“Then you need to find out.  Have you reached out to this person?”

“No,” Amber sheepishly replied.  “But I will get on that right away.”

“Good thing I got Hughes to talk his sick cousin into running again.  At least we have an opponent against Griffith.  This woman, though, may be his blind side that we can hit against.”

“Excuse me,” a strange voice interrupted their conversation, “I’m not sure if you remember me, Mr. Johnson.  My name is Dennis, Dennis Johansen.  I work as an aide for the governor.”

“What’s he doing here?”  Cain thought.

“Certainly, Dennis, I remember you,” Cain put on his biggest, sincere appearing, smile.  He crossed the room from behind his desk to the entry, holding out his right hand for a handshake.  “Please come in and have a seat.”

Dennis was well-dressed.  His jet-black hair was slicked back, perfectly in place.  Though he did not acknowledge her, Amber seemed ready to give him all the attention he wanted.

“Would you like some coffee, Dennis, uh, I mean, Mr. Johansen?”

Amber blushed as she appeared to become overcome by her forwardness.

Her voice startled him.  Dennis turned to Amber to respond.

“Yes, some fresh coffee would be nice.”

Amber started to head out of the room when she stopped suddenly and turned to Cain.

“Would you like some coffee, Mr. Johnson?”

Cain noticed an odd look in her eyes that he had only seen once before.  She was generally very confident, but something about Dennis seemed to throw her.

“Yes, I would,” he answered curtly.

He sweepingly gestured with his right hand, palm upward for Dennis to sit in one of the chairs in front of his desk.  He noticed that his visitor was holding a briefcase with the state of Ohio emblem on the front.

“I apologize for not phoning ahead,” Dennis apologized.  “Being so close to election week, and,” he gazed across the office, “judging by the look of things, you are quite busy.”

“Honestly,” Cain cut in, “I am surprised to see you, since your boss, the governor, is in the opposite party, though he has crossed the lines a few times. That seems odd to me.  Doesn’t that seem odd to you?”

Dennis looked down as he smiled.  He shifted slightly in his chair before raising his head.

“Yes, I imagine that it does seem odd.  At first I questioned many of these unusual party crossovers of his.  Just recently, he made his most senior staffers aware of his personal agenda for the remainder of this term.”

Now, Cain was intrigued.  He sensed that this personal agenda might have something to do with Johansen’s unexpected visit.

Leaning on his elbows, Cain moved in towards Dennis.  He paused a minute to size up the man across the desk from him, then began.

“Are you here as my ally or my adversary, Mr. Johansen?”

“Oh,” Dennis chuckled, “I am without a doubt your ally.  My boss, on the other hand, is your adversary.”

Cain continued to size up the man and consider his motives.

Amber gently knocked on the door and then entered without invitation.  Again, she used the tray emblazoned with the Democratic party logo to carry the coffee mugs, also decorated with the party logo.  She placed Dennis’ mug directly in front of him on the corner of the desk.  Cain’s, she placed directly in front of him.  Then she made her way towards the door.  She did glance over her shoulder about halfway to the door to see if Dennis might be giving her a glance, but he wasn’t.

“Is there anything more you need from me?”

“No thank you, Amber,” Cain replied in a dismissing tone.

Dennis reached for his coffee mug.  He glanced at the logo and smiled.  Then he took a gulp of the fresh coffee and quickly put the mug down.

“Let me get to the reason why I am here.” Dennis leaned in towards Cain who had sat back in his plush chair when Amber exited.

“You are going to lose the mayoral race in Hilliard.  The governor is seeing to that,” placing a palm on the desk, Dennis had rhythmically tapped to emphasis his words.

Cain placed his right hand on his chin.  He considered his next words before speaking.

“Now, why would the governor care about Hilliard?”

“The governor has vetted Bob Griffith and has assigned one of his staff to assist in the campaign, since he is new to politics,” Dennis continued to lean in, though he stopped tapping the desk.

“This guy, Griffith, is squeaky clean.  There isn’t even a traffic ticket in his background.  Besides, his wife’s cousin is also on the governor’s staff, so he has an inside route.

“The governor sees him as a perfect poster boy for the party and wants to throw the weight of his own name behind him when the time is right.

“Because this is the end of his political career, the governor is focusing on leaving a legacy.  For some reason, Griffith has gotten his attention and he wants to make him a part of his legacy.”

Cain looked off to his left as he mentally sifted through this news.  Quickly, he returned his gaze to Dennis as a thought struck him.  He leaned forward, positioning himself just inches from Dennis’ face.

“Why would you bring this to me?  What is in this for you?”

Dennis smiled.

“It’s as if he wanted me to ask that question,” Cain thought.

“I want to land on the winning side.  Once the governor is gone the only moderately strong Republican candidate is Mark Hershey from the Cleveland area.  He likely would be able to ride on the governor’s coattails, at least the governor thinks so, but he is only a one-hit wonder.  He won’t last long.

“The time is now to start weakening the Republican party, before the governor leaves office.  It shouldn’t be too difficult to weaken his legacy, since there are no viable candidates to begin to fill his shoes.

“Hilliard will be the first battleground, that is if you are up to the fight.  What do you say, Mr. Johnson?”

Dennis’ smile was gone.  His demeanor was serious.  There was a determination that permeated his personality.

Cain sat back and clasped his hands.  Before his back hit the chair, he began to speak.

“So, you want to be on the winning side, you say.  Well, let me ask you this, Mr. Johansen, what are you willing to do to earn your place on the winning side?”

“This should be interesting,” Cain thought.

“I will feed you information concerning the election in Hilliard and other elections that the governor has targeted for his legacy.  I ask that you not reveal me as your source.”

Dennis leaned back and clasped his hands.

“You will not win Hilliard, but we can frustrate Griffith.  In the process, we might locate his moral or ethical weak points and effectively stop him from advancing through the party.  You see, the governor needs someone dynamic, charismatic, and intelligent to lead the next generation.  He has very few options, but Griffith is at the top of the list.”

Cain looked up as he considered this Hilliard situation.

“Why do you feel that Griffith is a threat to the future of the Democratic party in Ohio?  As mayor of Hilliard, what threat could he be?”

The edges of Dennis’ mouth turned downward.

“I am surprised that you have not seen the possibilities here, Mr. Johnson.  Remember that the governor was only the mayor of Reading in Hamilton County before becoming governor.  He expects history to repeat itself and so should you.”

Cain narrowed his eyes, pondering this insight.

“Why hadn’t I realized that myself,” thought Cain.

“So, what are you proposing we do,” Cain emphasized the word ‘we’.

“I will continue to work on the governor’s staff.  With my inside information, you can be proactive in strategies against candidates, like Griffith.  I will do this for the remainder of the governor’s term.  At that time, with your help, I will find a place in the Democratic party as it takes Ohio by storm, as we lead the change.”

Cain lifted his left hand and rubbed the back of his neck.  He loved to be in control and with this man’s help, he might be able to gain greater measures of it.  He began to nod his head.

“Ok, I will need…” Cain was interrupted by Dennis reaching into his briefcase and handing him a folder.

“Here is my resume and all of my current contact information.  I only ask that you not contact me through official channels.  If the governor were to catch wind that I was working with you, I would be cut loose and be of little value to you from the outside.”

Cain reached out with left hand to take the folder.  He held out his right hand, offering a handshake.

“I believe we understand each other, Dennis.  Let’s see if we can make this work.”