29 | Campaign Manager | “Let's make it happen.”(+) Ambitious, outgoing, innovative(-)

29 | Campaign Manager | “Let's make it happen.” (+) Ambitious, outgoing, innovative(-) Inconsistent, excitable, petulant Walt generally takes the “mad scientist” approach to life. He’s constantly trying new things and creating new ways to solve problems, but he doesn’t always have inspiration and sometimes his ideas are more strange than scintillating. He’s extremely outgoing and his aspirations for his work have no limits, but he can become disproportionally enthusiastic and, when things don’t go his way, he’s bound to sulk about it for a little while before picking himself back up. When clients aren’t content with the same old tricks, they turn to Walt. Gubernatorial candidate George Baker hired him onto the campaign team because of his excellent track record in dealing with candidates vying for various offices in the northern United States—and, of course, for his creativity when it comes to campaigns. For a man who’s trying to think outside of the box, Walt is the best there is. Sales runs in the Baxters’ blood. Walt’s father was a real estate agent in New Jersey, taking advantage of the rapidly-growing interest in the coast there, and his mother was an interior decorator. He didn’t have many friends when he was little because they were always moving around a lot, but he was okay with that: he was fascinated by what his parents did, the art of selling houses and all that came with them, and generally insisted that he be allowed to go along with them. Unless he was at school, he was sandwiched between his parents in their Oldsmobile Curved Dash, which had been given to Walt’s father by his employer. He liked what his parents did well enough, but he always felt like there was something missing. Though he found it fascinating, how they made their livings selling concepts to others, it wasn’t… high stakes enough. Truth be told, he felt like there was a limit to where his parents could go, and that thought didn’t appeal to him at all. When he grew up, he didn’t want to stagnate, didn’t want to get stuck in their cycle of moving, selling, and moving again. He just couldn’t live like that. Gradually he found himself searching for something more, something greater, and eventually, he found it. That something greater manifested itself in the form of his first campaign. His best friend, Micah, wanted to run for student body president in their last year of school, and Walt immediately assigned himself the role of unofficial campaign manager. Though at first he just wanted to help Micah win, he realized quickly that he’d found his talent. Single-handedly he recruited a team of artists to create posters, and he coordinated some of his wittier friends to come up with a handful of clever slogans, all in the name of getting Micah elected. He won the race, of course, on a very meticulously-crafted platform of Walt’s creation. Though the race ended there, however, Walt’s passion for campaigning didn’t. It was the perfect marriage of the skills he’d picked up from his parents over the years, and he was good at it—so good, in fact, that when one of his dad’s coworkers decided to run for city council, his dad was able to convince him to take Walt on as a volunteer despite his youth. After that, he was able to score paid work on the campaign of a Hoboken mayor and later moved to Connecticut and chased campaigns all over New England. He moved to Chicago for one reason and one reason alone: he needed a new challenge. Having done a few gubernatorial campaigns in the past, he found them lackluster and realized that the added challenge of two warring mobs was just what he needed (though both his parents said he was crazy). Meredith Foster acted as a kind of guide to the city before he really got established, as they had worked together in the past to fix a disaster related to a certain state senator’s indiscretions, and they’ve maintained a casual friendship since then. He’s also gotten to know Cordelia Christie of the Macini, who gives him insight into the mob situation so he might prevent George from getting into any trouble he can’t get out of. He’s also friendly with Ella Rove, from whom he buys his groceries each week, and is happy to have someone to talk to who isn’t involved in all the mob business. It’s exhausting work, really, but he enjoys the challenge that George’s campaign presents, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. Must-Read Bios Meredith Foster Cordelia Christie Ella Rove Walt Baxter is open. -- source link

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