As a work-from-home counselor for Everywhere Au Pair, Liza Hart is a hand-holder and problem-solver for au pairs from around the world and their Washington, DC host families-struggling to do her job while meeting the needs of her toddler daughter and her mentally ill mother. In the sweltering summer of 2010, one host mother's presidential aspirations bring chaos into Liza's life. Senator Carolyn Quiver, who dreams of winning the Republican nomination for president in 2012, has au pair problems-and her problems become Liza's problems. As Quiver embarks upon a pre-campaign "exploratory stage," the senator and her husband find their au pair problems getting in the way of their ambitions. It takes a series of crises with devastating consequences for both Liza and the Quivers, but Liza finds a way to liberate herself and to highlight the issue of child care to the Democrats laying the groundwork for the 2012 election.