The Last Election (5 page)

In high school, Clark was a fairly good running back and even scored the winning touchdown when the team won the state championship. He was easy going, popular, and known for his love of practical jokes. He had a great sense of humor and he enjoyed making other people laugh, and he had a crooked grin and a gleam in his eyes that gave him a look like he was up to some sort of mischief.

Clark was 18 when he graduated from high school and he enlisted in the army the very next day. In basic training, his excellent marksmanship was immediately recognized the first time he went to the rifle range. He always remembered the surprised look on his drill sergeant’s face after he shot a perfect score with ease.

Upon completion of basic, he was plucked out of his platoon and sent directly to sniper school. Not only was he a dead-on shot, he possessed a sixth sense that told him where the enemy was. In Vietnam he had taken out plenty of enemy soldiers at distances of over 1,000 yards.

After his tour he returned to Midland County a hometown hero. With his meager savings and a generous no-interest loan from his father, he opened a small sporting goods store on the shores of Wixom Lake in the sleepy little town of Edenville. He sold rods and reels, bait and tackle, camping equipment, hunting rifles and shotguns, and all the goods the local outdoorsmen desired.

Clark’s business, Sportsmen’s World, did well from the beginning. He took his profits and constructed a log cabin home on 40 acres of land covered with tall red pines. By the time his cabin was completed, he had married his high school sweetheart, Maria. Within four years, Maria had blessed him with two beautiful children, a daughter and a son.

Clark never expected that Sportsmen’s World would become so successful. Six years after opening, he had expanded his store to three times the size of the original building. He began selling more and more products, including bass boats in the summer and snowmobiles in the winter. He sponsored one of the most popular bass fishing tournaments in mid-Michigan. The proceeds from the tournament were donated to local schools with the understanding that the funds would only be used to provide education in wilderness conservation. He also established a charitable foundation called Sportsmen Against Hunger, where deer hunters donated venison to local churches to feed the needy during the winter months.

Clark’s philanthropy made him very popular in the local community. He received numerous plaques of appreciation from the schools and churches, and was made an honorary member of the local lodges of both the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Loyal Order of the Moose. He was even knighted by the Knights of Columbus for his generous contributions to Catholic Charities, even though he was Methodist.

Within twelve years of opening the doors to the original Sportsmen’s World, he had opened three more stores. The first was in the city of Claire, the second in Mount Pleasant, and the third was located on the shore of Higgins Lake near the town of Roscommon. The Higgins Lake store was enormous, earning the title of Superstore. As the popularity of Sportsmen’s World grew, so did the reputation of Samuel Clark. He was a local celebrity in each town that had a Sportsmen’s World outlet, and was often featured in local news stories as a successful businessman who always gave back to the community.

In 1981 he broke ground for his next Superstore in Traverse City. Clark had always made friends with the local politicians in the cities in which he built a store, and Traverse City was no exception. Mayor Russ McClellan had long been a fan of Clark and it was he who approached Clark and suggested he build a Sportsmen’s World in Traverse City. McClellan saw the benefits in employment and tax revenue that a Sportsmen’s World outlet would bring to his city, and with the full support of the city council, he persuaded Clark to research the market potential that Traverse City offered.
  

Clark quickly became friends with Mayor McClellan, a successful oncologist turned politician. He was a rugged man who loved the outdoors, and he enjoyed hunting as much as Clark. On one of their early hunting trips, McClellan sprang an offer on Clark that was totally unexpected. He promised Clark unlimited support from the Michigan Republican Party if he would run for Congress in the upcoming election.

The congressional seat in Michigan’s 4
^th
District had belonged to Eli Swanton for as long as most people could remember. Congressman Swanton was an old school Democrat whose age and deteriorating health prevented him from running for yet another term. All of Clark’s stores were within the 4th District, making him well known throughout the area. McClellan explained to Clark that with his popularity, his prior military service, and his image as a clean-cut family man who enjoyed hunting and fishing, he was a shoo-in for the seat being vacated by Swanton.

Clark talked it over with Maria and his children, who enthusiastically encouraged him to go for it. As he stepped into the world of politics, Clark was surprised to find how much he enjoyed campaigning. He loved listening to the concerns of the people in his district, and they in turn found Clark to be a regular guy who wasn’t blowing smoke when it came to addressing their concerns. He easily won the election, since the Democrats never found a serious challenger that had the same appeal as Clark.

Clark was a highly respected member of the House for several years. He always supported the causes near and dear to his constituents, such as smaller government, lower taxes, and protection of the environment. Even after his wife Maria died unexpectedly from a rare form of leukemia, he continued to serve admirably.

By the time he had won his 13
^th
term in 2006 he was restless. Congress was challenging of course, but he no longer felt that serving at the federal level was the best way to serve the Michigan residents he so loved. That, added to the fact the Democrats in charge at the state level were a nationwide embarrassment, fueled his desire to leave Washington and return to Michigan.

The current governor of Michigan was in his second and final term, which was turning out to be much worse than his first term. Many people thought that could not be possible. However, when the Detroit Free Press ran a three-part
exposé on the corruption that ran rampant throughout the governor’s
administration, his popularity plummeted and his legal problems skyrocketed. At the same time the governor fought off charges of bribery and kickbacks, the Democratic Mayor of Detroit was on her way to jail on a number of counts of misconduct, including making salacious phone calls to a married staff member on the city payroll.

The people of Michigan had had it with the Democrats, so Clark set his eyes on the governorship. In 2008 he ran a brilliant campaign that captured the attention of the citizens of Michigan, as well as citizens nationwide. For years the media loved to blame all of Michigan’s woes on the last republican president. Clark showed Michigan that it was doing no good to continue to blame Washington for the state’s high unemployment. He put the blame squarely where it belonged, on the democratic governor and the state’s political leadership.

Clark’s campaign had totally redefined Michigan’s political landscape. He was swept into office with high approval in the 2008 election and immediately became the Republicans’ superstar. Within days of his election win, the RNC began plotting his run for president in 2012.

Chapter 6

President Bonsam was deeply absorbed in thoughts about his enemies as he sat alone in the White House Theater. His paranoia was becoming stronger every day. He quickly shook the thoughts from his mind and focused on his purpose for being in the theater in the first place.

Since he took office he had been coming here almost every day for one reason and one reason only, to view the projected image of a single PowerPoint slide. He picked up the remote and hit the power button, and within seconds a large image appeared on the theater’s screen. It was a photo of the ancient Maya calendar.

The first time Bonsam had seen a picture of the Maya calendar in a textbook, he felt a powerful spiritual attachment to it. He had felt drawn to it and had studied the symbols relentlessly ever since. He was certain there was a message for him within the symbols, a message foretelling what was to come.

A strange feeling came over Bonsam as he viewed the projection on the screen before him. It held him spellbound. During his frequent anger meltdowns, he had repeated visions of ancient carved symbols. He stared at the calendar hoping to find the connection between the symbols on the calendar and the symbols in his dreams.
What am I missing?

When Bonsam was elected in 2008, his interest in discovering this mysterious message became an obsession. As soon as he took office he put his shadow agents on alert to report on anything they saw or heard involving ancient Maya artifacts. The agents recruited spies wherever Maya culture was being studied or archaeological digs were taking place.

He read the Maya Prophecies Report that his shadow agents provided first thing each morning. He read it even before the National Security Report. Unfortunately, the information in the reports had not changed much over the past several months; the Maya calendar was set to run out and ancient prophecies suggested that when it did, it would bring about the end of the world.

Bonsam continued to stare at the projection of the ancient calendar, desperately trying to unravel the mystery of the prophecy. He was certain that he was part of the prophecy, whatever it turned out to be. Bonsam knew that once he was reelected, the calendar’s prophetic event would take place during his watch. If something marvelous were to happen, it would be of his doing. If the world were to end, well then, it would end on his terms.

Chapter 7

The D.C. campaign headquarters of Senator Alexander Kirk was bustling with activity. Kirk’s staff and supporters were busily preparing for the last big push before Super Tuesday. Kirk’s campaign manager, Bobby Davis, was running the show. Davis, a moderate Democrat himself, had spent his entire career inside the beltway and had known Kirk for years. When Kirk offered him the job as campaign manager, he jumped on it with both feet. Davis’s views mirrored Kirk’s in every way and he, too, saw that the Bonsam administration was driving the country into the ground.

Davis was in high spirits tonight. In four more days his boss could wipe out any chance of Bonsam getting the Party’s nomination. An incumbent president losing in the primaries would be an event of historic proportions, and the thought of that made Davis want to pop the champagne. He walked around the headquarters giving handshakes and words of thanks to his staff. One of his staff members whispered something in his ear, so he made his way back to his private office.

Senator Kirk had been waiting for Davis in his office. As Davis walked in and saw Kirk sitting behind his desk, a big grin crossed his face. “A.K.!”

Kirk rocked the desk chair and looked down at it on both sides and said, “Mighty comfy chair you got here, Bobby.” Both men laughed as Kirk got out of the chair and came out from behind the desk. They shook hands firmly and stepped back to look at each other, both filled with enthusiasm.

Davis said, “Come on A.K., let’s go out and greet the staff. They would be thrilled to see you tonight.”

“Not now, Bobby, I have something I want to talk to you about.” Kirk’s demeanor became serious. “About Bonsam.” Kirk slowly walked behind the desk and sat back down.

Davis immediately knew where this was going. Kirk was a down-to-earth man and a straightforward politician. He was a man of honorable character who treated his friends and foes alike with respect, but Davis knew that Kirk was extremely suspicious of President Bonsam and didn’t trust him a bit. Kirk had always said that he felt an indescribable eerie vibe every time he was near the president.
 

“One last time, Bobby. Tell me what you think is going on in Bonsam’s mind right now. You know he isn’t just sitting in the White House ignoring the polls, yet he acts like he has the nomination in the bag. What do you think he is up to?”
 

“I don’t know, A.K.,” replied Davis. “He has always been notoriously sly and devious in his campaigns. Since he first ran for public office in Illinois he has found ways to ruin his opponents. And if he couldn’t ruin his opponents he would play the race card and he would deal it from the bottom of the deck. Think of all the times in the last three years that he has done that. Each time he did he put his political opponents on the defensive and directed attention away from his own crooked machinations.”

Kirk sat in silence as Davis’s words sunk in. Finally he said, “There is no way Bonsam can attack my record when it comes to introducing legislation that supports minorities. There has to be something else. But what?”