The Last Election Read Online Free PDF

return for her hand in marriage. He went on to explain that if she ever mentioned this proposal to anyone, her father would die and there would be no way for her to prove a word of what he had said. Out of love for her father, she grudgingly accepted the offer.  
    They were soon married. Bonsam was cold and unloving toward Raca and they never even consummated the marriage, but Bonsam kept her in a nice home and provided for her generously. He used his clout to get her a high level job at UNICEF’s Midwest Regional Office in Chicago as a development coordinator, which kept her away just as he desired. He constantly arranged photo ops of her standing up for humanitarian causes, and then plastered the photos all over his webpage and newsletters.   At public events he would tell the crowds he was deeply proud of her work. His lovely wife brought him the votes he so wanted, but Raca’s life was empty, and through it all she knew she was just a pawn in Bonsam’s world.
    Several years later, Bonsam realized that to the voters, the novelty of his adoring wife had worn off. He insisted that Raca bear him a child, again only for show, which she sorrowfully did in 1996. Bonsam knew that the publicity surrounding his newborn son would capture the attention of the voters in his district, especially senior citizens who were suckers for cute babies. He hoped that the elderly would vote for him in droves, then go off and die and quit being such a burden on society.
    Obimpé Bonsam was the spitting image of his father, but Bonsam spent almost no time with him. By the time Bonsam had become a U.S. Senator, he used his status as an excuse to keep Obimpé out of the public eye, and had him locked down in a private military academy.   Bonsam only saw his son once or twice a year, and even when he did, it was staged to create a news event, such as the annual, heartwarming, proudly-welcoming-home-Obimpé-for-Christmas media spectacle.
    When Bonsam became president, he wanted to keep Raca further away from him, yet increase her visibility on the world stage for his own selfish motives. He coerced UNICEF into making her a Goodwill Ambassador, which Bonsam used to his advantage. The beautiful first lady was constantly in the news shown in the worst places in the world visiting destitute orphans and children with AIDS and victims of famine and women injured by landmines and on and on as the media spun her up as the next Mother Teresa.
    Raca proved to be valuable to Bonsam, especially now as she drew some of the attention away from his failing presidency. However, Raca died just a little bit more inside with every appearance. She prayed that someday she would step on a landmine herself, and escape the misery of being a prisoner of Emmanuel Bonsam.

Chapter 5
     
    The Clark Express had been rolling down the highway since early in the morning. Governor Clark and his campaign team were on the road visiting the Super Tuesday states. Even though he was the only Republican on the ballots, he could not just sit back and wait for the presidential election. It was now critical for him to emphasize his message to the voters in preparation for the showdown with Senator Kirk in November.
    Brett Mason joined Clark at the workstation in the center of the bus. “Good afternoon, Gov,” he said.
    “Good afternoon, Brett. What do you have for me?” said Clark as he looked over the newspaper he was reading.
    “Sir, everything is running according to plan. Your message is getting out and the voters are loving it. Well done, Gov.”
    Clark lowered the newspaper. “The voters will love any message so long as it’s not the same as Bonsam’s.”
    “This is true. However, our polling indicates that we are striking a chord with the disillusioned Democrats, the same voters Senator Kirk is after. We need to keep this momentum because sooner or later these voters will see that Kirk is not just another Bonsam. When that happens, we’ll start losing them,” Mason