Chapter 29 -- The Summer of Life
In spite of all Dukov's efforts, the Party of the Duchy faced a huge obstacle countering the barrage of advertising on television. The TV ads were aimed at unsophisticated voters who were unaccustomed to seeing a well-organized television advertising campaign. As long as the ads stayed on track, it looked like the Greater Danubian Progressive Party would still win, although perhaps not by as large a margin as they would have liked.
At the end of the second week of November and only a week before the election, the foreign advisors of the Greater Danubian Progressive Party made a mistake that cost their candidates any chance whatsoever of winning. It was a miscalculation that political scientists would analyze for years as a case study for failed political consulting. The consultants decided to target Vladim Dukov's son in personal attacks, and in doing so turned a likely electoral victory into certain electoral defeat.
The foreign advisors were elated when they found out about Vladik Dukov's public penance. They abandoned their attacks against Vladim Dukov's past and instead decided to concentrate on humiliating Vladik. They filmed him as he walked naked around the music store complex with blueprints in his hand and a collar around his neck. There was public discussion of the shame he had brought upon Vladim Dukov and on the police department. There was an ugly incident at the music store, as a couple of reporters aggressively approached a terrified Tiffany Walker as she was working at a cash register. The store's owner, Vladik, and five naked male employees confronted the reporters, broke their cameras, and threw them out the door.
Reporters contracted by the foreign advisors then tracked down both Vladik's ex-fiancée and his ex-boss, demanding to know why he had resigned and why he no longer was engaged. Both the woman and the police official were incensed at having rogue reporters approach them about someone else's personal issues. Vladik's ex-fiancée, in particular, was furious that any reporter would be interested in what she considered a private matter. She was a hard and proud woman who would never forgive him for what he had done to their relationship, but she considered the matter closed when he resigned from the National Police. The use of their personal problems to further a political campaign was an attack on not just his honor, but also hers. It was a violation of the most basic Danubian value about the sanctity of personal relationships. Such people had no right to win an election.
She approached Vladik's ex-boss to discuss the inquiries. It turned out he was equally incensed, for very similar reasons. Officer Vladik Dukov had resigned to protect other people in the National Police. He had resigned honorably. The matter was closed as far as the National Police was concerned and not open to further discussion. Vladik's Section Chief suggested that he and the young woman jointly file an official complaint with the High Priest at the Temple of the Ancients.
The High Priest gladly accepted the complaint, because it gave him justification to take action. The clergy already had been offended that public penance, which was a personal matter between the priest and the sinner, would become a political campaign issue. Maybe such things are acceptable elsewhere, but not in Upper Danubia. As the sun set behind the National Cathedral, the High Priest, surrounded by other members of the Clergy, issued an official condemnation of the entire campaign of the Greater Danubian Progressive Party. He considered an attack on penance as an attack on the Church itself and on the fundamental concept of personal redemption.
The Church condemnation handed the election to Vladim Dukov and the Party of the Duchy. A condemnation was a very serious matter for many voters, especially among the rural constituents the Greater Danubian Progressive Party needed to win the election. It took the foreign advisors several days to understand how seriously their campaign targeting Vladik Dukov's penance had offended traditional Danubian values. The Danubian press also turned against the "Progressives", its traditional journalists angered by the strategy of using rogue reporters to promote personal attacks. Maybe such things were acceptable in other countries, but not in the Duchy.
Vladim Dukov already sounded like a Prime Minister in the final televised debate with his opponent. Rather than try to critique his opponent's campaign, the ex-Spokesman again took the opportunity to lay out his plans for the future. He made it clear the Party of the Duchy under him would be very different from the Party of the Duchy that had existed since World War II.
Following the debate, "Socrates' Mistresses" performed the final concert of the campaign in the Plaza of the Ancients. In spite of Dukov's likely victory the next day, the group was neither proud nor triumphant. Instead they were very reflective and somber, realizing the seriousness of the new phase in Dukov's life and the professional sacrifices they needed to make to assist his campaign. Eloisa sang in her usual forlorn manner. However, for the night's final song, she stepped back and turned the lead microphone over to Kim. To the surprise of the audience, Kim did not perform her favorite song, "The wall that divides my soul", but instead the English rendition of "A question I cannot answer".
The election held the following day was a rout for the "Progressives". Not even their most pessimistic advisors for could have dreamt the party would come in third, losing not only to the Party of the Duchy, but also to the coalition of dissidents. Vladim Dukov's party won 58% of the popular vote, leaving him in complete control of the next Cabinet. The humiliation for the foreign political consultants was absolute. They quickly checked out of their hotel rooms and were out of the country even before the official vote was completely counted.
Dukov's victory speech was low-key. He gave thanks to his supporters, to the members of "Socrates' Mistresses", and to the owners of the Socrates Club and the city's various music stores. He then thanked the people he had worked with over the years: Spokesman Havlakt and his other co-workers, various judges and top police officials, and the leaders of the Party of the Duchy who had placed faith in him. Finally, he thanked his own Spokesman and university professors from many years before, the people who had helped him focus his frustrated political energies into his future career with the Danubian court system.
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Tiffany viewed Dukov's victory with very mixed emotions. On the one hand she was glad to see him elected, but on the other hand Dukov's win frightened her because she couldn't see how Vladik would want to stay with her now that he was the son of the country's Prime Minister. However, the morning after the election Vladik Dukov had a huge surprise for Tiffany. He invited her to go with him to see his father's swearing in ceremony.
In spite of their friendship, Tiffany was stunned that Vladik wanted to be seen with her at such a public event. At first he justified the invitation by arguing he felt very uneasy having to appear collared and naked in public by himself, and her presence would make him look not so much out of place. Vladik then checked himself. That wasn't the reason. He wanted her to go with him...well, because he wanted her to go with him. Maybe this time, with Tiffany, he could simply tell the truth. He struggled to express himself in English:
"Deevonay, I say you come with me, because I want. That why you come. I feel myself good when you with me, so you come please?"
"You...like...really want me to come? You're really not...like...ashamed to be with me?"
"Why I shame, Deevonay? I no better you." Vladik struggled to find the words to express himself, a task twice as hard because of his limited English vocabulary. Finally he faced her with the truth "Deevonay, you, me, we...we two start new. You no drug no more, I no police no more. We live life new. That what priest say, that why I wear collar. Kimberly, she say, maybe good thing I no police no more, because I no worry no more...no worry about the other people. Only think me happy, no other people. And Kimberly say, and I know true, I look at woman...I look at you, Deevonay...and I think...maybe you the right woman...."
