1979 started out with news medias talking about Joe Harold who announced he would be running for president as a democrat. We weren't startled that the news neglected to say anything about my announcement because I was virtually unknown in Washington. A couple days later Steven Hewson a senator from Texas announced he was running as well, being so well known earned them many votes in the long run. My team spread out across the United States to spread the word about my promises and beliefs. I believed if I could connect with the people genuinely we would be much more successful and be better in office. Mikayla went to South Carolina where surprisingly I had an overwhelming amount of support. In the following weeks we would be in all 50 states, promoting my campaign. John McDee, senator from New Hampshire, was critical of my campaign very early. He had a large influence in the media and was viewed as the "popular guy." He didn't yet announce his intentions to run but he hinted it, and at one point suggested he'd run just to take me down. John was so critical of me which hurt me early on. Whatever he said the media believed and it was painful to watch. One of my flaws was that I was too slow remark or defend myself on someone's comments. I was under the radar in terms of popularity, by April we had gained quite a bit of popularity and by early June it seemed that things were going almost too well. On June 5th John McDee announced he would be running. John had taken lots of support away from me and I had lost many important votes from people like Senator Edward Belf, who promised support. I felt betrayed by the catastrophic shift in popularity. Our endless campaigning only got stronger and by August we were finally getting some attention from new medias. One paper read "One term North Carolina governor runs for What???!" John McDee established himself as a strong candidate but he certainly doesn't seem to have any good ideas, in fact it's nearly outrageous of what he says about his economy plan. Henry offered lots of great plans during this time and I figured I'd appoint him to a high ranking position in my cabinet if I won the nomination for president. My mother Lilian was always a source of wisdom, I would turn to her for advice or help in time of need. She was a very bright woman and a very charismatic person. Her comedic wit and wisdom made for a perfect match and she went and campaigned with Mikayla. My brother Steven was very smart and tended to be the enforcer. He wasn't afraid of being controversial and taking on tough issues, i told him that if I won I'd like him to be my Attorney General, he agreed. Early polls showed that I was virtually unknown in the beginning of May and by September I had gained a large following, still far behind McDee. 1980 wasn't too far away at this point and we campaigned heavily. We took a break in October, Steven was concerned that taking a break would only do harm but we felt it was much needed. John McDee took a hit after trying to take a jab at me by saying North Carolina is a "racism hub." It didn't sit well as expected and he took a large hit in the polls. Mikayla was tired from traveling at here at home we felt better, and we were able to regroup. November rolled in and I met with Dave to talk about foreign policy. We both agreed that in order to achieve a nuclear arms reduction between us and the Soviet Union we would have to find common ground. We also talked about the best way to approach such a deal with the Soviet Union. I quickly learned that it would be difficult to dance around the Soviet Union to communicate with other European countries. In December I traveled to New Hampshire to campaign. John McDee was still recovering in the polls from his remarks, but when I rolled into town he tried to paint me as someone with "no experience" and putting me into office would be a dangerous bet of our safety. I fumed over his comments. Me and Micheal decided that the Iowa caucuses would be important to establish myself as a real runner for president. 1979 came to pleasant end as Senator Chuck Shull announced he would be supporting me in my campaign, I shared my approval with him. By this point most of the other Democratic Party candidates either dropped out or didn't match me or McDee's level of campaigning and fell under the radar. The papers headline on December 30th said, "Novoselic vs McDee: battle for the democratic nominee." The year closed out and it seemed like our heavy campaigning paid off well. 1980 would be a tough year.
