This surely won't be one of my best stories and probably a little dry with all the political stuff, but I've been following the election race for a long time now and just had to do something. Just like I believe Will would weigh in heavily, supported by his wife and his team.

Naturally not all issues can be tackled within only a couple of chapters.
Also I have set this story in the summer of 2016 - and believe me, I am only partly regretting that with everything that is going on in the race at the moment. If I'd tried to incorporate recent events as well, this story would truly never get finished...
I tried to be neutral in the depiction of the candidates, but probably didn't manage, so I herewith apologize to anybody offended.

Last but not least my profound gratitude to SueG, for input as well as constant support and encouragement whenever I was ready to throw this out!

:::::::::::::::::::::::::

Election Special

Friday, June 3, 2016

„I've had it, Mac!" Without knocking Will strode into his wife's office where she was brooding over some agonizingly boring reports. Without taking her eyes from the paper in front of her she lifted her hand with her index finger pointing upwards, asking for his patience while she finished reading the page that currently required her attention.

Will impatiently paced from the door to the window front and back until she finally lifted her head after having scribbled some remarks on the paper.

„What's going on, Billy?" Taking off her glasses she rubbed the bridge of her nose and got up to walk over to where he had paused his steps.

„First Bush 43, then Palin, the Tea Party and now Trump? What the fuck are these guys thinking?!"

Mac sighed, she only knew too well how upset Will was about what was going on in the Republican party. „What's he done now...?"

„Last night Clinton said that Trump claims to have foreign policy experience because three years ago he held the Miss Universe pageant in Russia. That's only half true, he merely claimed from this experience he knows how to deal with Russia..." Glancing down at Mac he conceded „Okay okay, that's not that much better... But you know what's gonna stick with the people... I mean, really? First Palin who can see Russia from her porch and now this?"

„I'm sorry, Honey." Mac really felt for him and gave his hand a comforting squeeze.

„No, you're not" Will replied grumpily. „It's not your party that is consistently making a fool of itself and riding itself into the ground!"

Mac did feel sorry for him, although she hadn't really figured out for herself if she should see Trump's words and behaviour rather positive or negative. On the one hand she thought that the more ridiculous things he said the better to make him unelectable to the people, but on the other hand so far nothing he had said had really harmed his campaign, and nobody knew what the electorate would do in November.

„I am sorry that you are hurting, Honey, but thinking about a President Trump..." Mac shuddered.

Will sighed. „I know, that's what I'm saying. I don't know what happened to this party that a man like him is likely to end up the official nominee for the office of the President of the United States! It's madness!" He started pacing again. „I want to do something about it, Mac..."

„What are you thinking about? Do you want to run yourself?" Though she knew that wasn't what he was going for she didn't think it was too far-fetched. With his strong convictions, his morals, his charisma and his public standing she could easily see him holding a public office one day. If there weren't things like being high during an immensely important broadcast in his past.

„Ha ha... funny! No, I really don't know yet... Maybe some kind of election special... What do you think?"

Mac squinnied. „That's a really good idea, Billy. We could raise awareness for the strengths and weaknesses of the candidates, all of them, also from the Greens, the Constitutionalists and the Libertarians. But obviously the main focus has to lie on Clinton and Trump. I will be able to sell that to Pruit and get some extra time for that – Trump means ratings, he would like that..."

Will nodded. „Okay, I will get the team together and we'll work on a concept. How much time do we have?"

His wife and boss thought about this question for a moment. „I would say shortly after the nominating conventions. We can't do it before they are officially named as nominees of their party. Then we cover Clinton and Trump and have a short segment on Stein, Castle and Johnson. We'll only have to spend a few minutes on them, it's not like they have a chance. Just the topics they are focusing on and their potential to take votes from the frontrunners. How about..." She took a step to her desk to check the calendar. „...July 31st? That's the Sunday after the democratic convention.

„Sounds good, we'll get started on the concept and contents. And we shouldn't completely neglect Sanders, he still has a chance to be the democratic nominee. Thank you, Hon." Will squeezed her hand and started to head for the door, but Mac quickly touched his arm.

„Billy?"

Turning back he saw her smile at him and questioningly raised his eyebrows.

„You do know that whatever happens on election night, it's still going to be a wonderful day?"

Now Will smiled back and let his arms slide around her waist. „How could I forget? It's gonna be the fourth anniversary of our engagement – well, day-wise, not date-wise..." Leaning down he placed a soft kiss on Mac's lips.

They normally tried to avoid public displays of affection in front of their staff during the day, but in the privacy of their offices they didn't see any harm in giving in to it once in a while, however not letting it get out of hand as long as other people were around.

Mac returned the kiss for a moment but then let her hands rest on his chest before pulling back. „That was a very clever choice you made that day, this way we get to celebrate twice." She winked at him, but then let out a regretful sigh. „I have to finish reading that report, I'll have a meeting in about ten minutes... You haven't forgotten that Sarah is dropping off Charlie at three to go to her dentist appointment?"

Will snorted. „How could I forget? Charlie hasn't been talking about anything else for the last couple of days."

„Oh, let her be... You know how she loves spending time with us at work. Ask her to draw me a picture for my office; I'll come down as soon as my meeting is over and take her up here, so you have some peace and quiet during the rundown meeting."

„Will do." With a last, quick kiss and a squeeze to her hand he let go of his wife and left the office.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::

After the rundown meeting Will asked Jim to stay with him in the conference room and explained the plans he had made with Mac.

„...So you see, we have about 8 weeks and we have to start from scratch. I want us to start this with a clean slate, basically as if we have never heard from these candidates before, know nothing about any policy plans, rumours, scandals etc.. Can you organize that?"

Jim scratched the back of his head and thougth for a moment before he began to speak. „Sure, I'll assign several teams who start researching the different candidates, maybe two for the smaller parties' candidates and four each for Clinton and Trump. If that doesn't work out we can always change the numbers."

Will agreed „Okay, but I want you on the Trump team, I have a hunch that this will be the group that will have to do the most digging and seperating the important issues from the knucklehead stuff. Have Tess take the lead on Clinton."

„Fine. Martin and Jenna on the candidates who won't have a chance?"

„Yeah, and team them up with Jake, too. They should also do a little research on Sanders, let's not forget that he hasn't dropped out yet. Let's start with setting a minimum of two hours a day aside for this. Today's Friday, so the whole class should meet... Wednesday...?" He looked up and continued when he saw Jim nod is head. „...with the first results and ideas how to go about it."

„Alright, I'll get right down to it and inform the others." Jim got up and gathered his papers, but then he paused and grinned at Will. „Say, did you happen to watch 'The Waltons' on TV?"

Will frowned at him, confused by his question. „What makes you think that?"

His EP's grin grew wider. „When Charlie left with Mac earlier she said 'Good night, Jim Bob'..., I was just wondering..."

Chuckling Will shook his head, but tried to remain stern. „I think I have to talk to Sarah about the shows they are watching during the day..."

Despite the grumbling tone of voice Jim could see that Will was trying to hide his absolute adoration for his little daughter. „She is a cute little button, isn't she?"

„You're the one talking, she's wrapped you around her little finger like a white kitten with a pink ribbon around its neck."

Jim shrugged. „Shouldn't have made me her godfather, I'm there to spoil her rotten, especially as her grandparents aren't around. You're responsible for enforcing discipline." Smirking and obviously not believing that Will was able to deny Charlie anything he finally headed towards the door „I'll keep you updated on the election special. You better get started on your copy for tonight."

:::::::::::::::::::::::::

On Monday Jim followed Will after the pitch meeting and sat down in front of his desk. „So, I have the teams for the special worked out: Martin, Jake and Jenna will be working on Stein, Johnson and Castle plus – for now - some basics on Sanders. Tess, Gary, Leo and Sandra have Clinton and Kendra, Tamara, Raheem and I will do Trump. Neal is the liason between the teams and will double check sources, and Kendra will also supervise Brock when we start booking experts and interview guests... The guys from graphics are standing by and will start their work as soon as a segment is ready to go."

„Who's Brock?" Will had become pretty good with names, but with new staffers it still took him a while.

„The new booker. Come on, you've seen him in almost every meeting for a month!"

„Sorry." Will shrugged. „So far he's just not that memorable to me... Jim Bob..."

Jim sighed. „I'm stuck with that name now, aren't I?"

Smirking his boss looked at his notes again. Even though they had become friends, especially since Charlotte's birth, it always felt good to not let Jim get away with everything. „Okay, the teams sound fine. We'll meet with them on Wednesday then, after the pitch meeting. Let me just go and tell Mac about what you've worked out."

When he left his office Jim's eyes followed him, his face sporting a lenient smile. Mac was only a phone call away, but even after more than three years of marriage Will took every opportunity to visit her during the day. And although the working relationship between him and Will had evolved over time, he knew that his anchor was still missing Mac in his ear.
Jim was dead sure that, given the chance, Will would trade him against her in a heartbeat.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::

Over the next weeks all teams were working very diligently and avidly on their assignments whenever they had some spare time, often having vocal discussions about what was to go into the script and what was too unimportant, sketchy or simply wrong.

During the first meeting, when everybody was called in to lay down the ground rules and work on a draft for the shows, they had divided the research for each candidate in different subtopics: domestic issues, international issues, election program and plans for the first term as well as miscellaneous stuff, which included personal matters, obvious lies and everything else that didn't fit in the other categories.

After that there had only had individual meetings with Jim and Will to discuss the progress they had made. Three weeks later though, at about the end of June, there was another conference to bring everybody up to speed and have the teams discuss the topics both major candidates had spoken out on, so that their different standpoints could be compared.

The discussion was lively, though pretty soon Will had to remind some of the younger people that there would not indulge into gossip or absolutely private matters during the show, especially when it came to all things „miscellaneous".
„Guys, what does Rule # 1 say?"

„Is this information we need in the voting booth?" With a sigh the whole group obedientely cited the first of the rules Mac had implemented during one of the first pitch meetings after her return, all of which belonged to the first things every new staffer had to learn.

„Right. So should we really go down this road?" Will didn't wait for an answer to his rethorical question. „There are many other things Trump said, appropriate and inappropriate, that we can use."

„Yeah!" Gary jumped in. „What about his argument with Megan Kelly instead?"

Now Kendra couldn't keep quiet. „Why is discussing the size of a penis any different than talking about a woman bleeding out of 'wherever'? Both is of incredibly bad taste and we should raise the question whether someone engaging in discussions like that is morally fit to be President. I think that's important for the voters?"

„You've got a point," Will conceded. „but I'm sure we can find some less drastic examples for this?"

„What about him insulting whole groups of people?" Raheem jumped in. „Like that women are 'fat pigs' as well as 'dogs, slobs and disgusting animals'? Or that Mexicans are bringing drugs and crime into the US and are rapists?"

„We could use that, Will." Jim now butted in. „Also because whenever he was given the chance to explain or correct his statements, he only lashed out more, so now Mexicans are also 'killers'. He sometimes not only doesn't seem have a clue what he is talking about, but he also seems incapable of admitting that he might have been wrong or even just exaggerating, not to talk about apologizing to those he insulted. And when he really is confronted with having said something proven to be wrong, he just claims he has never said it. Kendra is right: Is Trump morally fit to be the President and leader of the free world?"

„Examples?"

Jim checked his notes.
„Well, on February 26 he disavowed former KKK leader Duke who told supporters to 'get active' for Trump, but two days later during a press conference he denies ever having heard of him. He also said Elizabeth Warren had lied in saying that he wants to abolish the Federal Minimum Wage, although he had clearly sad so on „Meet the Press. To the question, if the federal government should set a minimum wage he had answered 'No, the states should decide because they compete with each other'. He did also say in the same answer that he thought people should earn more, but a few months earlier he had claimed in an interview with MSNBC that a low minimum wage is not a bad thing for our country. That's only two examples, there are lots more."

„Okay." Will nodded. „Let's keep that in for the moment, maybe find some more examples to choose from. Tess, on every point we're discussing here I want your team to look out for similar incidents with Clinton – Did she say or do someting wrong and how did she deal with it?"

Tess marked something down on the paper in front of her before looking up. „She did apologize for voting in favour of the Iraq War Resolution in 2002 and said that although it was a far more complex vote than her critics give her credit for, she simply did make a mistake back then. And then there's the 'email-gate'"

„Good, I'd much rather use stuff like that then these personal insults. Keep looking into it, especially Team Trump. Let's move to domestic issues. Gary?"

The addressee cleared his throat and sat up straight.

„Obviously Clinton has talked about many domestic issues over the years, as senator, during the first campaign in 2008 and then now, less when she was Secretary of State. We are still comparing current statements with the older ones, but one we can varify is that once public opinion changed on same sex marriage so did she in 2013 after having opposed it for years."

„Well, that's one topic where Trump's been fairly consistent.". Tamara consulted her notes. „He is against the Marriage Equality Act and has said that he would 'strongly consider' appointing judges that would overturn the Supreme Court's same-sex marriage decision."

Will made a note on the pad in front of him. „This contrast between the two candidates should be mentioned, yes. Also their different standpoints on guns and abortion should be covered."

„Eh, Will?" Jim interrupted. „Trump speaks out against abortion now, but he flip-flopped on this several times. In 1989 he co-sponsored a dinner in the honour of Mr. Duke, former president of NARAL Pro-Choice America. During an interview with NBC ten years later he confirmed that he was „very pro-choice", though against the concept of abortion itself. Still when asked he said he would not ban partial-birth abortion.
In 2011 he then stated he was pro-life, explaining this change during the first debate in August 2015 with personal experiences. In June, about six weeks before that, he said on CNN that he was pro-choice, only to change that to pro-life after the interviewer followed up on it. And now it gets interesting..."

„Now it gets interesting?" Neal shook his head and grinned, but Jim didn't let him interupt.

„On March 30th of this year the infamous interview with Matthews was taped in which Trump asserts that women – not any men involved - who receive abortions will face punishment once it is illegal. This however was retracted by his campaign before it was even aired, and now he said the person performing the abortion would be held legally responsible, not the woman. And in May he then claimed to have meant that women punish themselves when they have an abortion, not that they should be punished with prison sentences. But that's not all..." Taking a deep breath he continued.

„Two days after the Matthews interview, on April 1st, he said on CBS that he believes abortion legislation should be a state matter, but the laws we have now exist and he believes 'we have to leave it that way'. Again before the interview was even broadcast his campaign amended his statement, saying he had meant to say that the laws must stay the way they are until he becomes president, then he would change it through judicial appointments and allowing the states to regulate abortion. He has even presented a list of eleven conservative judges he would consider for the Supreme Court, all of them are pro-life."

Jim looked up at Will. „Interesting note on the side: Despite opposing abortion in 2004 he called pregnant employees 'an inconvenience', so one could argue that in his opinion moral values are okay as long as they don't interfere with business. Also the child care programs he offers at his hotels and clubs are only for guests, not for employees although he claimed otherwise in November 2015, so he's apparently not really providing a friendly work environment for mothers with children." Jim sighed. „That's Trump on abortion for now, how about Hillary?"

„Very straightforward." Tess answered him. „She has always supported Roe vs. Wade and voted against the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. She also pledged to only nominated judges who would uphold Roe vs. Wade. However she has also stated that she believes abortion to be 'morally wrong', which could bode well with some conservatives, but as senator she refused to sanction legislation that would place limits on access to contraceptives. She claimed that almost half of unwanted pregnancies would end in abortion, so no access to contraceptives would effectively turn abortion into a 'stand-by method of birth control.'"

„Nice contrast between the two, that will do good on air." The moment he said the words Will secretly cringed and for once he was glad that Mac wasn't in the room. He knew that every now and then he still tended to forgot for a second that it wasn't all about ratings anymore. Quickly recovering he pushed the next subject. „What about the economy?"

„Oh, I'll take that one... Trump on the economy"" Kendra volunteered with a grin. „There's lots to chose from actually; for being someone who claims to be such a terrific business man he sometimes really talks BS. Let me give you an example:
A year ago, during his presidential announcement speech, he said that under Obama the gross domestic product was below zero in the first quarter of the year although it would never be below zero.
This is wrong on several levels. First of all he meant the growth of the GDP, the GDP itself was in the trillions and definitely not below zero. I really think he should know that difference... Secondly growth is estimated to have fallen by 0.7% in the first quarter of 2015, but that is not definite yet, it can still be corrected once all numbers are available. And his claim that it never happens, meaning we never had negative growth? Since the millenium alone it has been the case about ten times, and he should really know that, because the tell-tail sign of a recession is two consecutive quarters of negative growth."

After taking a deep breath Kendra continued.
„He also claims that the US is the most highly taxed nation in the world whereas a simple check on that reveals that we are in 27th place from 30 countries that had been vetted. On the top of that list are Denmark, Belgium, France, Sweden and Finland with taxes accounting for more then 42% of the GDP, here it is about 25%. And the World Bank ranks the US 12th from the bottom of 115 countries in regard of taxation as a percentage of the GDP. Tamara?"

Her young colleague nodded and addressed the others at the table, looking from left to right with her first words.

„We have several other statements from Trump that are simply wrong or misleading, not only on the economy but also on domestic issues. Like just a few days ago he claimed that crime is rising, whereas violent crime as well as property crime has been steadily declining for decades now. For 2015 a rise in crime is possible, but those are still preliminary numbers and the way and the context Trump said it in doesn't even hint in the direction that he maybe only talking about last year.
Another subject on which he repeatedly made false assertions is immigration. We've heard about his allegations against Mexicans, but he's also claimed several times that there is no vetting system for refugees from the Middle East, which his definitely wrong. The 'Refugee Act of 1980' calls for intensive screening, including scrutiny from federal intelligence and security agencies. It has been retooled after 9/11 and refugees from Syria, who Trump especially likes to mention, even have to clear an additional hurdle. He also claims that Clinton wants..." Tamara air-bracketed „to 'essentially abolish the Second Amendment', which she definitely doesn't."

Will thanked her and then looked at Gary. „Can you give me in a nutshell what else you have on Trump on Domestic issues?"

„Oh, there's also lots. Too much to cover it all in the show actually. He repeatedly made up unemployment numbers that are much too high, he used a fake internet graphic to claim that 81% of white homicide victims are killed by blacks and 16% by whites, while the latest FBI numbers clearly state it is about the other way around – 15% and 81%. He promotes that the 2016 Federal Omnibus Spending Bill funds illegal immigrants coming into the country whereas it funds the U.S. Customs and Border Protection who tries to prevent just that. I could go on an on..."

„I think that's enough for now." Jim nodded towards Gary and then looked at Will.

„Okay, great. Well, time's up, but that was a pretty good start. Jim's right, we don't have to go through everything in one go. But I do want you to look into other domestic issues we didn't talk about today, like health care, social security, more details on their positions on guns. The teams have to co-ordinate so that we possibly have input on both sides for each subject. We want to give the viewer's a fair and impartial overview so that they can make an informed decision." Will noticed that Leo, who had only been with the team for about half a year now, shook his head. „You don't agree, Leo?"

The young man blushed lightly. „Eh... No, no, it's fine..."

Not believing him for a minute Will just kept his eyes on him and finally Leo went on. „I just feel... that... it's a little like Trump bashing to me, not really impartial..."

„Why do you think that? Was anything we said untrue?"

„No, of course not. But it's not only Trump who has talked nonsense or made mistakes. What about Benghazi? Travelgate? The alleged sniper fire in Bosnia?"

„We are not trying to sweep anything under the rug, Leo." Will assured him. "Bhengazi will definitely be a part of the segment on foreign politics, about Bosnia we'll have to see; if it makes it in then under miscellaneous. But I'm not sure we should include things that are so long in the past, like Travelgate, because then the show would probably have to be three hours long. What do you think?" He let his gaze roam over the others before turning back to Leo.

The others mumbled their agreement and after a moment the young associate producer nodded. „Okay... I just didn't want to give her a free pass, that wouldn't seem fair."

„Alright then, how about next Wednesday we meet on foreign policy and the rest?"

The group murmered their consent and started to gather their papers. While they were leaving the room though Will heard some whisperings among the staff about Leo's remarks and immediately knew he couldn't let that go.

„Hey, listen up everybody." He waited for the staff to stop and turn towards him and then went on. „Let me just make it completely clear: We are not pushing agendas here. This is supposed to be a neutral coverage of the two candidates and their programs, and if somebody feels we are losing the balance I'm glad if they say so. If it does end up that we'll have more on one party then that will be because they gave us more to work with, and not because we intend to portray somebody in a worse light than the other. Understood?"

Some had the decency to blush a little at this and cast a side glance to Leo, but they all nodded and uttered their consent, before leaving the room, while Will turned to Jim.

„Keep an eye on them, okay?

:::::::::::::::::::::::::

„So, how is it going with the special?" It was Friday night and as every week Charlie had been allowed to stay up late for a little snack while her parents had their dinner, if she managed to stay up that long, that was. Sometimes she was so tired that she went to bed early voluntarily, but nine times out of ten she was too excited to go to sleep before her parents came home from work. Mac and Will cherished this time they had with her as on normal workdays she was already asleep when they got home, brought to bed by her nanny.

Mac and Will were very grateful to Nancy for having recommended Sarah to them, who had already taken care of her grandsons Beau and later Ned. It had been such a relief to have found somebody they could trust implicitly with their precious daughter, and any initial concerns about leaving Charlie with a stranger and admittedly also jealousy of the time the two got to spend together had soon worn off.

Charlotte loved Sarah dearly, but spending time with her parents was the absolute highlight of the her day, just as it was for them.

Tonight Will had prepared Pasta with chicken and vegetables for Mac and himself while Charlie had enjoyed a fruit salad which she ate while chattering nonstop about everything that had happened during her day. Afterwards Mac had gotten her ready for bed and read her a short story before Will joined them to sing a lullaby to her, like he had since the day she was born. He knew that soon enough she would grow out of it, so he treasured any chance he got these days.

Mac's question had come after they had gone back to the kitchen where she put the dishes away and Will poured some wine for them. Taking the glasses over to the couch he sat down and waited for her to join him before he answered.

„We're getting there. It's lots of stuff we have to vet, but the teams are doing a great job, though Jim, Kendra and I sometimes have to keep them on track a little when it's getting too gossipy..."

„Hard not to when you look at the GOP candidate." Mac mumbled these words into her glass so that Will couldn't understand her.

„What did you say?"

„Nothing, go on."

This earned her a doubtful look, but Will let it go and after a sip of wine he continued. „We did good progress on their stands on the economy and domestic issues today, and next week we'll continue with foreign policy, their election programs and plans for their time in office. All those other things, like their outright lies, will probably keep us busy sorting and verifying right until the broadcast, there's something new almost every day..." Will sighed and rubbed his eyes.

In the meantime Mac had emptied her glass and put it on the table to make herself comfortable on the couch, pulling her feet up and leaning into Will, who immediately let his arm fall around her shoulder. „By the way, I have to admit you made the right executive decision by hiring Leo, Hon."

"My decisions are always correct, I thought you knew that by now." Mac tilted her head and smirked at him. „But enlighten me, why exactly was this one a good move?"

„Well, it's obvious that the editorial staff is mostly leaning towards the Democrats and during the meeting the other day he pointed out that we might tend to focus a little too much on Trump. Admittedly, I had to dig a little, but in the end he said it."

„Good, when he's not afraid to stand up for his believes and speak truth to power that bodes well for his future." Mac snuggled deeper into his side and let her hand rest on his thigh, her thumb gently stroking it „Mmmh... This is nice. We really have to try to get some more alone-time, you know? I've missed you these last weeks. I know you and Jim have a lot to do right now, but still..."

„Yeah, me too..." Will agreed with a sigh. „But it's gonna get better once the special is over, I promise."

Mac laughed. „Don't make promises you won't be able to keep; preparations for the election coverage will have to start soon after..."

„Mmmhh... What would you say if I suggested a vacation mid- or end of November? Just the three of us for at least a week?"

„I'd start packing right now!" She grinned, but then sighed. „No, of course not, but I would really love that. I can't even remember the last time we went away for a week and didn't talk about work once..."

„Then it's set, start thinking about were you'd like to go. If my boss gives me time off, that is..." Will winked. „But for now: Tomorrow Jim and I have only planned a two hour meeting, why don't we take Charlie to the zoo after that to ring in the long weekend?"

„She'd love that." Mac smiled and scooted up a little to press a kiss to Will's chin, who reacted immediately and bowed his head to capture her lips with his. They simply kissed for a while, too tired to let it lead to anything more but enjoying the closeness between them, before Will regretfully pulled back and stroked her hair. „Bed?"

„I guess..." Mac frowned slightly. „Maybe the little williwaw will sleep in tomorrow and we can wake up like in the old days..."

Will chuckled. „Wishful thinking... But hell, she was tired tonight, so there's a good chance. And if not then I'll make sure she'll stay up til midnight tomorrow and we can have a lazy Sunday morning."

„Ha, what makes you think that I'll last that long?" With a last, long kiss Mac moved from Will's chest and stood up, reaching out for his hand. „I'll clean up the glasses tomorrow, come on, husband, I need my pillow."

:::::::::::::::::::::::::

All political points/candidate opinions & statements mentioned have been fact-checked.
My main source was the website politifact DOT com, also a few other newspaper articles and blogs, mostly for more/deeper information on specific points and to double-check.
If I should have made a mistake/used wrong information it was completely unintended and please let me know.