"Blast!" said =PapaBear as the Bear family's car went over a very big bump.
the Bear family - =Papa, =Mama, =Brother and =Sister - were on their way to town to do some shopping.

"These roads are in terrible shape," said =Papa angrily. "Why, these roads are enough to shake your teeth loose!"

Then, just after they went over the big bump, the car hit a deep pothole.

"Double blast!" =Papa shouted. And when he got out of the car to look for damage,
the edge of the road crumbled and he fell into a ditch.

Now =Papa was really angry.
"Outrageous!" he shouted as =Mama and the cubs helped him out of the ditch.
"Bear Country is falling apart! Why doesn't the government do something?"

"Why don't you do something, dear?" said Mama, who was getting a little tired of =Papa's complaining.

"Like what?" asked =Papa.

"Well, you could vote in the next election," said =Mama, pointing to a sign.
The sign said election coming. Be sure to vote.

"Hmmm," said =Papa.

"I'll do more than vote in the next election," said =Papa.
"I'll be in the next election. I'm going to run for president of the Town Council!"

"Oh boy!" said the cubs.

"Oh, dear!" said =Mama.

"And you," said =Papa to =Brother and =Sister, "will be my campaign managers!"

"Oh boy! Wow!" shouted the cubs.

But =Mama had doubts. There were others in the race. What =Mama was worried about was =Papa's disappointment if he should lose.

"Dear," she said, "I really think you should think twice about this."

But =Papa wasn't listening. He was already dreaming about the glories of being president of the Town Council.

He was dreaming about giving grand speeches. about the applause of
the crowd . about cutting ribbons at supermarket openings . about unveiling statues.

"Come on, Campaign Managers!" said =Papa. "There's a lot to do if I'm going to get elected!"

There were petitions to be signed.
There were posters to post.
There were doorbells to ring.
There were paws to shake.

=Papa turned out to be a pretty good campaigner. He was especially good at making promises.

He promised the bears that if he was elected there would be honey in every honey pot,
a scratching post on every corner, and trout in every stream.

He promised the crows all the corn they could eat and an end to scarecrows.
He promised the beavers more birch saplings, the squirrels more acorns, the
robins more worms, and the worms fewer robins.

When election day came, =Papa was still shaking paws and making promises. 

It was a bright sunny day and everybody came out to vote. =Papa and =Mama voted early.
So did the other candidates for council president.

Then they all went home to wait for the votes to be counted.

It was late evening when the word came. =Papa had won! He had won the election!
=Papa was president of the Town Council!

It was very exciting to be elected to high office.
When =Papa went to sleep that night, he had a big smile on his face.
And it was very exciting the next morning, too, because
lined up outside the home of the new council president were all the Bear Country
folk to whom =Papa Bear had made promises, promises, promises.
"Hmm," said =Brother, looking at the long, long line.
"There's just one trouble with running for high office - you just might get elected!"