Tom was next. Matt winced when he began his speech with an off-color joke about how these debates were a little like his wife—no matter how logical you were, you could never really win—and then proceeded to explain to the audience that he wasn’t going to talk about taxes and program cuts, but how to strengthen the economy. Matt braced himself. Surprisingly, Tom had a couple of realistic things to say and had gotten much more articulate on his plan for economic growth: the superhighway, with a major gas pipeline running underneath, from Dallas–Ft. Worth to Mexico, all five hundred some-odd miles. This, Tom argued, would provide jobs and a new high-speed route for commerce around an already congested traffic corridor.
Of course Matt knew Tom was a proponent, but what surprised him was that his speech was suspiciously articulate, full of facts, and so unlike Tom that Matt had to wonder how he’d done it. He looked at Gilbert standing off to the side, noticed the look of shock on his face, too, which bolstered his feeling that something wasn’t quite right. And as he sat in stunned amazement as Tom actually argued—with percentages—for economic growth, Rebecca tapped him on the arm.
Matt turned slightly. She was holding up a thin magazine to him; he could see her manicured finger jabbing at something he was to look at. He took the magazine, glanced at the front—Southwest Region Engineering and Construction—and then the article Rebecca was so rabid for him to see. It was entitled “The Superhighway Gas Pipeline—Boon or Bust?” Granted, it was dark, and he couldn’t read all of the fine print, but he understood what had excited her: Tom’s speech advocating the superhighway was almost identical to that article.
At least it explained Tom’s sudden articulation.
As Matt was trying to scan the fine print, Tom finished his remarks by telling the audience he was the best man for the job and to vote for him in November. He got a fair amount of applause as he took his seat and the next candidate, Russ Erwin was introduced. Matt looked up, saw a lanky cowboy in jeans, blue blazer, and boots saunter to the podium, and had an image of him sitting on a split rail fence, spitting tobacco as he watched the ranch hands work the cattle. The man casually put one hand on the podium, one in his pocket, and said, “Hello, folks. My name is Russ Erwin and I am running for lieutenant governor.”
It was easy to see, Matt thought as the man talked, why Rebecca was taken with him. He had a down-home folksy manner about him that was appealing. He talked a little about government, how he didn’t need any more of it in his life, a point with which no one could disagree. He talked about how he had gotten into this race because he couldn’t find a government agency in all that huge bureaucracy that could help him, and he didn’t think that was right, either. And how he was all for economic development, but that a superhighway and gas pipeline would displace ranchers—and he reminded the audience that Texas was built on ranching. He said the plan for the highway and pipeline was short-sighted in its economic thinking. The jobs would be around temporarily, and then what?
By the time Russ Erwin finished his speech, Matt was impressed. And wondering, like Tom had earlier, if there was something in Erwin’s background that could derail his plain look and plain talk. Because it was a dangerously successful look and talk.
That night, after they had dropped Pat and Angie (having listened to Pat gripe about the seating, the lighting, and the fact that she couldn’t hear anything) and were driving back to his place, Rebecca playfully poked him in the ribs. “Well?”
“Well, what?”
“Did you look at the magazine?”
“Yes.”
“Well?”
Matt laughed. “What is it you want me to say?”
“I want you to say that it’s odd Tom was making a speech that was almost identical to that article.”
“Okay, Tom’s speech was almost identical to that article.”
“And?” she asked, sparing another look at him.
“And what?”
“Matt! Don’t you think it’s a little strange Tom is spouting almost word for word what some huge construction and engineering firm says are the benefits of this superhighway and pipeline?”
“I don’t think it’s uncommon to take information from a variety of sources.”
“Okay. Then don’t you think it’s a little strange that Tom is suddenly taking information from anyone? I mean, you are the one who was so adamant he shore up his platform, and he wouldn’t do it.”
Matt had to agree—that was a little strange. “He’s probably one of those candidates who glad-hands for money first, and then decides what he’s going to say,” he said, voicing his thoughts aloud. “He’s a procrastinator.”
“A procrastinator?” Rebecca laughed. “Is he that, or someone who stands to make a lot of money on the highway deal?”
That observation startled Matt so completely that he jerked his gaze to her. “What are you implying?”
“Just what you think I am implying. That Tom stands to gain a lot from engineers and construction firms if he’s elected and sees that highway project through.”
She spoke so matter-of-factly. “Do you know what you are saying?”
She rolled her eyes. “Yes,” she said forcefully. “Do you think I speak without understanding my own words?”