Author's Note: A sidestep from the politics of the council to the election candidates, their outlooks and what they think of each other. A more personal kind of politics than the rest of the story so far.

….

Candidates

"We're going to stress your leadership experience, in Thirteen, where, as we both know, running a tight ship is essential, and on the council, particularly your role in bringing the Canadians into discussions about the food supply. In this turbulent time, your experience and steadying hand can provide stability. That is a key message."

"So, I'm looking to provide reassurance, Connolly? I had been thinking more of strength, someone at ease with the responsibilities of power."

"Reassurance and experience, Silver. Someone with the knowledge and connections to make the transition to democracy as smooth as possible. Speaking of which, you are going to need a timeframe. When you expect to hold elections for district leaders, when to elect a wider legislative body. You know Paylor is going to promise to be the President who delivers real power to the people, and you need to offer that too, as well as highlighting your suitability to deliver."

"What do you make of Montgomery's chances? We're probably going to split the vote at home and not winning in my own birthplace would not be a great sign."

Connolly laughed, "After what you told me about his performance the other day? People on that council have a wide influence at home. You don't think the victors went and told their connections that he would not be suitable, that Isabella has not spoken of his ability to provoke conflict? Four's man would have said the same and they don't seem to do that kind of conflict in Four, they are united. They've all spread the word, even if inadvertently. His ideas will polarise people and that will not appeal right now. I've been doing lots of work on the ground. Vengeance is not the priority; his type of swift 'justice' does not represent the improvements that people want in their lives."

"And that is what we need to offer them. The chance to make more of their own decisions, to go to work safely and have a good home to return to. Simple things, in theory, that are going to take a lot of work."

"Exactly. So, you need to address the nature of the challenge, but tell people how you're going to make a change."

"Understood. Oh, to think I thought I was going to walk into that office that day and find myself President and look where we are! I can't underestimate the other candidates either. What do you think about Lucinda?"

"Yes, the last minute, surprise candidate. Five's council representative. I understand she is trying to present herself as a woman of the people, not dissimilar to Paylor, but one used to work in higher-level positions, as she has done in Five. She will take votes from Paylor first and foremost, but Paylor is far more established in the minds of the public. They recognise her, and that will count for a lot. But Lucinda is competent, very knowledgeable and has certainly helped a great deal on the council. You would do well to keep her around if you win."

"Do you think I will win?" Silver asked.

"Too early to say. You have an interview, various events and the debate to get through."

….

"Ma,

I'm sure you're wondering what in Panem I'm doing. I'm sorry I couldn't let you know before the news broke but I couldn't get to a phone in time with so many people around and then all of a sudden, my candidacy was on the news.

So, it's official, I'm standing in the presidential election, and I know you'll be wondering why. I know you were worried about me going to the Capitol but at the moment it's not all bad. I mean it's cramped; I'm sharing a room and facilities with more people than I ever have at home and there is never any time for yourself, but everyone is trying to make things work.

But I've been thinking it over. You'll have seen and heard of the other candidates of course and I've decided that if they can stand then I can too. I have ideas. I care about Five and don't want us to be ignored and I think I can appeal to people from the districts, especially those who have found themselves in the middle as we have.

We were never poor, we all had good work, but we were never rich either. Now it seems you either had to have been a factory labourer, agricultural worker or miner, in which case everyone wants to hear from you, or a Capitol-supporting landowner, in which case, everybody wants to ignore you or arrest you. Neither of those positions seems quite right, and neither fit us and there will be other people like us.

Kersey Paylor is good, and people like her. They know her, and in all honesty, I think she might win. But she can't speak for us, and people need to know that there was more than one 'district' experience. The Thirteens, well, I trust neither, and I think that feeling is shared across the council. Montgomery can't win and it will be dreadful if he does. All he seems to do is cause arguments. Silver certainly wants the presidency, he has thought it should be his all along, but he has come round to the idea of elections and definitely views us as equals more than Montgomery does. So, if it had to be a Thirteen, Silver wouldn't be that bad, although his friend, Connolly is the easiest to work with. He understands the most.

Now, Colonel Lon, he is a man with an ego and an over-inflated sense of his own importance. Nobody even thinks he will win Two. Yes, he will get votes in the mountains near the Capitol, a few more here and there and definitely some in the Capitol. But find me anyone in Eight or Eleven who will vote for him. Hopefully, once this is over, he will go back to Two and keep quiet.

Nobody knows what to make of our Capitol-born candidate. Apparently, there were lots of meetings and an agreement that the city representing over a third of the population needs a candidate, which in all fairness, I agree with. But she doesn't seem all that bad does Ophelia. I think she was quite high up in their main university. People seem to respect her, and she is sensibly putting a distance between her and the old regime and distinguishing the more ordinary Capitol folk from the worst.

But I should be able to account for myself quite well and Five too, I hope. Everyone is in need of power so our people will be in demand for some time, and it seems as if we will be able to share our skillset and the burden of powering the nation with others who want to learn. Outside of Five's interests, I'm keen to push expanding education and resources for small, family businesses. I want a fair redistribution of whatever the Capitol is hoarding and for people like us to not be ignored because we perhaps had it easier than many.

I promise to get to the phone more often so we can talk. I know you will still have lots of questions. It will be busy, but I'll make time for you.

All my love,

Lucinda.

….

"General Law, what are my numbers looking like?"

"Well, home seems to be split fairly evenly between you and General Silver. You look like you might pick up a few votes from the Twelves, but I don't know yet whether it will be enough to pick up the district in the voting. You have somewhat of a backing in Eleven, although Paylor looks set to do very, very well there. Two looks like somewhere you can make ground too, they won't all go for that Colonel Lon idiot."

"It's not enough," Montgomery snapped.

"Not yet, but there is still time. And with the big events to come too. You just need to prepare."

"Honestly, I wasn't expecting all of this. Plutarch Heavensbee and his silly Capitol ideas. A televised debate, interviews, press events in the districts over the next two weeks. And when there is so much to do and over half of the candidates are on the council. I said the timing was wrong, but I was outvoted and here we are."

"But here we are. You have work to do for these events. We need to think about how you put forward your ideas. Now, I have heard what people have said about your ability to encourage discussions, shall we say, and whilst I believe you are making entirely valid, sensible points, a conciliatory approach is always going to look better."

"Law, me keeping quiet is not going to help."

"I'm not asking you to keep quiet. Just to think about how you come across in front of the public, how you phrase what you say. Instead of 'turning the tables on the Capitol', how about focussing on a robust system created to right wrongs?"

"We all know who was responsible for the wrongdoing."

"Our side didn't keep its hands clean throughout either. We will need to address the grievances of those who suffered at our hands too."

"The districts should be put first."

"You can always speak about promoting district interests. But the Capitol make up a huge part of the population and whilst you and I know you won't win there, they can't feel threatened or ignored. You don't need to change your ideas per se, it's about how you come across in front of the masses."

"We never had this nonsense in Thirteen," General Montgomery sighed.

"It's a new world, a new Panem," General Law laughed.

….

Discussions and meetings across the council had concluded and their own election candidate had been decided. Ophelia Magnusson, a director, and former history professor at the Capitol University of Panem had been selected as a new face for the city, the one to lead in rehabilitating their image.

"I thank you all for your trust in me. It is important that we are represented, and I feel honoured to have been chosen. The Capitol is home to over one-third of the population of Panem and our exclusion from this election would have been a disservice.

A disservice to the great majority of working people in this city. People who had no involvement with the wrongs of the old regime. Those who strived to live well and got on with their lives the best they could.

I have spent much of my time in the university, a real asset to this city and soon, to the whole country, I hope. A place that has given us scientists, authors, successful businesspeople and so many more. Now I cannot pretend that it was perfect, but in this new Panem, we, like the rest of the country should have the opportunity to make improvements.

The Capitol's voice will be heard and people across Panem will discover what, and who the Capitol is. So many of us are workers too and whilst for so many, it may have been an easier life, it was still a life under a dictatorship. There was still fear, the consequences were real, and we too were turned against one another.

But it is time to turn the page, to not linger on the past and move forward, together, as one nation. A nation that includes its Capitol. The Capitol working with and not against the districts.

And I believe I can be the person to do that, the one to bridge the divide, to make us understand one another. To bring the experience of leadership, knowledge of the ways in which the country has worked, but with a desire to bring people together and improve all our of lives.

Your trust in me is welcome and your faith will not be misplaced. I will deliver for the good people of the Capitol, bring us into this nation and work with the districts to make us a united Panem.

Thank you."

….

It was not looking good for Colonel Lon. He was still in contention to win the vote in Two, but that was not going to be as cut and dry as he had hoped. Two had done well under the old system, its people had the most to lose and he still could not understand why so many had embraced the chaos and instability that the rebels had brought.

Two had been proud, and now it was divided. Neighbour had turned on neighbour and families were torn apart. This was not the Two he recognised, and he wanted his home back. He was going to drag Two back to where it should be, and he had hoped to take everyone with him. Two had been successful, most of its people were in decent work which paid them enough to feed their families and now people were out of work, bereaved, injured, and confused.

He did not think that Commander Hadrian was the answer, in fact, he knew he was not. He had been one of Lyme's men, not a leader. He allowed himself and his men to have their heads turned by the most disloyal victor there was and that was a sign of weakness.

It was weakness he saw in the other candidates too. The district women had no idea what leadership was. They had successes during the war but little else that really mattered. The Thirteens would divide their home and neither of them knew very much about the districts or the Capitol which to him, meant they were entirely unsuitable. Ophelia, the Capitol candidate, was a problem. He had hoped to do well in the Capitol, but she was starting to make inroads into his vote base with her talk of reconciliation and inclusion, putting the Capitol's real strengths at the heart of the new Panem.

But the Capitol's real strength was its might, its guiding hand and the stability it provided for seventy-five years. Its scientists and businesses were an extra, not the beating heart of what it meant to be from the Capitol. Nor did they matter to Two. Yes, they benefitted from advancements more than many of the other districts out of their loyalty, but the Capitol gave them work, resources and its trust.

Two was trusted to produce the great majority of Panem's peacekeepers and they were duly rewarded for their successes. Peacekeepers under Two's influence did not stray from their leaders, but so many others, those who had spent years in districts like Four, had turned their heads. In that respect, Two had let its leaders down. They needed to prove their loyalty to those who still held on, the rest of the country did too, and Colonel Lon wished to provide the new guiding hand, to steer the country back to stability and restore the old, reliable order.

….

"You have good ideas, a lot to tell the people, so just talk to them," Merino said.

"I know. But I've got to anticipate what the others are going to counter. They will focus on me being a former factory labourer and relatively uneducated in comparison," Paylor replied.

"And that won't land in the way they think it will. They'll indirectly insult most of the district population, suggesting that one of their own is not fit for leadership because of the circumstances they fought to break free from."

"That won't stop some of them making the point though."

"Maybe not," Merino conceded. "But you'll be on that stage with them anyway. Just address the point and move on. You have been an organiser for years, committed to district freedom and representation since you were fifteen. You have leadership experience of a kind none of the other candidates do. People can relate to you, and you can connect with them. You're familiar, people feel at ease hearing you speak. Nobody is going to relate to a General from Thirteen and certainly not someone from the Capitol."

"I've got to offer them something too. A friendly face won't be good enough."

"Kersey, you are going to be the President that gives power back to the people, across Panem, in the districts and the Capitol. There is a feasible plan to deliver this too, with a timeframe for district elections, for a wider legislative body. You are committed to making things better for people, bringing real change and they are going to see that. Giving people their fair share, improved housing, opportunities for education and re-training. People will like that."

"You know what the word is, you've kept up with our connections. Do you think I have a good chance?"

Merino laughed. "If I were you, I'd be starting to think about who I wanted with me in the Capitol, advisors and a Cabinet."

"That would be too overconfident. I am determined for this to work. For Eight, for the districts and for all of us who have put up with too much for too long. We deserve better. I don't want to lift people's spirits only to set them up for disappointment."

"You won't be doing. I can tell you Eight is a foregone conclusion. You'll win hands down. Ten and Eleven look good too. Beetee and Halley obviously won't be publicly supporting anyone, as is right in their position, but Three's Mayor likes you and he is universally popular at home right now. You'll win there. Cari and Sereia in Four are leading your supporters to the west, and nobody else appeals in the same way. Besides, if Mags had a choice, it would have been you. Poppy doesn't feel like public support for a candidate is right in her position, and I respect that, but Six is too similar to Eight for you to not do well. You only need two more territories and as far as I can tell, none of the other candidates is convincingly ahead in even two districts. Nobody who supports you will be let down."

"Then I have to deliver," Paylor replied.

"You have to deliver. But I trust you. Eight was tipping towards chaos for years and on the brink for months and you held it together until it was impossible. Nobody else would have done better. My kids and Cotton are alive and without Cecelia, it's the best I could have hoped for and that's because we trust you. You knew Eight would take heavy losses, but you weren't wasteful with people's lives, and you kept everything together as best you could until you were needed elsewhere."

"Are you sure you don't want to come to the Capitol? I could do with your positivity every so often. Now I just have Montgomery and his vengeance, Heavensbee and his bluster and the council's arguments. I did enjoy Halley putting Montgomery in his place though."

"Poppy told me. Well, Halley told her what he said and then Poppy told me. Cotton is staying hidden for now. I mean it's more hiding in plain sight but Eight aren't going to give her up. And no, Kersey, you've left me with too big a job to do here. I'm staying in Eight."

"That's probably for the best. If I do need to be thinking about advisors, it's best I don't surround myself with friends from Eight."

"Agreed. You know that's what both Thirteens would be planning right? And who knows about that Colonel Lon."

"Lon, I dread to think. But he does not even represent the majority of Two. Commander Hadrian is confident that he will lose and with the Capitol having their own candidate, he won't get the support he hoped for there. He will fade. As for the Thirteens, I can work with Silver. But whoever wins is going to have to balance their team carefully. There are lots of people to please, and to upset if you get it wrong. But I've got to win before I think too hard about that."