2012

Chapter 20: Another Mega Donor Chips In
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Karl Rove hurried out of the Capital Republican Club and jaywalked across 1st street to the South Metro Station. He stood in the giant hall of the station and called Harold Simmons, one of the GOP’s big money men.

Simmons answered on the first ring. “Yeah, what’s happening Karl, my man?” Simmons drawled.

“Hi ya, Hal, it’s Karl,” Rove said unnecessarily. “Been wondering how you and Ann are holding up, what with all the election excitement.”

“Excitement?! You call this horse shit excitement, Karl? Why hell, I’ve done tractoring’s more excitin than this, boy.”

“What do think of Romney’s VP pick, Hal?” Rove asked.

“Good choice, far as I’m concerned. Boy’s got a good head on his shoulders,” Simmons said. “But I’m still not satisfied we’ve got this thing in the bag, Karl. The courts are giving us a hard timer on our voter ID push here in Texas.”

Judges had ruled that the costs of obtaining a voter ID would fall most heavily on poor African-Americans and Hispanics in Texas, a state with a history of voter discrimination, and that such groups would face unwarranted hardships if the law were to be applied.

“So I hear, Hal. But we’re making progress in the swing states, and that’s what’s important. Hell, there’s no way Texas electoral votes are going Obama’s way,” Rove crowed. “And speaking of that, we could use an infusion of money to help in some of our other election initiatives, and--”

“Now Karl, you know I’ve given a hell of a lot of money already.”

“Well, yeah, but a lot of that was--”

Simmons interrupted, “I know. It was for Santorum’s super PAC, but you told Annette the guy had a chance,” Simmons said. “And money’s, money, Karl. Besides which, I’ve given another mil to Romney.”

“And we appreciate it, Hal. We do. But it’s coming down to the wire and everything we can swing now will help ensure victory in November,” Rove said, speaking quickly to prevent another interruption from Simmons, and running a handkerchief across his sweating brow.

“What do you need the money for, Karl?” Simmons asked.

“We need to pay for lawyers and poll watchers in the swing states to prevent voters without the authorized identifications from voting in the election,” Rove said. “That’s a lot of feet on the ground, Hal.”

“No shit!” Simmons said. “But I guess that’s one good thing we can use lawyers for; the sons of bitches aren’t good for anything else,” Simmons said. “How much?”

Rove hesitated. Simmons had already donated more than $18 million dollars to various Republican candidates and super PACs. How much could he wring out of Simmons this time? “Well, with what I’m getting from Foster, I think another million would do it.”

Rove held his breath. He hadn’t hit up Foster Friess yet, but if he got the money from Simmons, he could then go to Friess and use Simmon’s contribution as leverage to get a similar amount from Friess. Rove knew that the GOP mega donors were competitive as all hell when it came to who was paying in the most money.

“Okay, I’ll have my fucking accountant make the arrangements. Shit, every time I talk to you it costs me money, Karl,” Simmons said.

“Well, I appreciate it Hal. Can I ask you one more thing?”

“As long as it doesn’t involve money,” Simmons said.

“No, no. I just want to reiterate how important it is to keep holding out on any job growth until after November,” Rove said.

Simmons headed up Contran Corporation a huge chemical and metals conglomerate that controlled millions of jobs across the nation. Simmons holdings included multinational conglomerates NL Industries, Titanium Metals Corp., Valhi Inc., Kronos Worldwide Inc. and Keystone Consolidated Industries Inc. Many of Simmons’ businesses were heavily regulated waste-control and nuclear-waste disposal businesses, and Simmons wanted people in power who would eliminate all the burdensome regulations that, in his opinion, limited his options on how to maximize profits.

“I hear ya, Karl,” Simmons said. “All our hiring has been off the books. But here again, it’s costing me a ton of money just to payoff all the lawyers I need to keep me out of trouble on this.”

“And we appreciate it, Hal. Imagine the impact we’ll have, though, when employment figures shoot up after Romney is elected.” Rove said, scowling at a panhandler that was sidling up to him.
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, or are used fictitiously, and any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.