Transcript
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Narrator/Host (Niccolo Minoni) (0:32)
Campsite Media Chip Yablonsky sat in his father's campaign office, going over the campaign strategy one last time. It was the fall of 1969. The election was just around the corner. December 9th. Burning a hole in his calendar. The attacks on his father were never that far from his mind. They tracked down the phone number of that man who came to the house saying he needed a job. A man who the Oblonsky suspected might actually be stalking Jock. Jock and a friend had called that number, and when a woman picked up, they pretended to be cops. They said her husband had witnessed an accident and they were looking for him. What's your husband's name? They asked. What does he do for a living? She said, he's a house painter. He was in Pennsylvania today looking for work. And that story tracked. So maybe Jock had just been paranoid after all. Maybe the guys at the door really were just looking for a job. I mean, why would a house painter from Cleveland be after him? Jock hung up. And pretty soon, that paranoia about the mysterious men, it was overshadowed by the urgency of the election itself. Miners would start casting ballots at the beginning of December. Jock had clearly ignited something in the miners. Every day, more and more support was coming his way. But Tony had all the leverage in this campaign. Money, resources, inertia. And Tony had one huge advantage, which was the final obstacle facing Jock and Chip.
Chip Oblonsky (2:11)
We weren't told where the election was going to be held.
Narrator/Host (Niccolo Minoni) (2:14)
That's right. The election would happen in days. But Jock and Chip didn't know exactly where or even when it would take place. That's because minors vote, in large part at their local union offices. Locals, for short. These locals can organize voting anywhere from a high school to a courthouse to a church. And each local gets to set its own voting hours. But the only person with a list of these locals and how to contact them was Tony, and Tony was not in a sharing mood. Chip desperately needed that list for all the obvious reasons. To know where to campaign, for example, but also importantly, so he could send election observers in. He knew Tony might try to Mess with the election, intimidate people, or worse, tamper with votes. So Chip took this really, really dry administrative issue to the silliest person he knew. Someone he knew could help him get creative. His partner in crime and mischief, his sister Charlotte. Chip is warm but serious. His friends call him the General. Charlotte, on the other hand, she was.