I'm quick. Please vot on my poll, Emily go watch some West Wing clips of those characters and vote too. ;p

"Hey there. Um, Apparently I as meant to have come forth earlier to make sure y'all knew about the nature of the relationship between Simon and myself." Gordon in a highly secretive manner put his hand to his mouth and whispered loudly. "Don't tell anyone about twelve years of Gay Pride.

"Nah,, but honestly, I'm sorry if people hadn't realised that Simon's sexuality would affect their vote. I'm sorry if any of you here think that it would affect his ability to be a good and true President. C'mon, we're all human, aren't we? We all breathe the same air. We all have pulses. We, mainly have two eyes, two ears, two arms and two legs. We are all, in my belief, of intelligent design, with intelligence given to us. Again that's mainly, living exception standing right before you... That was a joke by the way."

A ripple of laughter passed over the crowd.

"That'll do, I suppose. It is," he paused. Josh groaned, he hated working with actors. "Saddening that there are people in this world who are so hateful of others because of something that cannot be changed. That they don't wish to change.

"When animals aren't blinded by discrimination and hate, the 'wrongness' of things they don't understand, why are we? We call them beasts; when in reality can't our own actions towards one another be described as beastly? ... Gruesome? ... Wrong? If an animal with half our brain capacity understands that discrimination isn't required, why can't we?"

A reporter raised his pencil in the air. "Mr Peters. Surely an animal is not the best example. A mother will abandon the weakest of her offspring to die. In a pack the weakest will be bullied, the last to eat, etcetera."

"Surely, Rob, you're not suggesting gays are the weakest in the pack?"

"You know what I mean, Gordon."

Gordon jumped down from the podium and worked his way through the sea of reporters and public. When he reached Robert Frost of The Washington Times, he whispered something in his ear, causing a great look of discomfort to appear on the man's face. He waded back to the podium and smiled. "I was just reminding Robert of our days back in Massachusetts. Any more questions?"

*

Donna met Gordon as he stepped down from the podium. "What did you say to that man?"

Gordon was about to give his signature grin and say something cocky, then his face fell and soberly he stated. "Robert Frost once caused me so much distress that I tried to commit suicide."

"Oh my god. How old were you?"

"Thirteen. A year before..."

He trailed off and from his face Donna had the sense not to pursue the matter. "So, when do you go back to work?"

Gordon smiled gratefully. "Three weeks. We're going to be doing The Apple Tree. The rehearsals start in three weeks, at least."

*

Governor Ray Sullivan was in a good mood. His approval ratings were sky high, he was almost guaranteed the as the Republican candidate. And he had narrowed his Vice-President choice down to the one person he wanted. He walked beside his campaign manager Allan Crowe. They turned into the office of the woman they wanted. A blonde woman stood up to greet him.

"Governor Sullivan, what do I owe the pleasure to?"

"Ray. Ms. Hayes, I want to put a request to you. As you probably know I've basically been guaranteed as the candidate for President, so I'm considering my Vice President, and, to cut to the chase, I want you to join me. Sullivan-Hayes Campaign, how does it sound?"

"I'm flattered, Governor, but I don't think..."

"I'm begging you here, to help me gain back the White House. I'm asking you to help me make a difference. What do you say?"

"I really don't..."

Ray got to his feet, Crowe followed suite, "Sleep on it. I need to know tomorrow, though."

Crowe nodded. "Thank you for your time."

*

Fuller and Josh swore simultaneously, as they read the report. Ainsley Hayes had accepted Ray Sullivan, if he won the nomination, she would be his running mate.

Fuller needed to win the nomination; Congressman Beaton wouldn't stand a chance against Sullivan-Hayes.