“I’ll do it right away. At this point, he’s canceled all of his commitments. It’s a bad break for him, but we obviously benefit from the tragedy.” He shook his head. “Political Reality 101.”
“I don’t care about how this accident has ‘helped’ us,” Carolyn snapped. “A little boy is horribly injured, and I have no desire to profit from such a catastrophic event. That’s not what we’re about here.”
Nick flushed. “I understand. Forgive me for being so insensitive.”
“You’re forgiven.”
“Good.” Nick pushed up from his chair. “Onward and upward.”
Once he was gone. Carolyn dialed Mark’s number. “Mark, it’s Carolyn.” Her tone was all business.
“How are you?”
She detected a note of discontent in Mark’s voice, but chose to ignore it. “Fine. I’m calling about the transactions you’ve been handling for me. I need a total dollar figure.”
Mark paused. “I’m uncomfortable about using campaign funds to hire investigators, and delaying tax payments. I’m also worried about
His remark sliced her heart. “I’m aware of your commitment to your family.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean-”
“Let it go. Mark.”
He continued. “It’s just that I spend my days in this courthouse fighting for what’s right. It used to be so cut and dried, black and white. And now I look in the mirror, and I don’t know who the bad guys are anymore.”
“How can you even think such a thing?” Carolyn asked. “You’re one of the good guys.”
“I don’t know about that anymore.”
What was bringing on his crisis of conscience? Certainly not hiring investigators, Carolyn thought. Mark was not naive, and none of this was illegal. Worst-case scenario was paying penalties to the Internal Revenue Service, and that was a long shot.
“What’s really bothering you?” she asked, her concern glowing. “You don’t sound like yourself.”
Mark hesitated. “It’s… it’s nothing.”
“We both know who the bad guys are, Mark, you prosecute them every day. Nothing has changed, except your perception. You just aren’t looking at this clearly. The only way to fight a battle is to employ the tools necessary to win. We’re just aiming ourselves correctly.” She rubbed her eyes. “It’s the same as having a weak case, but knowing the guy is guilty. You’d search for an angle and argue to use evidence even if you knew it was tainted, if that was all you had. Right?”
“This is a little different, misusing funds could be construed as improper.”
“And using tainted evidence isn’t? Think about this, please. There’s no difference here. We’re just bending the rules within the law. In this instance, the end justifies the means. If we knew a guy was guilty, we’d both use whatever we had, right or wrong, to get him convicted.”
Carolyn tried to conceal the frustration she felt.
“Besides, we’re talking about my money, money given specifically to put Warner in the White House. We aren’t using it for any other purpose, it’s still going to the appropriate cause. Hiring investigators is a necessary expense. Don’t kid yourself – the other candidates are doing exactly the same thing.”
Mark paused. “I guess.”
“Are we talking about the money? I get the feeling something else is troubling you.”
“Of course, we are.” he answered abruptly. “What else would I be talking about?”
“I don’t know. I was hoping you’d tell me.”
Carolyn heard Mark sigh. She wondered if she’d pushed him too far.
“You need some totals, don’t you?” His voice sounded flat. “I’ll crunch the numbers, then courier the paperwork over to you. You can decide if you want to keep the funds in checking accounts or put them into short-term investments.”
“Thank you.” Not wanting to end on a bad note, she softened her voice. “Have I told you lately how wonderful you’ve been?”
“Carolyn, don’t do this… I’m sorry… Thank you for the compliment.”
Perplexed, Carolyn reluctantly re-cradled the receiver. His distorted sense of concern confused her. He’d talked in circles, as if the topic they were discussing wasn’t what worried him. Did he have another agenda? Did he have a guilty conscience? She dismissed the thought as ridiculous.
Associated Press
January 22, 2000 Young Withdraws from Primaries
