"It's a go in five," Caroline Shaeffer announced in a stage whisper,
leaning over his shoulder. A blond Ohio debutante, she was press
secretary--a job she had fought for and loved --and she structured the
President's media appearances with the bloodless efficiency of a Nazi
drill sergeant. This hastily arranged breakfast speech at New York's
Plaza was no different. She had put it together in less than ten days,
and anybody who mattered in New York politics was in attendance,
smiling their way dirough stale _prosciutto con melone _and soggy eggs
Benedict, for an awe-inspiring hour of "quality time" with President
Johan Hansen.
The head table had the usual crowd: Mayor Jarvis, senators,
representatives, state senators, state officials of every stripe, even
the borough presidents. Hansen was almost as popular as Ronald Reagan
had been in his heyday. The election was coming up in less than six
weeks, and Johan Hansen held a commanding lead--twenty-eight points if
you believed the latest Newsweek/Gallup poll. A "nonpolitical" event in
the middle of the campaign allowed everybody to show up for a photo,
regardless of party. President Hansen's speech was scheduled to begin
at 8:44 A.M. sharp, perfectly timed to let Today and Good Morning
America carry the opening remarks live eastern and central and not have
to look like the networks were trailing CNN, indeed wiping its ass, yet
again. In any case, it would definitely make the evening news on all
three. Precisely as Hansen intended.