Chapter 105

October 20th, 1998

French Presidential Palace

Harry rubbed his eyes as he left the Fontgombault Room after having concluded his last meeting that he would be sitting in on as the Presidential Director of Communications.

He had worked out with President Bayard that they would be calling a Press Conference where they would be announcing that Harry would be resigning his role as Communication Director to start a campaign to run for the Senate in March of 1999 against Senator Maria Deraismes.

It was not an easy decision to make but Harry felt confident that he was ready for the race.

Over the course of the past couple of months he had gotten good press as working on the aftermath of the war as well as his help in entering Hogwarts that caused a boost in his own approval rating where polls in the region of France where he would be running in showed his approval rating was at 55 Percent compared to Deraismes 52 Percent approval.

That would not necessarily lead to a victory in March but Harry was ready for the slog

He walked into a side room and was happy to see his family waiting for him.

When Harry went on the stage to speak to the press with President Bayard he would be flanked by Fleur and Appoline who had been fully supportive of his Senate run.

Appoline had said that she had done a sit-down interview with a popular French newspaper that would air tomorrow that included his mother in laws ringing endorsement for his Senate bid speaking as a popular formal Presidential spouse and someone who had several times acted as a shrewd campaign manager for her husbands Senate campaigns.

It was a nice gesture.

Soon after chatting with Fleur for a few minutes they had to start walking to where the press conference would be held.

President Bayard soon took the stage where he introduced Harry and allowed him to say what he wanted to say.

Thank you, Mr. President:

I have been privileged to serve as our country's 37th Presidential Director of Strategic Communications which has allowed me to work alongside the wonderful people in this Administration and the last one in the defense of our citizens and our ideals.

I am proud of the progress that has been made over the past three years on some of the key goals articulated in President Delcours National Defense Strategy: putting the country on a more sound budgetary footing, improving readiness and lethality in our forces, and reforming our business practices for greater performance.

Ever since I have joined your Administration in May Mr. President I have realized that the best way for me to serve this nation is no longer in this mansion.

Thus this evening I am opening my formal campaign for the Senate to challenge Senator Deraismes. I ask the voters to consider with me in this first discussion those broad questions of public policy which distinguish me from my political opponent. I ask you to do this so that as the campaign develops you will have a general guide to help you decide between us. For I believe deeply with President Bayard that we, as candidates, "Owe it to the people to talk sensibly about facts...about actual issues...and about alternative courses across the limitless range of France's problems and dangers."

This fundamental difference in political parties is important for the control of the Senate may now hinge on the results of this upcoming campaign. For the Senate is very evenly divided today. A shift in control will mean that the Senate will be organized by the UDF, and the important posts of Committee Chairmen will be theirs. It will then be the Peterhansels, the Bianchettis and the Giraudouxs—Senators who have opposed every conservative measure—who will direct and guide the whole of the Senate and in that way fasten upon this country their backward views. There is thus at issue in this campaign, not merely the differences between myself and Senator Deraismes, but also the greater issue as to what party and what political principles are to prevail.

We need men in the Senate who will stand up and fight for France's interest – not only in the marketplaces of international business, but before the Paris bureaus, the committees, and in the halls of the Senate.

A main area of difference between Mrs. Deraismes and myself relates to what we will do to help the people of France and our constituents.

The true worth of a Senator is measured not along by his service to the Nation as a whole. It is also measured by his efforts on behalf of the people of his own district.

It is the duty of a Senator to look to his own...to see that the interests of the people he represents, their lives, their jobs, their security, are protected. My interests are as national and international as anyone's, but it is my belief that a Senator must make time for the affairs of his district.

Today we stand at one of the turning points in our history. All that is needed now is recognition of our assets and our needs...and then, armed with that dual recognition...to go out and fight for a richer, a tougher, a better France.

I thus believe it is right for me to step down from my current position to run for the Senate full time. The end date for my tenure will be October 28, 1998

I have very much have appreciated this opportunity to serve this nation these past few years and I would like to thank you for giving me this honor.

Thank you

There was then light applause as President Bayard and Appoline stepped up to make some remarks to finish off the Press Conference.

Author Note Harry will now run to defeat Incumbent Senator Maria Deraismes of the opposing UDF Party who has been in office since 1975 Twenty Three Years.

And I am going to write something that is unique in the Harry Potter universe where Harry runs a political campaign with the goal to win enough votes to win an election against a sitting long term politician.

Also, I would like to say that I come from a family with four siblings so that makes me more inclined to see stories about large families due to my own experiences.

Some of you may not like Fleur and Harry having a lot of kids but large families' stories are sort of my thing more or less now.

But each and everyone will have a purpose and something unique about them and I'm sure you will still like the story.

I have never written anything without a purpose to it.