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Posted on 10/09/2003 4:06:06 PM PDT by Shermy
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential newcomer Wesley Clark, struggling to pull his fledgling White House campaign together, will flesh out details of his political views in four major policy speeches over the next month.
As the nine contenders for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination gathered in Phoenix on Thursday for their fourth debate, three companies -- Acxiom Corp., Entrust Inc. and the privately held WaveCrest Laboratories -- announced that Clark had resigned from their boards.
Clark was examining all his corporate ties, campaign spokeswoman Kym Spell said.
A four-star Army general and former NATO commander, Clark jumped into the top tier of candidates in national polls after entering the race on Sept. 17, positioning himself as the candidate with the best chance to challenge President Bush's commander-in-chief credentials.
While Clark has spoken at length about problems like the sputtering U.S. economy, the loss of jobs and the chaos in Iraq, he has sketched out only a vague picture of his solutions, especially on domestic issues.
He only registered as a Democrat this week and his opponents have questioned his commitment to the party in light of his past votes for Republican Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.
"I look forward to laying out my vision ... over the next four weeks and beyond," Clark said in a written statement.
Spell said the first speech on Oct. 14 in New York City would define Clark's view of what he calls the "new American patriotism" and specifically detail how he intends to call upon Americans to help move the country forward.
The second speech, scheduled for Oct. 20, will focus on health care, the third on Oct. 27 will be about the economy and the fourth on Nov. 4 will deal with national security. Venues have yet to be announced.
OFF TO LATE START
Clark's late start -- most of his rivals have been campaigning for months -- puts him at a disadvantage in the early nominating states of Iowa and New Hampshire where organization and face-to-face politicking are the traditional keys to victory.
In New Hampshire, Clark's campaign has yet to open a state headquarters and had not hired any staffers until Thursday when Steve Bouchard was named political director. Bouchard is a veteran campaigner who had led the state effort for Sen. Bob Graham until the Florida lawmaker bowed out of the race last weekend.
A recent poll of 600 likely New Hampshire Democratic primary voters found Clark's support at 5 percent, compared to 29 percent for former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and 19 percent for Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts.
Clark, who made his first campaign trip to New Hampshire two weeks ago, appears to be adopting a national strategy, figuring it is too late to pour all his resources into the two early testing grounds.
Clark's campaign raised about $3.5 million in its first three weeks, better than some of his more established opponents. But his early performance has been plagued by controversy and missteps, including his reversal over whether he would have supported a congressional resolution authorizing war in Iraq.
Late on Wednesday, Clark's campaign announced he would give no more paid speeches and return the fees collected for ones he had already delivered since Sept. 17 after the Washington Post reported he may have broken the law by touting his 2004 run for the White House on college campuses.
And on Tuesday, Clark's campaign manager Donnie Fowler quit after being asked to take a reduced role in his operation.
| A Recall AND a Fundraiser? I'm toast. |
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| Let's get this over with FAST. Please contribute! |
That's odd...looks like he'd just signed on w/ WaveCrest, from the looks of which, Clark will have a strong, "green," plank. And I DON'T mean pro-Military...#8-(
FIRST, figure out what that Mercedes-Benz flag is doing back there! SECOND, put in the order for "Mary, Help!" T-shirts! THIRD, reiterate my strong support for Caifornia Governor Gray Davis in the recall and, FOURTH, manufacture a duplicate key to the wardroom! Ten-Shun!
The Democrats' favorite general is "running strong in the national polls"...and ranks as a pimple on Howard's butt in New Hampshire. And, probably, Iowa.
Clark might run strongly in South Carolina. But I wonder if the presence of a large military vote is necessarily an advantage for the Perfumed Prince.
I'm still trying to figure out just where, exactly, Clark might "run strongly". Especially as, the longer he's in, the stupider he sounds.
Isn't this really a campaign that's already on life-support...and the media are the only ones squeezing the bulb?
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