Here's a little plot bunny that I hope will stay in its cage.

This should be fairly short one. I plan to have chapters covering their attempts to convert their family and friends, and then, perhaps later add a chapter with the post-election responses of the characters.

1.

On October 30, 2020, Elizabeth Bennet-Darcy yawned and stretched a bit from her spot on the couch where she was nursing a steaming cup of coffee, with lots of cream and sugar which her husband, Will Darcy, had made for her. It was nearly 9:30 a.m., but she didn't feel nearly ready to face the day. Doing grad school from home had not been good for her motivation or her staying on a study schedule. She was still in her teal sleep t-shirt over which was wrapped a heavy red robe, with her legs tucked under the robe on the couch. She was watching the news as an analyst walked through potential scenarios of how Trump or Biden could get to the magic number of 270 electoral votes and victory.

Her husband, Will Darcy, came into the living room with his own mug of coffee in a smiley-face mug and sat down beside her. He grabbed a coaster and put his mug down before retrieving a coaster and placing within reach of Elizabeth, in the hope that she would use it when she set her own cup down. He had been working from home typically four days per week, but he was already showered, shaved and his hair carefully combed. He was dressed in semi-professional clothing, dark slacks and a button up grey shirt (but he had forgone the tie and coat). He leaned toward her and gave her a little kiss on the cheek. "Love you," he whispered before sitting back and noticing what was on the TV.

"Not MSNBC again!" Will complained, the space between his brows forming a couple of wrinkles. Elizabeth had been watching more and more 24 hour news in the past few days and it was getting on his nerves, especially since she never wanted to watch the channel he preferred. "They are so biased against Trump," he told her, then asking, "Can't you watch something else?"

"Like what?" Elizabeth asked, mostly rhetorically. She fished out a curl that was trapped against her neck by the robe. Her hair was rumpled and tangled as she had not yet tamed it. Will loved her hair like this as he was the only one he got to see it that way. "You want me to turn on Fox News instead? Like they're not Trump's biggest fans?"

"How about no news at all? I'll take anything else, HGTV, a documentary, Netflix, hell even an infomercial about some weird kitchen gadget that I will never buy, like the nuwave, an air fryer or the spicy shelf. I am so ready for this election to be over."

"It is research," Lizzy responded. "Don't you remember? I told you that today and tomorrow I was going to try to make sure my friends and family are turning out to vote for Biden."

"Another Facebook rant about how evil Trump is?" He asked, rolling his eyes a bit. "You know that no one really changes anyone else's mind that way."

"No, I'm getting together with Jane and then my other sisters later, maybe my parents, too, and also making some calls. I hope to meet Charlotte for lunch tomorrow. I am sure I can get Jane and Charlotte to see things my way."

"Huh," Darcy considered. "Since I don't want your guy to win, maybe I will make some efforts myself to oppose the Washington politics machine."

"I bet I can convince more people to vote for Biden than you can for Trump," Elizabeth offered.

"You are on," Will responded. "But first let's make a list to make it fair. We each get to talk to the same number of people."

At the end of their conversation, Will and Elizabeth had assembled a list and assigned names, along with marking who they thought each person might favor.

Elizabeth

Jane Bingley - ?

Mary Bennet - Trump

Kit Bennet - ?

Lydia Bennet - ?

Lottie Collins - Biden

Fannie Bennet - Biden

Tom Bennet - Biden

Will

Rick Fitzwilliam - Trump

Cathy de Bourgh - ?

Anne de Bourgh - ?

Bill Collins - whomever Cathy wants

Chuck Bingley - Biden

Caroline Bingley - ?

Lou Hurst - ?

Will complained, "I have was still the worst list of the two. Why should I have to convince your cousin, Bill?"

"Would you rather have George Wickham?" Lizzy teased.

"I suppose not. But I don't think he votes; there is no profit in it."

"And anyway," Lizzy added, "Bill likes you better than me."

"Only because he's a suck up and thinks that's the way to get me to donate to his charity, like my aunt keeps doing. So how is this supposed to work?" Will asked. "We might be wrong about who someone supports and someone who we think is undecided might really favor one candidate over another. That person might have even voted already."

"Tell you what," Elizabeth proposed, "why don't we ask the person at the beginning where they fall, write that down and see if we can change anyone's mind." She quickly made a chart:

Before/After

Trump

Leans Trump

Undecided

Leans Biden

Biden

3rd Party Candidate

"If you can move someone closer to your candidate, 1 point for each spot over."

Will questioned, "Do you really think we can get a before or after that is objective. The shy Trump voter is a real phenomenon."

"Don't you think if they are already on your side that they'll tell you?" Elizabeth asked. "I bet Caroline will like any candidate you do."

"She doesn't try to please me nearly as much since we got married. She's pretty much given up."

"Well, I should hope so," Lizzy replied, snuggling into his side. "If having opposing political views wasn't enough to keep us from falling in love and getting married, no ordinary trouble will mess us up."

"Agreed," Will said, kissing her nose. He drew back a bit and commented, "Now any bet requires a wager. What should the stakes be?"

Elizabeth said, "That's easy. When I win, you're going to wear a Biden t-shirt and post it on Facebook and Tweet it. I can imagine the caption now. 'My lovely wife is right; Biden is going to win it all.'" She smirked.

"And if I win, you agree to wear my red MAGA hat for pictures and I get to write your words?

Elizabeth shuddered, not at all excited at the thought of having to wear a Make America Great Again hat. But fair was fair. "Okay, but it's never going to happen. And no mentioning the bet; I don't want anyone pretending to change just to help you win."

Elizabeth thought Jane would be an easy sell. They met for a walk outside. Although some of the leaves had fallen, there was a good bit of fall color and crunchy leaves under their feet. It was crisp so they were bundled up. Each woman was wearing a mask. Jane's was a cotton mask with a print of of a mix of flowers, while Elizabeth's was a practical, stretchy black.

While Elizabeth knew that Jane always wanted to think the best of both candidates, Elizabeth reasoned that because her sister loved her that Elizabeth's opinion would count for something. However, after a half an hour conversation, with Elizabeth making the best arguments she could, Jane was still undecided, explaining, "Biden and Trump are both good guys; they both want what is best for our nation."

"Yes, perhaps, but Trump's ideas cause real harm," Elizabeth responded. "Even if you think they both mean well, Trump is tearing this nation apart, appealing to white supremacists and all."

"Lizzy," Jane said patiently, "he's condemned white supremacists over and over. Yet people keep asking him. It is really not fair of them."

"Then what about Trump's handling of the virus! We are going through another spike and his supporters aren't wearing masks. A national mask mandate like Biden wants might save lives."

"This virus was a new thing. Trump is hardly to blame for that, and personal liberty is important. People who are vulnerable can stay away from everyone. He was focused on getting ventilators and a vaccine at warp speed."

The more Jane responded, the more Elizabeth felt like she was pushing her sister toward Trump (or perhaps it was simply that her sister had always had more sympathy toward him than Elizabeth had thought and their conversation was revealing that). While Elizabeth just got more emotional with every tact she tried, Jane remained calm.

"I give up!" Lizzy moaned. "Will you at least think about what I've said about why you should vote for Biden?"

"Of course," Jane said.

Elizabeth changed the topic to whether Jane knew about any plans Chuck had made for their one-year wedding anniversary, which turned out to be a more pleasant topic of discussion. Jane revealed, "He says he's going to take me some place special, has got a plan all worked out. I can't wait!"

While the ladies were walking and talking, Will was having his own walk with Chuck Bingley around the walking trail in the opposite direction. Darcy wasn't wearing a mask but he kept his distance from Chuck. Chuck was wearing a mask, but had apologized for doing so, "It isn't that I think you might be sick, but Jane likes me to wear it." The last time Will had crossed paths with the women, Elizabeth barely gave him a nod. She looked flustered to him, while Jane was as serene as ever.

Will wasn't faring much better than Elizabeth. As he had suspected, Chuck admitted that he was leaning Biden's way. Chuck explained, "Biden just seems like the nicer guy. I want someone who will bring our country together."

"But what about the economy?" Will asked. "Trump can bring it all back. Did you hear about that third quarter growth, 33.1%? That's unheard of."

"But we aren't back to where we were before the pandemic." Chuck noted.

"Who is?" Will countered. "We are doing way better than Europe. And what about the fact that Biden wants to heavily tax people like you and me?"

"Maybe we should be taxed more. We've all profited from systemic racism." Chuck responded.

Will tried again, "But don't you see how that will kill the economy?"

"Biden will put all that money into good green jobs."

The more they talked, the clearer it became to Will that Chuck had his mind made up.