We head down the hall together in silence. I think he resents me a little bit, since the President has been giving me special tasks.
It doesn’t matter. Roger’s my boss, but only in a supervisory capacity.
At the end of the day, I work for the President.
For my big Daddy.
We stop outside of the Oval Office. The President’s executive secretary announces us, and we’re let inside by a pair of agents that I don’t recognize.
The room’s full of people. Adam sits behind the desk, looking worn out, but he straightens when he sees me. I catch a glimmer of a smile, but he quickly stifles it.
Charles steps forward. “Afternoon, Ms. Thomas, Mr. Christy.”
Roger nods at me and I step forward. “Sir, we have the data you requested.”
He leans forward. “Let’s hear it,” Adan says, and I dive into the numbers.
They aren’t good.
As I read them, I can see his face falling. People are looking at each other, and I can feel the vibe in the room shifting.
I know MFA is a big part of the President’s thinking right now. But the polling reveals one obvious thing.
People don’t understand it. They think it’s too expensive, too big. They don’t want the government dealing with their healthcare. They don’t want the government telling them what to do.
At least that’s how people see it.
“In the end, education is the more vital part of all this,” I conclude. “People are mainly just confused about what Medicare For All would entail, and they’re afraid of paying more for worse care. They think Canadians are flocking to America for treatment, because their system is so broken.”
I finish with a sigh. I know this isn’t new data, but it’s a much more in-depth dive than I did before, and we can’t deny it anymore.
People just don’t understand it.
Adam clears his throat. “Everyone out,” he says. “Except for Maggie.”
Nobody moves. Charles clears his throat. “Sir, if there’s something you want to say, you can—”
“I said, fucking out,” he snaps.
I stare at him, shocked. I can see the anger clear in his eyes. People on the edge of the room start moving instantly, funneling out the door.
Charles glares at Adam. “I know you’re frustrated,” he says softly. “But you should rethink your tone.”
Adam rubs his temples. “Okay, Charles. I’m sorry I snapped at you. But I want to speak with Maggie alone for a moment.”
“It’s not the girl’s fault the numbers are bad.”
“Maybe not.” He sighs. “Give me the room, okay?”
Charles hesitates but finally nods. “Two minutes,” he says.
Roger glares at me and follows Charles out into the hall. The door finally shuts and I’m alone with the President once again.
He gets up and comes around the desk. “More bad news,” he says softly.
“Are you okay?” I ask him. I want to go to him, hug him, kiss him. But I’m afraid.
“No,” he admits. “It’s this job. One stressful situation after another, and there aren’t any victories. Just defeats delayed.”
I frown. “It can’t be all that bad.”
“It’s not. I’m just frustrated.” He sighs, stops in front of me. “I need your help, Maggie.”
“What can I do?”
“Educate people. Or at least, come up with ways to do it.”
“Television ads,” I say immediately.
“No,” he says. “Cheaper.”
I hesitate. “Social media ads?”
“Better,” he answers. “How?”
“They’re inexpensive. We could run ads targeting everyone in the USA with just some text that explains what Medicare For All would be and what it would do.”
“Would people pay attention?”
“Maybe?” I shrug. “I really don’t know.”
He sighs, rubs his temples again. “Fuck. I shouldn’t have snapped at Charles.”
“It’s okay,” I say softly. “He knows the pressure you’re under.”
He sighs. “I shouldn’t have cleared the room and kept you in it, either.”
I hesitate. “I know,” I say.
He sighs again. Kisses me quickly. “It looks bad. But fine. Come up with an answer and save my ass, okay?”
“Okay,” I say. “I’ll do whatever I can.”
“Good.” He glances at his watch. “Better end this now.” Kisses me again. “Before they start talking.”
“I bet they’re already talking.” Which makes me pause. I cock my head, bite my lip. “Talking. What if we called people?”
He laughs. “Seriously? Telemarketing?”
“Yeah, except, we’ll explain the idea. We won’t ask them for anything.”
He shakes his head. “I don’t know.”
“Think about it. The biggest block of people that don’t know or understand Medicare For All are older, and they’re the ones that’ll pick up the phone.”
He hesitates. “Good point.”
“It’ll be cheap and easy. We can get a bunch of interns to make calls, give them a short script.”
“That could work,” he says distantly. “Along with social media ads.”
“We’ll get the word out. Grass roots.”
“One conversation at a time.”
“Exactly.”
He nods. “Okay. I’ll run it past my team.”
“Good luck.”
“Now get out of here before Charles loses his mind.”
I grin and turn away. As I head to the door, he says one more thing.