Disclaimer: Not mine. Song's not mine either. Don't sue, I have no money.
Author's Note: 9th in my POV series. This one's Josh.
Archive: Sure, just tell me.
Feedback: Makes me very, very happy.
Spoilers: In the Shadow of Two Gunmen
Carry on my wayward son
There'll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don't you cry no more
As I sit in a campaign meeting with Hoynes and the rest of the campaign crew, my mind reverberates with Leo's words, "it's what sons do for old friends of their fathers."
I can't believe that I'm actually considering seeing this Bartlet guy. He doesn't have a chance in hell of being elected, Hoynes has the nomination all sewn up. And yet...
Once I rose above the noise and confusion
Just to get a glimpse beyond this illusion
I was soaring ever higher
But I flew too high
When Hoynes asked me to join his campaign, I was overjoyed. This was my shot at the big time. A presidential election, working for the sure-thing candidate. But the grandeur of it all wore out quickly. Hoynes was a politician with a capital P. He was willing to sacrifice just about anything to win. In a way I guess that's a good thing, but I still wanted to save the world, and Hoynes wasn't having any of it.
Though my eyes could see I still was a blind man
Though my mind could think I still was a mad man
I hear the voices when I'm dreaming
I can hear them say:
Carry on my wayward son
There'll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don't you cry no more
Hoynes is going to win, no doubt about it, and when he does, I'm going with him to the White House, he's already said so. So why am I sitting in the back of an assembly, working a puzzle and slightly listening to Josiah Bartlet, the dark horse candidate?
Masquerading as a man with a reason
My charade is the event of the season
And if I claim to be a wise man
It surely means that I don't know
And then, I hear something I thought I would never hear come out of the mouth of a politician, something I know without a doubt would never come out of Hoynes's mouth. Bartlet admits that some people got screwed over because of a decision he made. I'm floored. I thought I'd seen it all. This wasn't supposed to be happening. Bartlet's not going to win, he's a joke to Hoynses's campaign. But can I deny that he's the real thing?
On a stormy sea of moving emotion
Tossed about unlike a ship on the ocean
I set a course for winds of fortune
But I hear the voices say:
Carry on my wayward son
There'll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don't you cry no more
I guess not. Later that night, I go see Leo McGarry and tell him I'm on board. Not only that, but there's someone I want to bring on board with me: Sam Seaborn.
That night, I toss and turn, unable to sleep. I'm going to talk to Sam tomorrow. I don't know if he'll say yes, why should he? He's got a fiancee and a fast-track career, and I'm asking him to leave it all behind so he can work for a dark-horse candidate just because he happens to be the real thing?
That's it, I'm insane.
Which is basically what Hoynes said when I called him to tell him I would no longer be working on his campaign. As I continue to toss and turn, our conversation replays in my head.
"He's going to lose."
"I know"
"I'm going to win."
"I know"
"And when I do, don't think you can come crawling back to me asking for a job, 'cause it's not going to happen."
Sighing, "I know".
"Then why?"
"Because he's the real thing"
My tossing and turning begins to slow, then stops altogether. He is the real thing. It doesn't matter if we lose. It doesn't matter if Hoynes wins. It doesn't even matter that I'm giving up a four-year, possibly eight-year job at the most prestigious building in the country. Because Bartlet's the real thing.
Carry on
You will always remember
The next day, I get Sam on board. We later meet CJ Cregg and Toby Ziegler. Ziegler was already working for the Governor, but the rest of us left everything behind to jump on the wagon. Because there's no denying it, he's the real thing.
Carry on
That the evil is banded
The campaign is hard. Although a good man, the Governor is a lousy politician. I go through tragedies (my father's death) and triumphs (winning the Democratic nomination), as well as things in-between (meeting Donna Moss). And now, it all comes down to this, as we stand huddled around a television set.
Now your life is no longer empty
Surely heaven waits for you
"And the new President of the United States is Governor Josiah Bartlet!"
Carry on my wayward son
There'll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don't you cry no more
Finis