Publication Date: May
24, 2012
An investigative journalist in a career crisis
puts her estranged father’s life at risk when she tries to prove
that the leading presidential candidate is plotting to subvert
democracy.
The Next President has
as its central theme the possibility that a charismatic
candidate who embraces fascism may be elected president of the
United States. The novel is set in the near future in a context
where many European governments have banded together with a
shared ideology that has boosted their economies and made their
progress the envy of Americans.
The author, Robert
Livingstone, adapted the novel from his screenplay of the same
name.
“The fascism premise,”
Livingstone said, “is not so far-fetched. I don’t see it
happening; I see it as speculative fiction based on
possibilities.”
Could it happen?
“A popular leader with an extreme political bent who amasses
power based on severe economic problems. . . Think about it,”
Livingstone said.
The Next President
is also a love story, with complications.
Catherine Cortez, the protagonist, is in a relationship with a
U.S. senator. He’s asked her to marry him. She’s resisting
because she sees marriage to him as a career-killer—which is
part of her motivation to get out from behind the news anchor
desk and go after one last big story. She thinks she’s found it
in Cuba, where a revolution is imminent, which brings her back
in contact with former lover Carlos Perez, the leader of the
revolution.
The novel
was published in 2012 by Moore House, a publishing entity started by
Livingstone, who is a former magazine publisher. He is a
Canadian who lives in North Miami Beach, Florida.
Cortez is fundamentally an
investigative journalist, once she gets away from the news desk.
She struggles to expose the man poised to become the next
president before he destroys the one thing Americans have always
cherished: their freedom. She follows one story—a revolution in
post-Castros Cuba—and discovers a bigger one in the candidate,
who as senate majority leader, with ties to the military and the
CIA, has been behind the supply of illegal arms to the corrupt
fascist government in Cuba. In her pursuit, she inadvertently
puts her father’s life at risk—the father she didn’t know was
still alive, the father she rediscovers in Cuba.
The
Next President is available in both paperback and digital form.
“What if the man really is power hungry? What if we find
ourselves headed for a form of government this country has never
known?”
Senator David Stone
“Define fascism for me. One man’s fascism is another man’s
safe, productive society. We could use a little of that in
America.”
Senate Majority Leader (and Presidential Candidate)
Francis Ellsworth
“He’s playing to a very large constituency when it comes to
the issue of law and order.”
Senator Samuel Wakefield
“Let the record of this country show that we value our
democracy, however imperfect it may be, over anything else,
however compelling it may be.”
President Walter Graham
From the pages of The
Next President. . .
Ellsworth responded with an edge in
his voice. “Oh, please. Define fascism for me. One man’s fascism
is another man’s safe, productive society. We could use a little
of that in America.”
“So I’ve come to understand,” said
Stone. “What I wonder about is how far you’re prepared to go.”
Ellsworth retrieved a fresh drink
from a passing waiter. He took a swallow, locked eyes with
Stone.
“I plead for law and order and
economic stability. I fail to see how that is equated with
fascism. I’m not even sure what fascism is.”
§
The students broke through,
swinging baseball bats, throwing rocks. The police fought back
with clubs.
“There are visible
signs,” Rodriguez
said,
“of positive
response.”
Further back, on the edge of the
crowd, cops on horses looked panicked as their horses shifted
uneasily. One of the cops clicked off his cell phone and
hurriedly returned it to its case on the side of the saddle and
reached for a rifle. He shouldered the rifle, aimed carefully
and fired. One of the students suddenly froze. For a brief
moment, he remained motionless. Then he fell. Screams rang out.
Another shot. Another student fell. The students retreated in
terror, screaming, trampling over one another to get away.
§
Ramon Escobar, by rumor, had always
been climbing a somewhat slippery slope. Local gossip in Havana
hinted at ties to organized crime in America. In truth, Escobar’s
presence in Havana kept the mob out, but in a twisted sort of
way. To the mob, he was
“untouchable.”
If you asked why, no one really knew, but there was a reason:
they knew that much. Someone, somewhere, a long time ago, in a
very high place, had made it so. Escobar saw an advantage in not
denying the rumors. It gave him an aura that kept legitimate
competition out as well.
§
“I love you,”
he said.
“I love you, too,
even if you are a United States Senator.”
He pretended to be slighted.
“And what, may I
ask, is wrong with that?”
“I’m
a fiercely independent journalist.”
“So?”
“I shouldn’t
be caught dead in your bed.”
She laughed. She was mocking him. She kissed him softly,
tenderly. She felt good about him, about their relationship and
in particular about the turn of events in her career.
Stone turned to her.
“Let’s
get married,” he
said, matter-of-factly.
She rolled over and looked at him.
She chose her words carefully.
“You know I can’t.
Not now. If I marry you, my career is over.”
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