Miranda's War by Howard; Foster Read Free Book Online Page A

You’ve got the town abuzz, and I want to hear all about it.”
    She talked for fifteen minutes, and he not only listened but halfway through began to scribble some notes.
    â€œGeorge Soros is backing this group Fair Share that wants to force development in high-income towns without affordable housing,” she continued.
    â€œDoesn’t Lincoln have some?”
    â€œYes, we’ve got 125 units! And my husband and I almost didn’t move here because of it. I had to be persuaded those people kept to themselves. And they basically do. They’re not involved in this town.”
    â€œI live in Sherborn, same story. We’ve got a few cheap apartments on the Needham border, and nobody likes them. But this is the first I’ve heard of this, and I’ve been running for the last two months.”
    She sipped her espresso and glanced at his narrow wedding band and cheap Tag Heuer watch.
    â€œI’m not surprised. There are two very good reasons for that. One, the real push to develop hasn’t begun yet. But a bill was filed a few weeks ago that would create a state zoning board of appeals, which could overrule the towns. It’s known informally as the anti-snob zoning bill. I can’t prove the connection to the Soros group, but the evidence points in that direction. It was mentioned at that Soros event in Cambridge by that activist James Holt—grew up in public housing, former Peace Corps member, a young Obama type.”
    â€œWhat would you like to see done?”
    â€œI know the academic progressive mind. I’m married to one. I joined the Conservation Commission to make us feel less guilty. Somebody needs to say we’ve done enough. Let us live our lives in this beautiful town.”
    He nodded.
    â€œI’d vote for you.”
    â€œI was appointed to the Conservation Commission. But you’re here because you want my vote, right?”
    â€œSure do, and maybe there’s a lot more people who think like you in towns like this.”
    â€œYou’ve got Lincoln, Sherborn, Weston, Dover, Carlisle and parts of Wayland, Sudbury, Littleton, Harvard. We want our so-called ‘snob zoning’ kept intact.”
    â€œHow do I say that in a subtle way?”
    â€œI don’t know that you can. But I just took on the owner of the barn with a giant peace sign, and he backed down.”
    â€œSo I heard. Very courageous.”
    â€œYou’re running against Ann Cronin-Reynolds, blasé liberal Republican from Framingham. She’ll get her people out in Framingham and Natick. But you’ve got a bigger base in our towns with the zoning.”
    â€œThat’s the polar opposite of what I’ve been doing, running a quiet little affair where people can envision me as a Congressman …” and his voice trailed off as if he’d been asked to name the last Shakespeare play he’d read.
    â€œI can envision you as a Congressman. But do I really care if you don’t relate to what’s going on in my town?” She laughed.
    â€œI grew up in Boxford on the North Shore, on five acres. Now I live in Sherborn. We have one-acre zoning in part of the town and two acres in the rest. I’m with you. Will you support me?”
    â€œI didn’t know what to make of you, are you a Brahmin like my husband, a pink-fingered yuppie with a BMW, a social liberal?”
    â€œAll three—with a wife from Wellesley.”
    â€œWhat does she think?”
    â€œShe thinks this is a waste of time and I should go back to running my business.”
    â€œMaybe you should.”
    â€œNo,” he said emphatically. “I’d like to be a Congressman and think I’d be better than Ann Cronin-Reynolds.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œBecause she has no principles except holding office. She’s not a Republican or anything else. If that’s all it means to be a Republican in this state, then why have a two-party