t want to talk to him, Ed. Get him up here, with the others, will
you?"

"Sure, Jim; sure." He got up and walked over to the phone.

Horvin, the PR man, said: "Well, Senator, now that you're the party's
candidate for the Presidency of the United States, who are you going to
pick for your running mate? Vollinger was the only one who came even
close to giving you a run for your money, and it would be good public
relations if you chose him. He's got the kind of personality that would
make a good image."

"Horvin," the senator said kindly, "I'll pick the men; you build the
image from the raw material I give you. You're the only man I know who
can convince the public that a sow's ear is really a silk purse, and you
may have to do just that.

"You can start right now. Go down and get hold of the news boys and
tell them that the announcement of my running mate will be made as soon
as this demonstration is over.

"Tell them you can't give them any information other than that, but give
them the impression that you already know. Since you _don't_ know, don't
try to guess; that way you won't let any cats out of the wrong bags. But
you _do_ know that he's a fine man, and you're pleased as all hell that
I made such a good choice. Got that?"

Horvin grinned. "Got it. You pick the man; I'll build the image." He
went out the door.

* * * * *

When the door had closed, Governor Spanding said: "So it's going to be
Fisher, is it?"

"You know too much, Harry," said Senator Cannon, grinning. "Remind me to
appoint you ambassador to Patagonia after Inauguration Day."

"If I lose the election at home, I may take you up on it. But why
Matthew Fisher?"

"He's a good man, Harry."

"Hell yes, he is," the governor said. "Tops. I've seen his record as
State Attorney General and as Lieutenant Governor. And when Governor
Dinsmore died three years ago, Fisher did a fine job filling out his
last year. But--"

"But he couldn't get re-elected two years ago," Senator Cannon said. "He
couldn't keep the governor's office, in spite of the great job he'd
done."

"That's right. He's just not a politician, Jim. He doesn't have the ...
the personality, the flash, whatever it is that it takes to get a man
elected by the people. I've got it; you sure as hell have it; Fisher
doesn't."

"That's why I've got Horvin working for us," said Senator Cannon.
"Whether I need him or not may be a point of argument. Whether Ma