The fate of the nation, and perhaps the world, hangs in the balance. The choice of the most powerful leader in the world depends upon your service. We can count on you fulfilling your civic duty? Right? We’re going to have you check into a hotel and you won’t be able to have any communication with the outside world. Your spouse, child, mother, father, brother, sister…nobody—and I mean nobody—can know where you are.

That’s fine with me. I’m just ready to get this over with. I’m tired of having strangers stop me on the street trying to convince me of something I don’t believe in. I’ve been inundated with e-mail messages…up to thirty-five thousand an hour! My telephone hasn’t stopped ringing. For god’s sake, I even had some death threats. All of this is very unsettling. This isn’t what I signed up for!