Thanks once again to HarmonyLover and chai4anne, and to everyone who has read and/or reviewed this. I hope you enjoyed it!
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"Please welcome the Democratic nominee for President of the United States, Matthew Vincente Santos!"
Josh smiled and wrapped an arm around Donna's waist. They stood backstage and watched as Matt strode out onto the stage, thunderous cheers filling the convention hall.
"Who'd have thought back in Iowa and New Hampshire that we'd actually make it here?" Josh commented, shaking his head.
It had been quite a journey. The plane crash had turned out to be the major turning point in the primary. The defections of Donna and Will to the Santos campaign had helped Santos largely solidify the bump in the polls he'd received following the crash. And the Vice President's campaign had faltered. Even with the charges against Donna dismissed, questions about what had happened in that hotel room had lingered. Will's resignation had intensified speculation that, at the very least, Bob Russell had been running a profoundly dysfunctional campaign. Russell's appointment of Harold Saunders as campaign manager had been spun as cynical, and the bruising attacks Saunders was known for had turned out to be much more effective coming from 527s with no accountability for their tactics than when they actually had to go out under the candidate's name.
Russell had formally stayed in the race until after Super Tuesday, but by that point he'd already been firmly relegated to second-tier status. The race had looked like it was going to be a tight two-way contest between Santos and Hoynes, until Hoynes had been brought down by accusations of sexual misconduct with a former Senate staffer. From then on, there had been no looking back. Matt Santos had been the presumptive nominee.
"You thought so," Donna reminded Josh. "You knew all along he could make it. That's why you did all this."
"I thought he could make it. I didn't know for sure he would. Believe me, there were times when I wasn't sure how we'd get through the next week, let alone get the nomination." He sighed. "And it's not over yet. Now we have to beat Arnold Vinick. Think we can really pull that off?"
"Yes, I do." She smiled and kissed him. She glanced down at her left hand, her eyes resting on the gorgeous diamond ring she now wore. She was still getting used to the feel of it on her finger. Josh had proposed to her over a romantic dinner the night before. It hadn't been a complete surprise – he wasn't all that good at keeping a secret – but happy tears still filled her eyes whenever she thought about it. The wedding had been tentatively set for late November, when presumably they'd either be preparing for jobs in the Santos administration, or else – God forbid – trying to figure out what their lives and careers would look like once there was no longer a Democrat in the White House.
Whatever the future held, at least they'd be facing it together.