...
For the next two weeks, the air in Pennsylvania was thick with the smell of gunpowder.
Every day, the phones at campaign headquarters rang off the hook.
Murphy himself was like a spinning top, jetting all across the state.
His voice grew hoarse and the bags under his eyes deepened, but the twilight aura of an old politician was fading, replaced by the frenzied excitement of someone who'd gone all in.
All the chips were in the pot.
Now, it was time for the showdown.
That morning, everyone gathered at the campaign headquarters in Pittsburgh.
They were waiting.
Waiting for the latest tracking poll data.
This data would tell them whether their last two weeks of frenzied spending and political attacks had been for nothing, or if they had actually managed to crack the stone.
"The data's in."
Karen, who had been working at the computer, suddenly broke the silence.
All eyes instantly snapped to the large screen, which was projecting the election map of Pennsylvania.
