Thanks Hayley and Hannah for this speech. It rocks, guys.

I would like to make this my tribute to the victims of the shooting in Germany. My thoughts today are with the families of the dead.

Denver, Colorado, the Democratic National Convention...

"Five minutes then you're on, Senator." Josh had just finished reading Fullers' adapted speech. "You really don't want to say this. We're lagging anyway, without this. You'll not make it better? You'll just remind everyone that you want to get rid of legal civilian firearms."

Fuller ignored him. "Do you think we could get them to play that ad before I go out? Donna..."

As Simon walked off after Donna, Josh yelled.

"Donna, don't do anything he tells you."

As it turned out Simon did get his way, the abortion smear ad was shown as he walked out for his speech.

"I'm sure all of you are aware that my approval ratings have dropped this past week. Mainly due to the after effects of this," He pointed over his shoulder at the screen. "You'll have probably seen in the paper some things I wrote when I was younger. A lot of people have asked me if I still stand by what I said. Well, I want to tell you a story.

On the 2nd of May 1977, two boys were born. Twin brothers, people often said they had never seen siblings so close. They played together in their back yard; learnt musical instruments and took part in sports. Even as they grew older, the two never grew apart. They were walking home one night when they were 16 years old and they were met by a group of young men who were armed legally. These men had a problem with one of the twins being gay, and his brother stepped forward to defend him. It was on that night that that boy, that man, died to protect his twin. This is not a distant issue. This is not political rhetoric. It was on that night my brother died for me.

A lot of people have asked me if I still want to ban guns. Here's my answer: - Yes. Yes I do. And no, this is not an impartial opinion. Yes, it's personal. It's very personal. He was my brother.

Some of you will know my campaign manager, Josh Lyman. It will not surprise those of you who have met him to hear that he told me if I did this I'd be throwing away the election. He's a smart man, and he's right about a lot of things, but I think he's wrong this. I hope he's wrong about this. I hope the American people understand that there's no way I would not want rid of the weapons that killed my brother. I hope they understand that there's a line between freedom and mass murder. I hope they understand that I'm drawing it here. I hope they vote for me in spite of that. I hope they vote for me because of that.

And I have a proposition to put to the Americans who want guns as long as criminals have them; let's take them off the criminals. Let's work so that you can feel safe in your own homes. We're already trying? Well then; let's try harder. Let's try harder to stop people being killed because of religion, or race, or who they love. Let's try harder to stop the murders. Let's start by getting rid of the weapons that have the trigger to pull.

It might take a while. It might take four years. It might take eight. But this is not something I will back down on. This is not something I will allow to rest until the day I can visit my brother's grave knowing no one else in America will die the way he did. I don't think anyone can disagree with that.

I've told some people this before. These people have gone on to call me a hypocrite. Why? Because I'm pro-choice. They believe that abortion is mass murder. I don't. At the point a foetus can be aborted it is not scientifically considered a person. We must think of the rights of people. We must think about the women with careers who don't have the time for a child or even a pregnancy. The teenage girls who are trying to get good grades. The traumatised rape victims who couldn't psychologically cope with bearing a child. The women living in poverty who don't want to have a child in their situation. A woman has a right to choose. I believe that.

I don't believe in a supreme being or an afterlife. But there are still many things I do believe in. So I'm disappointed that people dislike my lack of a faith. I'm trying to think when I've said that people shouldn't be religious. I'm trying desperately but I can't, because I never said that. I accept people of all religions. All I ask is that they accept me too.

I ask that they accept my beliefs, even if they don't share them. I ask that they accept my sexuality. I ask that they never say I'm worth less than they are. I've heard it before. Gordon's heard it before. Samuel heard it, and he wasn't even gay. Just being my brother made him as bad as I am in these homophobe's eyes. We all have the right to equality. I ask for that.

And I ask for hope. I ask for hope and belief. I ask you to believe that we don't need to compromise. I ask you to believe that we can make our police force, our schools, our healthcare, our social services, and our economy better at the same time. I ask you to believe that there is always room for improvement, and that that improvement is always possible. I ask you never to give up on making things better. I ask you to believe in me, in my ability to lead this great country, the United States of America."

A cheer went up, starting as a slow rumble and escalating to a rabble, a thunderous noise that was heard a mile away.

*

Josh opened the wrapped present from Annabeth, just so he could do something with his hands as he nervously awaited the news follow-up to the speech. As a toupee fell into his hands he smiled, completely oblivious to what was in his hands. "YES! YES! YES!"

He quickly glanced around, checking no one had seen. They couldn't get their hopes up until the votes came through.

And that's a cliff hanger. No UD's for a while. I need to concentrate on finishing my other stories before my exams, then I will concentrate solely on this. Keep voting on my poll. A couple of months and you might get Chapter 6 and the Vice Pres. result.