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Character Counts

Marvin Ostendorf usually felt pretty good about himself. He had a successful, though unspectacular, career as a reporter, a loving wife and two children. He had been with the Boise Herald long enough to choose the stories he wanted to cover. Although his beat was city government, seniority allowed Marvin to have others attend Board of Education and zoning meetings while he covered the "glamour" stories like the city's recent transfer of sewage treatment contracts to a private company. Marvin's three-part analysis of Boise's sewage privatization had won him a Best Research award by a national press organization. Marvin was proud of his work.

But today he was overwhelmed by his old feelings of insecurity as he sat in the press section listening to Ben Harley announce his candidacy for governor. It's not that Harley was a poor candidate--he said all the right things--it's just that he had known Harley since childhood and didn't like him.

Ben Harley was the kind of man who looked taller than he really was. At forty-five, he was trim and appeared in good shape. He was blessed with the perfect face for politics-handsome enough for women to consider him attractive but not enough to pose a threat to men.

As he strode into the briefing room, he demonstrated his mastery of a technique essential to modern politics-the ability to wink, make clicking sounds with the tongue and point to folks in the crowd all at the same time. Ben was particularly good at pointing to an individual and making eye contact. Although Marvin knew Ben was choosing people carefully--an African-American woman here, a Hispanic male there--he was flattered when Ben's deep blue eyes focused on him. "Marvelous Marv," Ben mouthed before pointing and winking at a Native American man.

For a moment Marvin felt special, like he was back in the playground of his youth, being chosen by Ben Harley, the team leader. Then a wave of annoyance covered him like a blanket he was trying to kick off on a hot night. He couldn't believe how easy it was to fall for Ben's charm.

At home that evening, he told his wife, Hattie, how he felt.

"Sounds like jealousy to me," she said in her Western I-don't-have-time-to-be-polite manner that Marvin admired and loved.

"No. I don't think so. Not exactly. I think it's more like things have always come so easy for him." Marvin tried to explain, but feared he was whining as he recalled how Ben would always be the boy who chose up sides on the playground and Marvin would always be the last chosen. "I mean, he was always in charge, even as a boy."

"Not a bad trait for someone wanting to be governor, no?"

"I suppose. But he was so cocky, so confident. Being the son of the richest man in town didn't hurt."

Ben Harley, Sr. expanded his father's successful timber business into a multinational timber conglomerate. He also owned most of Boise's prime commercial real estate, including Harley Square, a major shopping/residential complex in the newly renovated downtown area. One of Harley, Sr.'s subsidiaries won the bid for the city's sewage treatment. Marvin suspected, but couldn't prove, that Ben Harley, Sr. had advanced knowledge of his competitors' sealed bids.

"So what it comes down to," Hattie said, "is you don't like his old man."

"More than that. There's something else." Marvin felt foolish saying aloud what really bothered him about Ben. "He cheated."

"What?"

"On the playground. He cheated. In tag, he'd keep his eyes open and rush the count so he could chase down the girl of his choice."

Hattie laughed. Holding up a fake newspaper, she sang, "Headline! Read all about it! Harley Cheats in Tag. Quits Governor Race."

Marvin knew how foolish he sounded but he continued. "Don't you see? With all his advantages, he still cheated. Or maybe because of his advantages he saw nothing wrong with cheating."

"Hmmm, so what's that have to do with his running for governor? Is there a story there?"

"What do you think? He's been gone from our fair city since he was a teenager. We hear stories of him involved in wild parties and drugs and failed businesses. Then at age forty, the prodigal son returns, makes millions supposedly running one of daddy's friend's companies, joins all the right clubs and within five years announces he's running for governor on a 'Character Counts' crusade."

"You've become quite the cynic, Mr. Ostendorf. So what are you going to do?"

"Check into the rumors of his past, look into his business dealings, check out daddy and his friends and watch him very, very carefully."

"Then what? What do you think you'll find?"

"Nothing. All the leads will turn to dead-ends. The Herald won't publish much of what I find." Marvin shrugged and shook his head. "This is his daddy's town, after all."


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