November 5th,

"Americans and North Dakotans, it is my purpose to make perfectly clear how honored and humbled I am that you have selected me to be your representative in Washington. I take it as my sacred oath to be worthy of the continued trust you have placed in me.

There is no small amount of people deserving of my greatest thanks. My staff, who've been working on 8 hours of sleep per week since October in our busy little Fargo office. My gracious wife, for being willing to let me subject us both to the strains of the campaign for the seventh time.

I have already spoken with Mr. Gregs...

[I][Interrupted by a chorus of booing][/I]

Now now, we're supposed to be the "Peace Garden" state! As I was saying, he was exceptionally gracious and while he and I had some disagreement about the means, he and I had the same goal, that of a happier and prosperous republic, and the very fact that he would put his life on hold for a year in defense of his values is commendable. 

Now in the coming days, I will return to Washington to continue to fight for North Dakotans. I will make good on the commitments I've made. It is my sincere hope and goal that North Dakota will continue to lead the nation in job-creation and middle class growth.

Thank you, and God Bless ND!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The afternoon ofJanuary 3rd.

Marcellus recieved the gavel from the old speaker with pride. After a few words of gratitude, he banged the gavel ceremoniously and called the session to order. They pushed through a few meaningless bills by voice vote and before they knew it, the day ended.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"O'NEAL: I'm Nick O'Neal and thanks for watching us tonight. Republican Unification! That is the subject of this evening's memorandum.

Over the past few years, the new Tea Party movement has conflicted with, the establishment. It is, or should I say, was believed that this divide lead to low Republican turnout and Norman's election. 'Memorandum' believes this divide has recently been patched.

In a rare example of the hardliners in intraparty skirmishes being set aside and cooler heads prevailing, a certain Congressman Kahnt of North Dakota was elected. Mr. Kahnt, while an ardent conservative, appears to have deliberately avoided open association with the Tea Party label. This appears to have paid dividends.

In the end, 'Memorandum' believes that the durability of this reconciliation depends on how well Speaker Kahnt walks the fence.

Here tonight for reaction is none other than Speaker Kahnt himself. Speaker Kahnt, I'd like to start by welcoming you and offering you my congratulations. 

SPKR. KAHNT: My pleasure, Nick.

O'NEAL: So have you spoken with the president? Has he called to congratulate you?

SPKR. KAHNT: Indeed he has.

O'NEAL: And how was that?

SPKR. KAHNT: Very cordial. The President is a real gentleman, you know? We had a pleasant talk about what the next few years were going to look like.

O'NEAL: Did he eh, mention this tax reform bill he wants passed? Any more specifics?

SPKR. KAHNT: Not much more than you already know. I'm very pleased to tell you he didn't fax me a bill already written. He seems to want every step to be cooperative, at least for now. I look forward to working with him on it.

O'NEAL: But judging from the speech and the campaign promises, his idea and your idea of tax reform...don't exactly fit. I'm a simple man, Mr. Speaker. Going to be awful hard to cooperate with someone with a different goal than yours.

SPKR. KAHNT: I don't neccesarily agree with lowering income inequality for its own sake, but I do believe the sound policies I will present to the president in the next few days about reducing [b]corporate welfare[/b], ending some of the more patently absurd [b]tax breaks[/B] and [b]anticompetitive subsidies[/b] to big business along with [b]lowering[/b] the corporate tax rate in a revenue-neutral way will level the playing field, promote growth, strengthen the economy, and small business along with the middle class."