Janine Marill, Post One

This story is narrated by Henry Burton, one of the inside staffers for Jack Stanton’s Presidential campaign. The author likely used Burton as the narrator because Burton is close to the action of the campaign. In some cases, Burton is knowledgeable enough to answer questions from the press about Burton’s past and his political expertise.
However, in one embarrassing circumstance, a reporter from the Los Angeles Times asks Burton whether Stanton was arrested during the Vietnam War. Although he is mortified, Burton admits that he has no idea whether Stanton was arrested or not. The reporter later catches up with Stanton, and Stanton admits that he was arrested at a radical demonstration before the Democratic National Convention in 1968.
Burton is a perfect narrator because he has a unique perspective on this situation. Burton has invested an enormous amount of time to Stanton’s campaign, and Burton is thrown off guard when he realizes that he didn’t know about a significant event in Stanton’s past. When Burton discusses the situation with other campaign staffers, it is clear that the reporter caught them off guard. Burton’s narration conveys the stress that he and the other staffers feel about this “roadblock” in the campaign.