Miami, Intercontinental Hotel South Bay.
A dozen or so staff members were making the final adjustments to the lighting and some of the settings in the business conference center.
Evan Wood, the 32-year-old deputy manager and spokesperson of the Democratic Party candidate Rosario Kennedy's election team, stood on the stage, behind him a giant portrait of Rosario had already been hung on the wall. He tapped the microphone lightly with his finger, and a loud tapping sound emerged from the speakers.
He stretched his arm forward, holding the microphone at level, trying to keep it as far away from himself as possible, then turned off his own earpiece and spoke softly in this awkward pose:
"Jennifer, I can smell the stupidity oozing from your brain two miles away."
