Executive orders - Tom Clancy [225]
What the hell! the President nearly shouted. His chief of staff just grinned.
Had you going for a second, didn't I? You know, van Damm went on, I figured out what we really missed when we set this country up.
Okay, I'll bite, Jack said, eyes still closed, and finding the humor in the moment. Damn, but Arnie knew how to run a classroom.
A court jester, make it a Cabinet post. You know, a dwarf-excuse me, a male person with an unusually large degree of vertical challenge-dressed in multicolored tights and the funny hat with bells on it. Give him a little stool in the corner-'course, there isn't a corner here, but what the hell-and every fifteen minutes or so, he's supposed to jump up on your desk and shake his rattle in your face just to remind you that you have to take a leak every so often, just like the rest of us. Do you get it now, Jack?
No, the President admitted.
You dumbass! This job can be fun! Getting out and seeing your citizens is fun. Learning what they want is important, but there's also an exhilaration to it. They want to love you, Jack. They want to support you. They want to know what you think. They most of all want to know that you're one of them-and you know what? You're the first President in one hell of a long time who really is! So get the hell off the bench, tell the air scouts to fire up the Big Blue Bird, and play the damned game. He didn't have to add that the schedule was already set sufficiently in stone that he couldn't back out.
Not everybody will like what I say and believe, Arnie, and I'll be damned if I'm going to lie to people just to kiss ass or get votes or whatever.
You expect everybody to love you? van Damm asked, sardonic again. Most Presidents will settle for fifty-one percent. Quite a few have had to settle for less. I tore your head off over your abortion statement-why? Because your statement was confused.
No, it wasn't, I-
You going to listen to your teacher or not?
Go ahead, the President said.
Start off, about forty percent of the people vote Democrat. About forty percent vote Republican. Of those eighty percent, most wouldn't change their votes if Adolf Hitler was running against Abe Lincoln-or against FDR, just to cover both sides.
But why-
Exasperation: Why is the sky blue, Jack? It just is, okay? Even if you can explain why, and I suppose there is a reason some astronomer can explain, the sky is blue, and so let's just accept the fact, okay? That leaves twenty percent of the people who swing back one way or another. Maybe they're the true independents, like you. That twenty percent controls the destiny of the country, and if you want things to happen your way, those are the people you have to reach. Now, here's the funny part. Those twenty percent don't especially care what you think. This conclusion was delivered with a wry smile.
Wait a minute-
Arnie held up his hand. You keep interrupting teacher. The hard eighty percent that votes the party line doesn't care much about character. They vote party because they believe in the philosophy of the party-or because Mom and Dad always voted that way; the reason doesn't really matter. It happens. It's a fact. Deal with it. Now, back to the twenty percent that does matter. They care less about what you believe than they do in you. There is your advantage, Mr. President. Politically speaking, you have as much place in this office as a three-year-old has in a gun shop, but you have character up the ass. That's what we play on.
Ryan frowned at the play on part, but this time kept his peace. He nodded for the chief of staff to go on.
Just tell the people what you believe. Make it simple. Good ideas are expressed simply and efficiently. Make it consistent. That twenty percent wants to believe that you really do believe in what you say. Jack, do you respect a man who says what he believes, even if you disagree with it?
Of course, that's what-
A man is supposed to do, Arnie