![]() ![]() But she felt she had prepared herself for it. Sarah had known she wouldn't be able to avoid Tucker if she covered money and politics. If Capehart wins, Tucker will have the run of the White House." ![]() He helps put them into office and then he lobbies them on behalf of his business clients. "Well, he might be a good place for you to start," Jones said. "I met him when I was covering Governor Tawney," she said carefully. I think he did some work for Elizabeth Tawney in Maryland." "He's running Monroe Capehart's campaign for the Democrats. "You know who Tucker is, don't you?" Jones asked. I'm particularly interested in what Trent Tucker will be doing." The Democrats are raising and spending more than ever to take back the White House, and the Republicans are matching them dollar for dollar. "And I don't have anyone on it full-time yet. "That's just what I figured." Jones smiled at her directness. They both laughed, and Sarah relaxed enough to make her pitch. "You know, when you think about it, you should be kissing my ass." And you're getting it a few years early." Jones leaned back in his chair. "So you're really not doing me any favors." They resent your coming over here after what happened to him." "They don't think you've had enough experience. "Some of my guys aren't happy about you," Jones added. So it's not a good idea to fraternize on the beat. "But there're no secrets in political reporting. "You don't have to be a nun," Jones told her. It's all over the newsroom, for heaven's sake. So I asked for you the minute I heard they wanted to separate you and your editor friend." I inherited these guys, and nobody ever leaves. "So why aren't there more women on your staff?" she asked Jones. But that was before they switched to public relations and lobbying, where the money was. Her parents, who had grown up in the sixties and worked as reporters in Washington, had always talked about a sense of mission in journalism after Watergate. Sarah saw herself as a fighter, too, but not necessarily an idealist. I also see something of an idealist, but we'll cure you of that." "But I see a determined young woman fighting for respect. "I know it's a cliché," Jones said, looking at her intently. Sometimes, in this business, it helps to have a chip on your shoulder." "Don't you think people have always seen a big bad black man before thinking anything else? It's only made me more aggressive. "C'mon, look at me," he told her, spreading wide his huge arms. In the newsroom, she had faced the widespread assumption that male colleagues had the inside track to the national politics staff.īefore she could respond, Jones smiled knowingly, as though sharing an inside joke. In Annapolis, the suggestive comments of leering legislators and dismissive slights by some of the veteran reporters had made it clear she would never be one of the boys. Sarah hated being constantly reminded that politics was still mostly a man's game. "And you were tough but fair with the governor," he added, "even though she's a woman." You did good work on those lobbyists in Maryland. "I wouldn't let the local staff dump anyone on me. "Investigative projects get pretty intense. It was important that she not be seen as a victim, a naïve young woman seduced by her boss. "He wasn't really my editor," Sarah said. "Of course not," he told her, softening his tone. She sat as tall as she could in a chair facing Jones. She knew she had to keep her composure or miss this opportunity to move onto the national politics staff. "Do I have to explain it all over again?" Sarah asked. Jones, a big, burly man, overwhelmed the little desk that separated them in his cramped, glass-walled office on the edge of the newsroom. "I have rules," Ron Jones, the political editor, was warning her. Yet it felt as though she was being punished. It was a moment Sarah Page had been working toward ever since she first walked into the Washington Capital newsroom six summers earlier. ![]()
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