Posted on 11/18/2003 8:35:04 AM PST by alwaysconservative
Saturday, November 15, 2003 Clark Kent: Superticket for America?
By DEENA WINTER, Bismarck Tribune
Did you hear General Wesley Clark wants Kent Conrad to be his running mate?
They're going to call it the Clark Kent ticket.
Ba-dum-bump.
It's a joke. There's no evidence the Democratic presidential candidate is considering asking Conrad to run with him, but that hasn't stopped a few members of the Washington press corps from calling Conrad's office to make sure.
"We've certainly gotten queries about it," Conrad said. "I think it was intended to be a humorous reference."
He thinks, but he's not sure? "I enjoyed it, but I never took it as a serious thing," he said.
"Clark Kent" jokes began circulating even before Clark announced his candidacy, when "Draft Clark" organizers said their dream running mate for Clark would be Conrad, so the bumper stickers could read "Clark Kent: Superticket for America." The "dream ticket" was also mentioned in a daily political briefing column that circulates in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere.
Conrad said people have come up to him on the street to talk about the joke.
"I've had every kind of question," Conrad said. "I've had people ask me how I felt about that. How I feel about General Clark. I've had people ask me if I'd accept."
Conrad did get a call from Clark on Thursday morning, but it wasn't because Clark wanted him on the ticket. He called to talk about agriculture, water and trade issues in advance of a visit to North Dakota, tentatively scheduled for next week.
And even though he hasn't been asked, Conrad said he likes the candidate whose name he keeps getting attached to.
"I'm very impressed by him," he said.
The director of the state Democratic party said it's no joke to propose Conrad as a presidential running mate.
"I would be happy to see Kent Conrad on any ticket," Vern Thompson said. "There isn't anybody in the U.S. Congress that knows the budget better than Senator Kent Conrad."
The director of the state Republican party, Jason Stverak, isn't worried about the possibility of a Clark Kent ticket -- however remote that possibility is.
"We have a very simple way of beating the Clark Kent ticket," he said, "because George Bush and Dick Cheney are Kryptonite to them."
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