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MY GUESTBOOK
�I met him at a party fundraiser about fifteen years ago, but I didn�t get to know him until Josh brought me on to the first Bartlet for America campaign,� I said.
Nodding, Santos said, �Do you think anyone can replace him as VP?�
�No, sir,� I said firmly. �No one could possibly replace Leo. And we�re going to have to make sure that the public, not to mention the people working within the government, know that. But there are people out there who could, conceivably, do as good a job as him, maybe better because Leo was never all that comfortable being the man in the spotlight; he was more at home waiting in the wings dealing with fallout than he ever would have been as Vice President.�
�We�re leaning toward Baker,� Santos said.
I cringed internally. Baker and I had never gotten along and the thought of having to work with him so closely was not at all a comforting thought. Though it was probably how Josh felt when Hoynes signed on as VP for Bartlet�their relationship never recovered from Josh leaving. But Baker was better than Russell�what a putz�and at least he had the intelligence and tact to interact with dignitaries.
�Carol Gelsey is number two on the short list. Amy Gardner is pushing for her hard,� Santos said. I was not at all surprised that Amy was shilling for Gelsey. I was, however, surprised that what she was pushing had any real value. Last I heard Amy was, yet again, between jobs.
�Both are strong candidates,� I said, though I wasn�t sure I could see either of them assuming the Presidency if it came to that, which, let�s face it, in the political and social climate we were in wasn�t out of the realm of possibilities.
�Anyway, I�m going to need you to do a lot of the VP selection things if Josh is going to take a vacation. Donna can help you�assuming my wife hasn�t already poached her.�
Mentally damning Josh for not mentioning that Donna was going with him, I reluctantly filled Santos in on the fact that Donna was going to be unreachable for the next week. I also told him that she had taken the job with the Future First Lady.
Santos wasn�t pleased. �Anyone else planning on bailing on me?� he asked after uttering some rather obscure curses in Spanish under his breath. I doubted he knew of my fluency in Spanish. Even if he did know my background he probably wouldn�t have known that I spent most of my childhood learning Spanish from the woman who came in four days a week to clean and manage the house. I took French and Latin in high school, one Latin course in college, and, while I contemplated taking Spanish for the easy A, I never did. My GPA was good enough without it and I�ve never been the type to take the easy road.
�Not that I�m aware of, sir.�
�Alright. Go start doing what you�re here to do,� Santos said, already calm again.
�Thank you, sir,� I said before slipping out of his office.