I quizzed Brewster on this and he said it was important that I attend. He didn’t need to be there, but Miller would be, to sponsor me, so to speak. I could assume that they would have some sort of background on me, whether provided by Miller or somebody connected with the Maryland Ninth. Michel I knew very little about; he was on the way out, so to speak. He would be retiring in a few years. Newt I knew quite a bit about! He was brand new to the Whip position, getting it when Dick Cheney was selected by Bush 41 as his Secretary of Defense. Over the next decade he would rise to become one of the most powerful men in Washington, and then self-destruct and be cast out.
I drove down Tuesday morning and Rich and I went to lunch. Our appointment was at 2:15. I asked, “So, am I meeting with both Michel and Gingrich? Together? One and then the other? Is it a group thing?”
Rich shook his head. “Actually it will just be Newt. I found out this morning that Bob had to fly back to Chicago for a funeral.”
“As long as it wasn’t his own,” I quipped, which earned me a smile. “What’s Gingrich like?”
That got me a little shrug. “Smart, very smart, that’s for sure. He can turn on the folksy country charm when he needs to, but don’t let the down-home West Georgia good old boy routine fool you. He has a doctorate in history and taught college before running for office. You two will get along on that score. You’ve got the accent, too. How’d that work for you up north, by the way?”
I grinned. “City girls just love a country boy, don’t they,” I replied with my thickest drawl.
That earned me a smile and a snort. “I’ll bet. Anyway, he’s one of the sharpest political minds in the city. He’s got a memory like an elephant, too, and an ego even bigger. Don’t ever piss him off. You’ll have to drive a stake through his heart and shoot him with a silver bullet to be free of him.”
We had to wait about ten minutes in Gingrich’s anteroom before we could see him, but I didn’t get the impression he was playing power games with us. When the door opened, a few people scurried out, and we were shown in only about five minutes after that.
Newt stood and came around his desk, smiling and extending his hand. “Doctor Buckman, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” He turned and shook hands with Rich Miller next. “Rich, good to see you again.”
“Thanks for seeing us, Newt.”
“I appreciate the opportunity, Congressman. By the way, you don’t have to call me Doctor. I almost never go by that,” I said.
He showed us over to a sitting area and we sat down. “Why is that, Mister Buckman?”
“Please, call me Carl. It’s just that I haven’t been an academic since the late Seventies. I keep it on my business cards because some people seem to like that sort of thing, but it’s almost a totally different life now.” I explained. I cocked my head to the side a touch and asked, “How do you feel about that? You have an academic background even more than I do. I’ve never taught, for instance. Did you enjoy that?”
“Yes, or at least some parts of it. I don’t think anybody can really enjoy reading some of the term papers I received,” he answered lightly. “Were you ever tempted to teach?”
“I never really gave it any thought. Maybe if I hadn’t gone to school through ROTC, but that trumped everything. I had to do a few years before I would get the chance.”
“I never served, myself. I sometimes wonder what I missed. Did you like your time in the Army?”
I nodded. “Quite a bit. Before I was injured, I was planning to go career. When I blew out my knee, that ended my plans.”
“Career? With your kind of money? That would have been pretty unusual, wouldn’t it?” he commented.
“You know about that? Well, unusual, yes, but not unheard of. There have been other officers and soldiers with money. Look at the Kennedy’s, for instance.”
“That was their family’s money, not their own. I must admit, I am curious why you are running for Congress. I’ve seen your name on the Forbes list. You can buy a Congress! What in the world do you want to give up being an influential businessman for, and become a junior Representative?”
I laughed at that. “I’ve been asking myself that for a couple of weeks now. The quick answer is that I was talked into it by some friends and my wife, and someday I might just be on speaking terms with them again.” That earned a chuckle, but Gingrich was watching me closely. “The more accurate answer is that money isn’t everything. I’m actually a fairly simple fellow. I don’t have a dozen houses or boats or sports cars. My family lives nicely but simply. I have more money than I will ever spend, and I passed that mark several years ago. About that time I started wondering about the direction our country was headed. If we just go along our merry way, I think we as a people and as a nation have some serious problems ahead of us. I’ve written about this since then, and given a few speeches and talks. Those friends I mentioned, and my wife, they told me to put up or shut up. To make a real difference I needed to get involved, and not just with money. I needed to step up.” I held my hands wide. “So, here I am.”
“This isn’t a neat and clean business, not compared to actually running a business,” he remarked.
“That just means you’ve never been involved in running a business,” I countered. “If you mean that it’s not like anything I’ve ever done before, that I will agree with. I thought I knew a lot about politics, but I am getting a masters class right now.” I smiled at him. “Any advice?”
“Maybe. What are your primary focuses? You should be talking to somebody who can help.”
That made me smile. “In many ways, I think I am. My biggest personal focus is in balancing the budget. We can’t keep continuing in this fashion. It is unsustainable. I think the only way we will possibly do that is by taking control of the House back. The Senate, too, of course, but the budget starts in the House. If we don’t do that in 1990, then we do it in ’92, and if we don’t do it then, we do it in ’94. We don’t stop fighting until we can take control and balance the budget. Then we fix the rest of it.”
And there it was. I was proffering myself at the altar of Newt. The man had two main concerns, balancing the budget, and most important of all, taking control back of the House of Representatives. By telling him that was my interest, I had just gotten the backing of one of the most powerful Republicans in Washington. I knew it was true, too. Suddenly there was a gleam in his eyes, and you could almost see his dick getting stiff!
We didn’t speak much more that afternoon, since he had other people scheduled as well, but I had accomplished what I needed to accomplish. By linking myself to Gingrich I was linking myself to the most powerful Republican leader of the decade. The trick would be to ride his coat tails as long as I could, but then to distance myself from him when he blew up, which he invariably would. Neat trick, if I could pull it off.
Oh, yeah, and get myself elected in the process!
Chapter 99: Changes
As 1989 ended, we did the normal stuff before life would change utterly in 1990. Charlie was now in the third grade, which made him a Bear Cub Scout. He thought that was pretty cool, but still didn’t want to wait another year before he could go camping.
Holly and Molly were in kindergarten, and Marilyn had them in the local Girl Scout ‘Daisy’ group. I was curious how that was going to work out. Neither Alison nor Maggie had liked the Girl Scouts up in Cooperstown. Of course, they sold some Girl Scout cookies, which I’m always a fan of. Thin Mints and Shortbreads are my favorites, but Samoas are pretty good, too.