The morning had been a blur. Alex and the speech writing team quickly spun out a personal statement expressing their condolences for the loss of life of a dear family.
We have suffered a sudden and unspeakable tragedy. Alyson Crawford was as much our daughter as the Crawfords’, and we are deeply saddened by the untimely loss. In this time of mourning, we ask the public to respect the privacy of the family. We pray for continued strength and express our heartfelt condolences to our dearest friends, Seth and Linda Crawford.
The Senator had explicitly demanded that all information about her be kept private. Seth didn’t want Alyson’s condition to leak to the public. Brandon McKenzie was the biggest and most public mouthpiece he had to bring to his defense. It was to be identified as an accident. He didn’t want his daughter to be disgraced. The conflict had been between seeking justice for her and protecting the good name of the family.
Alex quickly scanned the news coverage. There was no significant highlight except for the fact of the impending graduation and the freak accident that took the life of a renowned businessman’s daughter. There was no mention of the bruises. No reference to the sexual assault. No speculations about who the attacker was. Because it was an accident, there were no recriminations the unsolved mystery. Alex had feared there would be a media circus that could unravel quickly. Instead, the country was obsessed with other more important news concerning the escalating conflict in Afghanistan. Multiple lives lost from improvised explosive devices. So far as Alex could tell, their improvisation was holding intact. No political risks.
In the middle of this excruciating tragedy, Alex received a call from a seasoned and highly respected political operative in Washington D.C. who had caught wind of the news. He had reached out to Alex and established friendship after winning the US Senate seat, eying more prosperous political career ahead.
"Don't let a crisis go to waste," advised the old man. He talked slowly and deliberately. He was quoting the infamous Chief of Staff of the President. Crises present a unique opportunity to accomplish great objectives. Using the distraction and countering it with focused attention, one could advance a political goal relatively easily and quickly.
"Are you serious? How inhuman can you be to be thinking politics at this time? The Senator is such a close family friend to the Crawfords." Alex countered, having his first meal of the day. A vegetarian burrito and his fourth cup of coffee since he woke up.
The McKenzie family had decided to stay in Boston past the graduation festivities. A memorial gathering was planned as part of the graduation ceremony in which Seth Crawford was invited to be present to receive the degree on behalf of his daughter. The family had refused to attend the campus-wide ceremony in the interest of minimizing publicity.
Brandon’s exclusive focus was the well-being of his friends. It was such a terrible coincidence that it would happen at the same time as his daughter’s graduation. He decided he would do his best to make sure his daughter enjoys herself despite the tragedy.
"The Senator may take time off from politics. But you, my friend, don't have that luxury. There is no timeout for the likes of us. Everything is about politics. No amount of money the Crawford’s have can bring back their daughter. Nothing they can do about. The question is what is the Senator going to do with this gift? What would the legacy of this suffering be? This can be a gold mine with women. He needs to come across as genuinely grief-stricken for the loss of a family friend, but also resolved to do something about the tragedy. Opioid addiction is rampant in the northeast, women everywhere can relate to the threat of violence. Imagine if three years from now, we are having this conversation from the Oval Office?”
It was true. Whereas Alex’s task ought to have been protecting the Senator's interest at all times, he had let himself get too emotionally involved. There was certainly the tantalizing possibility of making something good out of the tragedy. Maybe that will be the legacy. Ushering a focused and well-executed strategy.
Although the regret inside was still raw, and the desire to avenge her death as piercing as a fresh wound, he was excited about the prospect of building a lasting legacy to honor Alyson. He had met her only a couple of times and had a good impression of her as a good friend of Caroline’s.
Alex decided he would explore the feasibility in the background without alerting the Senator too much. There was no harm to it, he decided. The two agreed to touch base to review secret polling data the operative would collect to ascertain the amount of political capital the Senator stands to gain for the tragedy.
The main priority now was protecting Caroline from whatever storm might arise from the situation. He had withheld some information from the Senator in the interest of protecting Caroline’s image. As he has always done. Without her knowledge. Because he cared deeply about her. He was going to have to talk to her to understand what exactly happened.
~~~
