See - in the end, everybody wins. Iverson will stay President. And Cordell realizes his personal flaws. It's like the perfect world.
When I began writing this story a few weeks back, my original intention was obviously for Cordell, an extremely unlikely and flawed candidate, to eventually win the election and go on to be President. However, once I wrote the Democratic Convention part of the story...it struck me that to the reader's eye (in the story it would be the American voter), Cordell is an unknown, crooked, arrogant, and flawed candidate, while President Iverson, despite sagging popularity, is seen as a durable, strong and likeable leader. I think that despite the story revolving around Cordell, the reader has a better grasp of Iverson and his wife than they do Cordell and his wife. So, I decided that Cordell's story would be the loss of a flawed candidate....not a victory. Most people I'm sure, even myself, followed this story with the general thinking that Cordell would end up winning the election and go on to become President. You know, "Primary Colors" type stuff.
But I pulled the old "Sixth Sense" routine of "the reader sees what they wanna see". The reader wanted to see what was obvious...Cordell gaining...Cordell coming out and acknowledging his skeletons...Cordell giving a rousing speech and patching up his family life. You see polls tightening and a very nervous President Iverson, Cordell's good debate performance and the general expectation that Cordell could end up winning. But what really happened...what the reader "didn't want to see"... was that despite all that...Cordell was still a flawed candidate that nobody expected to be Iverson's opponent...who had numerous scandals and was seen as pompous, arrogant man. On the other hand, Jack Iverson was seen as a decent President, still pretty well liked who ran a decent campaign during generally prosperous times.
Realistic result? A landslide re-election for the President.
