Plausible Deniability

While out on a walk with Sharon Carter, Steve Rogers is mortified to see that the front page of the Daily Bugle features a picture of Captain America with congressional hopeful Andrew Bolt and is wondering if this could be an endorsement from the hero. Steve is uncomfortable about this because — as Captain America — he tries to stay out of politics. The photo is already having the effect he wants to avoid, as his local grocer says he’ll vote for Bolt if Captain America endorses him.[1]

This has been made exceptionally more difficult since Steve actually thinks Bolt makes for a good politician. He is also not a fan of his opponent, Phil Oxnard, since his policies seem to favor wealthy industries that outsource American jobs overseas. He wonders if he should reverse his decision about politics because perhaps Cap can steer politics in the right direction.

When they return to Steve’s apartment they learn that Luis Ramirez — whose family has been living with Steve after being evicted from their own home — is not having a lot of luck finding a new job.[2] Steve reassures Luis that he and his family can stay as long as they need a place to stay. Going into his room, he finds Luis’ oldest son Javier in there reading another law book. When Steve inquires about it the boy quickly scoops up the book and runs out of the room. Seeing that Sharon appears interested in what Javier is up to, Steve manages to guilt her into helping him solve this mystery as well as settle the issue of Andrew Bolt once and for all.[3]

Changing into Captain America, Steve makes a secret visit to Andrew Bolt’s campaign office to talk about the upcoming election. He wants to help in some way but isn’t sure how. They get to talking about Phil Oxnard and Andrew recalls how he used to vote for Phil. However, since Oxnard has taken office he has changed, his old black-and-white politics has shifted into more grey areas and there are rumors that he’s been associating with shady characters. Unfortunately, Andrew has no solid evidence of wrong doing for Cap to act upon. Still, this piques Steve’s interest and he decides to look into it, telling the congressional hopeful that perhaps it is time that he take a more active role in politics.

In Georgetown, Phil Oxnard is meeting with a man named Mister Reynolds, whose organization wants to make a large donation to Oxnard’s campaign. Phil is willing to accept the money as long as the name on the cheque doesn’t raise any suspicions. Reynolds, in an act of apparent wit, assures Phil that his people aim to please. The dinner is soon over and Reynolds hops into a taxi unaware that he is being followed by Steve Rogers. When Reynolds arrives at his apartment, Steve changes into Captain America and confronts him. He knows that Reynolds is actually a man named Rilker, who has worked for Advanced Idea Mechanics in the past. When questioning him about whatever times he might still have for AIM, Rilker summons two Machinesmith built AD-45 Riotbots to deal with him. While these are highly advanced automations that are heavily armed, Cap is confident that he can deal with them with his new photonic shield. However, he still misses his original shield — recently lost to the ocean floor — because he could toss that weapon around.[4]

At that same moment, Tony Stark’s friend Jim Rhodes has been using his salvage business to try and find Captain America’s shield. After months of searching Jim finally finds it and brings it to the surface. However, while getting the ship aboard one of his crew mates accidentally drops it on the ground, causing the supposedly invincible weapon to shatter.[5][6]

Back in New York, Captain America trashes the AD-45 Riotbots and threatens to electrocute Rilker with one of the robots severed limbs if he doesn’t spill the beans about AIM’s interest in Oxnard. Rilker cracks easily and explains that they want to get Oxnard voted in so he can later join a government committee that will allow him to quash any investigations that might be harmful to AIM’s business operations.

Steve quickly finds a payphone and calls Andrew Bolt to tell him everything he learned. Although he has no evidence to back up his claims, Cap is certain that the Attorney General would open an investigation. Andrew quashes the idea, saying that accusations leveled at Oxnard’s shady business dealings in the middle of an election could be casually dismissed as partisan politics. Bolt explains that this is the nature of modern politics and implores Captain America to let himself get dragged in a media circus like that. This gives Steve a lot to think about, he cannot believe that politics have become so mired in absurdly complex and that his ability to serve the American people is becoming more difficult when the country is becoming more diverse and fractured every day. Eventually, he makes up his mind about what to do next.

Captain America then pays a visit to Phil Oxnard at his office. He starts by telling Oxnard that he used to be a good man based on his military record. However, Cap wants to make him aware that he knows about his connection to AIM. Although Phil himself is not an overt threat, Steve still sees him as a insidious one. Steve explains that the only reason why he’s not going to make what he knows public is because his accusations are hearsay at best and because a better man — Phil’s own opponent — pleaded with him to not go down that route. He tells Oxnard that Andrew Bolt is showing more honor that Phil has in years. Concluding his lecture, Steve leaves by saying he’d wish the congressman a good night’s sleep but he isn’t sure that is possible.

As Captain America rides off into the night, he calls Sharon Carter and gets her voice mail. He tells her that after everything that happened that evening he has decided that the right thing to do is to support Andrew Bolt. However, the following morning he is out canvassing for Bolt not as Captain America, but as Steve Rogers. When Sharon sees this for herself she is quite impressed. She then shows him the front page of the Daily Bugle, which has a headline about Phil Oxnard resigning from his post to “take a break and rethink his priorities and responsibility to the American people.” Steve finds this the understatement of the century, but Sharon still considers this a win for Steve. As they drive off, she also tells him that she has figured out why Javier has been studying the law books and he’s going to be surprised by what she has figured out.[7]

Recurring Characters

Captain America, AIM, Sharon Carter, Javier Ramirez, Alma Ramirez, Marta Ramirez, Rosa Ramirez, Luis Ramirez, Jim Rhodes

Continuity Notes

1. Bolt has been trying to get Cap’s endorsement since Captain America (vol. 3) #4.

2. Steve discovered that the Ramirez family broke into his long unoccupied apartment back in issue #8 and allowed them to stay after hearing how rough they have been having it.

3. Cap uses the fact that Sharon shot him recently. This was when Cap was under the thrall of Nightmare and trying to launch a nuclear missile at NORAD. See Captain America (vol. 3) #9-12.

4. Captain America lost his trademark circular shield back in Captain America (vol. 3) #2. To make up for this loss, Sharon Carter gave him a photonic shield that he has been using since issue #9.

5. According to Captain America #303 the shield was created by Myron MacLean using a fusion of Vibranium and Adamantium — albeit entirely by accident and in a process that has since been impossible to duplicate. However, ongoing events in Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty (vol. 2) #1-5 (still being published as I write this in August, 2022) might throw this into question as it is exploring the true origin of Captain America’s shield.

6. The reason why Captain America’s shield has shattered here is explained in issue #21. Years earlier, Captain America’s shield was shattered by Doctor Doom who, at the time, had the power of the Beyonder in Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #11. Steve was able to make repairs to his shield in the following issue. However, the process of repairing the shield was not perfect. A minor imperfection at the atomic level made the shield unstable until it ultimately shattered. The weapon will ultimately be restored to normal in Captain America (vol. 3) #22.

7. In Captain America (vol. 3) #15, it’s revealed that Javier is boning up on the law because he has discovered that his family was illegally evicted from their home and he is building a case for his father to win.

Topical References

• The date on the Daily Bugle newspaper is listed as Friday, November 20th, 1998. The day of the week and the year on this newspaper should be considered topical as they are relative to the date of publication.