Continuing on with the News on Castle and Beckett. Spoilers for 8x22 Crossfire and earlier seasons episodes are contained within.

Disclaimer: Any recognizable characters are the property of Andrew W. Marlowe and ABC television. All others are the product of my imagination. Any resemblance with any person, living or dead is purely coincidental.

Transcriptions from seriesmonitor dot com slash castle slash transcripts slash index dot html.

All mistakes are mine. I have no beta for my story.


Campaign Advertisement – Late September 2018

"I'm Kate Beckett, candidate for United States Senate and I approve this message."

"I have heard the objections to my candidacy for the United States Senate. She's inexperienced. She doesn't know the legislative process. She'll be eaten alive by the 'special interests.' What can a Captain in the NYPD know? She's can't be very smart, she married that womanizing playboy author, Richard Castle."

"Well I'm here to tell you that some of those objections are right. I am inexperienced in the legislative process. But haven't the people who are knowledgeable gotten our country into this mess in the first place? Don't we need new ideas? Einstein famously said 'doing the same the over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of insanity.' I don't think the people of this great state are insane. They are tired of the same old, same old. That's why I'm running."

"As for 'special interests', as any murder suspect will attest that came into my precinct, I can be very intimidating. Taking down armed suspects is intimidating. I've been shot 3 times in the line of duty and I'm still here. The 'special interests' have nothing on someone pointing a gun at you and ready to use it."

"I may not know everything but I'm here to tell you that I will outwork any Senator from any state. During my tenure at the NYPD, I worked hard to bring killers to justice, to bring closure to the families of murder victims. It was challenging difficult work but in the end very satisfying. And as for my husband, as any wife will attest, husbands are a challenge and I love my challenge."

"This I can promise to you. I will work hard for you. I will use my best judgement for the people of New York. I hope that you will give me your vote on November 6th."

"Thank you for your support."


Campaign Advertisement – Early October 2018

"I'm Kate Beckett, candidate for United States Senate and I approve this message."

"Like every political campaign these days, I have campaign consultants. The consultants gave me a list of things to do. The first thing they told me to do was to go negative on my opponent, just like my opponent has done to me. While that would be emotionally satisfying, it does nothing about addressing the concerns of the voters nor saying what he or I will do once elected. Because I disagree strongly with his policy prescriptions, I could call his ideas racist, sexist or homophobic, but I believe that is an insult to his supporters just like his negative advertising is an insult to my supporters. Name calling will not solve the problems facing our great country. And unless both sides talk and listen to each other, our country's problems will go unsolved."

"Should we raise or lower taxes and where should they be focused? What programs need to be expanded? What programs are not working and need to be revamped or totally scrapped? What can be done about crime in our largest cities? These are some of the problems that are facing our country that need to be addressed. Inundating you with negative advertising does nothing to address these issues. Therefore, I promise you, the voters of this great state, that I will address those problems in upcoming advertising."

"We may not agree on the way forward, but I hope you will agree that I have some vision for the future. This I can promise to you. I will work hard for you. I will use my best judgement for the people of New York. I hope that you will give me your vote on November 6th."

"Thank you for your support."


Campaign Advertisement – Mid October 2018

"I'm Kate Beckett, candidate for United States Senate and I approve this message."

"Previously, I told you, the voters, that I would address some of the problems facing this country and what I will do about them if elected. The first of which is taxes and spending."

"My opponent has stated that if elected, he would have all taxes cut significantly with an even more significant cuts in spending. I believe that taxes need to be more focused on government income and less focused on what some people call 'tax justice', whatever that means. While I agree with my opponent that spending is too high, the deficit and national debt are scary, cutting spending haphazardly is not good policy and it is not good for our country. However, in our budget now there are some luxuries that we cannot no longer afford. Arts and Humanities, not amounting to much in the budget and worthy causes in times of plenty, but now we are in a time of want so they must be cut."

"Government programs should be rebaselined each year. There should not be an automatic increase in each programs budget each year. Every dollar of your hard earned tax money should be used judiciously. Every year, each government program should demonstrate that the moneys received are applied wisely. While 'Waste, Fraud, and Abuse' are bandied about regularly for controlling spending, it doesn't do much for reducing the deficit."

"Government programs should have a mission statement and a goal. If they don't achieve their mission, or worse, are found counterproductive, those government programs should be revamped or cancelled."

"I hope you agree with my plans if elected and I hope that you will give me your vote on November 6th."

"Thank you for your support."


Editorial – New York Ledger – September 28, 2018

US Senatorial Candidate, Kate Beckett has proved to be a refreshing change from the mudslinging we have come to expect every campaign season. In her campaign advertisements, Captain Beckett has shown remarkable restraint at tit-for-tat negative advertisements that have flooded the airwaves from her opponent, State Senator, Vince Lingingham. She has met his negativity with positive answers, in part by admitting that she is a novice when it comes to lawmaking but that the current lawmakers have made a mess, how could she do any worse?

In advertisement, speeches and interviews, she has stated clearly what she plans to do if elected. By implication, she is saying her opponent is squandering his chances by focusing on negative advertising rather than telling the electorate what he plans to do in office.

One of Senator Lingingham's most pointed argument is on Captain Beckett's judgement, specifically on her marriage to author Richard Castle. Mr. Castle, no stranger to page 6 or the police blotter in his former days has been notably absent for many years except when he disappeared for two months and in two cases. Mr. Castle disappeared the day of his nuptials with then Detective Beckett, presumably "leaving her at the altar." He famously wanted to know where he was during those two months claiming that he couldn't remember. He put up $250,000 for proof of his whereabouts during that time. He was presented photographic proof that he was in Montreal during part of that time. Mr. Castle has not provided further details. However, Mr. Castle and Captain Beckett married about 6 months after his disappearance and have remained together since then.

Mr. Castle was charged with assault in 2013 and assault with a deadly weapon in 2015. In the first assault case, the charges were dropped. In the second, assault with a deadly weapon, Mr. Castle agreed to a lesser charge and was sentenced to 1000 hours of community service which he served while assisting the NYPD at the 12th precinct. Both of these charges are a major subject of State Senator Lingingham's advertisements.

In our investigation of the two charges, the Ledger found extenuating circumstances surrounding both. In the first case, Mr. Castle was accused of assaulting Douglas Stevens who was later convicted for his part in a kidnapping of two Columbia University coeds. One of the kidnapped students was Mr. Castle's daughter from a previous marriage, Alexis. The charges were dropped by Douglas Stevens after a $125,000 payoff by Mr. Castle.

The second charge, assault with a deadly weapon, was made by the NYPD when they found Mr. Castle pistol whipping a Michael Boudreau. Mr. Boudreau was later shot by a police sniper because he had taken Mr. Castle hostage at gunpoint. Also, sources have indicated that Mr. Boudreau was part of a conspiracy that kidnapped the then Detective Beckett who had married Mr. Castle a few months earlier. Sources have also indicated that Mr. Boudreau was the 3XK serial killer who killed at least 10 women.

In both cases, Mr. Castle's was zealously attempting to safeguard a family member. Understandable, if somewhat misguided. However, what father, what husband, what man would not do anything in his power to return his family members to safety? It is unfortunate that in a 30 second advertisement, Mr. Castle's compelling extenuating circumstances cannot be adequately addressed.

In the end, the verdict on Captain Beckett' judgement seems to be obvious, she has very good judgement. She married a good man.


A/N: With apologies to my fellow Americans sick of the just completed election. This is just how my outline worked out.

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