“Your journey has been a challenging one, hasn’t it, Senator?”

“It’s certainly been interesting, I can’t deny that,” Pamela Cormack said.

“You may not be aware of this but my first break as a field reporter was covering the story when you first joined the crowded field for the open U.S. Senate seat and spoke to voters for the first time about the stakes of the election. I remember you coming on stage holding your two-year-old son on your hip and your six-year-old daughter by the hand and you told the crowd—”

“I said the race wasn’t about me or my opponents, and it wasn’t. As a 44-year-old single mother and a proud American, I knew the race was about our kids, our families and our future.”

“And while you were out on the campaign trail, it was revealed that your children were the by-product of in vitro fertilization and that you had just come out of a five year same sex relationship, news that, no offense, could have crippled your bid for the Senate seat, yet you seemed to take it all in stride.”

“I’m not sure how I feel about Danielle and Mason being referred to as by-products—”

“My apologies.”

“But my IVF treatments were never meant to be kept secret. I love both my children very much and they are the best thing that ever happened to me. As for my relationship status, I refuse to put up a front in order to project the illusion of adhering to societal norms. Love and truth are more important to me than keeping up appearances. Those who cannot accept that are free to follow candidates who better represent their lifestyle choices.”

“A bold stance.”

“And an honest one.”

“I’d like to address a quote you made during the primaries when you stated that Washington D.C. has lost its way on too many of the priorities that matter to our state. What did you mean by that?”

“Let me put it to you simply, if you have twenty problems and each one of them is a top priority then none of them are a top priority. I’ve made it my business to assign levels of priority and committed myself to solving problems instead of handing out excuses and I pride myself on working across party lines, without picking sides, in order to find common ground.”

“You do have a pretty impressive track record, Senator.”

“Thank you. When I see something is wrong, when I see people struggling, I think about what am I going to be able to do today to make a difference,” Cormack said. “That’s why I decided to run for President.”

“Did you really think the nation was ready for a LGTBQ president?”

“How can you be certain we haven’t had one already, and more importantly isn’t it about time we started looking past labels? I ran because our country is in desperate need of leaders, not politicians. Despite how people self-identify, I know we all want the same thing. We want to make a good life for ourselves and our families.”

“I couldn’t agree with you more, but now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to move on to a more serious matter—”

“The campaign center bombing. I always know this topic is coming but I’m never quite prepared when it arrives.”

“I realize how difficult this must be for you but can you walk me through the events of the day, to the best of your recollection?”

“I remember waking up early that morning to help set up the campaign office. I know we had volunteers tasked for that sort of thing but I’d never ask anyone to do something I wasn’t prepared to do myself. No job was too small. And even though the pandemic is in our past, I began the day sterilizing and cleansing all the workstations because it didn’t hurt to be careful. When the office opened, I helped our elderly constituents and those potential voters without computers or internet connection to register to vote online. Toward the middle of the day I helped process donations to my campaign and—”

“And?”

“If you’re asking about the explosion itself, I don’t remember it, what I was doing when it happened, where I was…nothing. I just remember waking up to a sickening smell that made me want to run away. Then I saw rubble where the campaign office used to be and in the debris were dead bodies…and it wasn’t men or women but children and small babies as well.”

“I can’t imagine—”

“No, you can’t, nor should you have to. I knew the risks when I decided to run for office and dwelling on events that could happen wasn’t of any use to me, or the people I was trying to help. However, after the…event…I found it difficult to sleep, control my emotions, and even focus on my duties.”

To be continued…