[Cap Ologist]

Those words haunt the man. We've all had those moments where we lose our train of thought, fortunately they're not being broadcast live. I arrived in Austin, Texas with a formidable chore. I was going to pitch the idea of running for President again to outgoing Governor Rick Perry.

I was told by his chief of staff that I would only have 15 minutes to pitch my idea, and that Mr. Perry was extremely reluctant to consider another run. My plan was simple:

1. Emphasize debate prep and issue knowledge early on at the expense of barnstorming/rallies.

2. Raise funds for a massive war chest capable of saturating the airwaves with our ads promoting our theme.

3. Invest in a grassroots organization in South Carolina, Florida and Nevada, three states with winner take all primaries.

4. Stay more centric, Mr. Perry's last campaign had swung too the far right in an attempt to stop the bleeding, costing him the moderates and undecideds.

5. I was going to ask him the question, "Do you want that horrible moment in the debate be the moment that history remembers you for?"

Mr. Perry sat quietly with his wife, Anita, the entire time I made my presentation. Eerily quiet. He thanked me for coming, and said he would be in touch. As I left, the chief of staff reminded me to not get my hopes up, that he would probably be calling me later that night with a 'no'.

I drove away, and waited for the call to come. It didn't come that night, or the next morning. Finally, late in the afternoon on October 15, 2015 I was summoned back to the Governor's Mansion. The decision was yes, and now it was up to me to lead not only a campaign for America, but a campaign for one man's redemption.



*Author's note: I've made a few edits to the default Perry character to give him a fighting chance. Despite his well publicized gaffes, he is quite the politician and had never lost an election before withdrawing from the 2012 race. Not sure if that would be counted as a loss or not in the grand scheme of things.