As far as Sprague was concerned, Bergamo, or as he thought of him, “the Big Cheese,” was a royal pain in the ass. Without justification, Sprague judged, Bergamo considered himself to be responsible for getting Sprague his job. Sprague preferred to think that it was his record of achievement and his tireless work on the campaign that had put him where he was. Ego certainly was involved, Sprague knew. He’d even had conceded privately that, since Washington was hardly a meritocracy, Bergamo’s support of his appointment as Chief of Staff had been influential. So fine, Sprague would even have been willing to admit that Bergamo had been helpful to him, but for the fact that, every time they spoke, Bergamo treated Sprague like just one more of the curd handlers in his dairy.

“Good evening, Mr. Chairman,” Sprague said, as Bergamo came onto the line, “but I guess, it’s still good afternoon for you, isn’t it?” Bergamo wasted no time getting to the point, “Jesus, Mary and Joseph, Johnny, what in the name of all that’s holy was that cluster-fuck in Hawaii all about?” Other than Chairman Bergamo, no one on the face of the Earth addressed Jonathan Sprague as “Johnny.” In point of fact, Sprague absolutely hated the nickname and, he acidly reflected, if this blowhard had something between his ears other than cow shit, he’d know that.

“Yes, Don,” Sprague began, “I just spoke with the President about that. It was unfortunate.” “Unfortunate my ass,” Bergamo exploded, “Johnny, that was nothing short of a fucking disaster.”
“We’re disappointed, Don, of course, but I wouldn’t go that far,” Sprague responded, struggling to remain calm. “Bullshit, Johnny,” Bergamo shot back. “Disaster might be too weak a word for what we’re looking at.” “But, Don,” Sprague countered. “But nothing, Bergamo interrupted. “You listen to me, Johnny. The approval poll numbers aren’t just some goddamn silly soundbite on the evening news, they mean something.”

At this stunning revelation, Sprague had to keep himself from saying, “Gee, Don, I never thought of that.” Bergamo continued, “Approval ratings translate directly into dollars, Johnny. The higher the number, the more dollars I can raise for the Party. We’ve had practically all the money flowing toward us because we were perceived as the only game in town. Nobody expected us to stay at 80% approval, but if you go below 50%, people will get the idea that the other side has a chance, and we’ll lose money.”