“That’s her official background, my friends and colleagues, but let me tell you a few things about this extraordinary woman you may not know,” Nukaga went on. “There are two sides to Secretary Barbeau. There is the fierce but caring advocate for green technology, the environment, actions to counter global warming, and carbon control. But she is equally strong and dedicated to the strength and responsible modernization of our military. No surprise, she is a strong voice for the Air Force, but is also a supporter of our country maintaining its leadership on the world’s oceans and of maintaining a force that stands ready to help other countries in time of need with rapid, sustained, and powerful yet compassionate humanitarian assistance. I know her as having a strong, caring, and dynamic personality, but she is undoubtedly someone Humphrey Bogart might have called a ‘classy broad.’?” Nukaga was relieved to get a peal of laughter and some applause for that line—it was one he would have deleted from the prepared introduction, if he had been allowed to do so.
“Stacy Anne Barbeau speaks five languages fluently. Stacy Anne is a scratch golfer. Stacy Anne knows Washington inside and out, but her roots and her heart are with the folks, you and me. Stacy Anne knows and cares about the U.S. military, the force that protects our nation and the free world, but Stacy Anne knows that the military is a force not just for war, but for defending those who cannot defend themselves.” Nukaga let his voice rise as he wound it up, and the growing applause from the audience helped tremendously—so much so that he found himself raising his arms and clenching his fists, something he thought he’d never do. “Stacy Anne Barbeau is a leader, a fighter, and a protector, and with our help and support, Stacy Anne Barbeau will be the next president of the United States of America!” Nukaga’s next words could not be heard because of the rumbling, ear-shattering standing ovation that erupted just then. “Ladies and gentlemen, friends and colleagues, please join me in welcoming the former secretary of state and the next president of the United States of America, Stacy Anne Barbeau!”
With a beaming smile and enthusiastic wave of both hands, Stacy Anne Barbeau strode onto the stage. She did something Stacy Anne Barbeau knew how to do with perfection: look professional, presidential, and seductive all at once. Her wavy blond hair and makeup were flawless; her dress was tight, which accentuated her curvaceous body without looking too trampy or obvious; her jewelry caught lots of attention, but just enough to make her look successful without looking flashy.
“Thank you, thank you, ladies and gentlemen!” Barbeau shouted into the microphone after she reached the lectern. She then recited her well-known and oft-repeated campaign motto in a very loud and Cajun-laced voice: “Let’s get the future started together, shall we?” The applause and shouting were deafening.
Barbeau stood silent at the podium until the shouting and applause died down, and then waited nearly an additional minute so that the audience was waiting for her words with breathless anticipation. Finally, she began: “My friends, as I begin I am going to deviate from my prepared remarks, because serious events have happened in the last several hours that I think you should know about.
“I’m sure you are all aware that I am not a big fan of President Kenneth Phoenix’s new so-called industrial space initiative,” she said. “I give the president all the credit in the world for flying up to the military space station to make his big announcement—despite costing the American taxpayer tens of millions of dollars for what turned out to be the planet’s most wasteful and unnecessary junket—but frankly, my friends, it’s all been downhill from there: relations with the Russians and many nations in Europe and Asia are at an all-time low and threatening to explode into diplomatic friction at best and a return to the Cold War at worst; the military no longer trusts the president because of all these looming wholesale cuts he plans to make to our proud military forces; the Russians have abandoned the International Space Station, and the European union and Japan are considering doing the same; and the economy is still in the tank four years after he came to office, this despite an austerity campaign that has seen entire cabinet-level departments nearly eliminated. Is this what we want to see continue for another four years?” The audience started chanting a familiar phrase, one that had been repeated over and over during Barbeau’s campaign: “Dites-moi la vérité now, Ken Phoenix, or get down from the car!” a mixture of Cajun and Creole expressions.