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Clark's 2004 Campaign Shakes Off Early Missteps
Reuters - Yahoo News ^ | 1/4/04 | By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent

Posted on 01/05/2004 9:33:00 AM PST by Solson

By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Retired four-star Gen. Wesley Clark (news - web sites) made a splashy but late entrance into the 2004 White House race, riding a gold-plated resume to the top tier of the Democratic pack before a series of early missteps sent him tumbling.


Slideshow

 

But Clark, a quick study as a Rhodes scholar and the top cadet in his class at West Point, has since found his voice on the campaign trail and says he is tailor-made for a race against President Bush (news - web sites) in which national security and foreign policy will play prominent roles.

"This is an election that's going to be about national security," Clark, a former NATO (news - web sites) commander who directed the 1999 bombing campaign in Kosovo, said in a December debate with his eight Democratic rivals in the first primary state of New Hampshire.

"It's going to be about facing down George Bush and his failure to perform his duties satisfactorily as commander in chief," he said. "I'm the only candidate ... who can take that fight to George W. Bush."

Clark, spurred on by a well-organized Internet campaign that tried to draft him into the Democratic race, declared his candidacy with a burst of publicity on Sept. 17.

An early critic of the war in Iraq (news - web sites), he stumbled on his first campaign trip over whether he would have supported a congressional resolution authorizing military action. He initially told reporters he probably would have, then switched his stance 24 hours later.

His Democratic rivals also questioned his party credentials, noting he had voted for Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan (news - web sites) and Richard Nixon and praised Bush at a Republican fund-raiser in 2001.

Even though Clark quickly shot near the top of many national polls, he drifted down over the next few weeks. His campaign staff went through several shake-ups, and he decided in October to skip Iowa's party caucuses on Jan. 19, calculating he did not have the organization to compete there.

With a more seasoned staff in place, many taken from the failed campaign of Florida Sen. Bob Graham, Clark has focused on doing well enough in the New Hampshire primary on Jan. 27 to position himself for a breakthrough in the seven more moderate Southern and Western states that hold contests on Feb. 3.

He gave a series of policy speeches to flesh out his sometimes sketchy stands on foreign and domestic issues, proposing guaranteed health care coverage for all children, calling for an army of civilian domestic volunteers and laying out steps to expand international involvement in Iraq and mend relations with Europe.

GRABBING THE FLAG

By December, Clark's stump speech blended tough criticism of Bush as a commander in chief with reminders of his own service, including a decorated stint in Vietnam in which he was wounded.

At a convention of Florida Democrats in early December, he dramatically grabbed a flag from the back of the stage and planted it at the podium, holding it with one hand as he declared it "our flag."

"We'll never let George W. Bush, Tom DeLay or John Ashcroft (news - web sites) tell us we don't have this flag," he said, referring to the House Republican leader and the attorney general. "America must do better than this president."

Clark, a native of Arkansas like former Democratic President Bill Clinton (news - web sites), has been aided by several members of Clinton's administration and won praise from Clinton, who appointed him NATO commander.

Described as a brilliant, hard-working but thin-skinned perfectionist while at NATO, he has been criticized by some of his former military colleagues -- most notably Hugh Shelton, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who raised questions about his character and integrity.

Clark called the comments, never explained by Shelton, modern-day "McCarthyism" prompted by disagreements over policy while Clark was heading the military campaign in Bosnia.

 

"He's the man for the job," a senior Pentagon (news - web sites) official said of Clark when he was named NATO commander. "Clark is bright, scholarly and affable. And he can negotiate with presidents and governments as well as dealing with military counterparts."

By the time he left in 1999, Clark had antagonized Pentagon superiors with what they viewed as a self-promoting style and with his arguments in Kosovo that preparing ground attacks and an invasion was the only way to convince the Serbs that NATO was determined to do what was necessary to win.

A senior member of the U.S. team that helped broker the 1995 Dayton peace accords on Bosnia, Clark testified in The Hague (news - web sites) in December at the war crimes trial of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic (news - web sites), calling it "a very, very satisfying experience."

He acknowledged during the campaign he made a mistake in a 1994 meeting with Bosnian Serb Gen. Ratko Mladic, posing for pictures with him, exchanging hats and accepting a bottle of brandy and a pistol. Mladic, an indicted war criminal, is accused of slaughtering thousands of civilians.

The 59-year-old Clark, who speaks Russian, has one son with his wife, Gert.


TOPICS: Extended News; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2004; 2004elections; candidate; clark; democratic; nominee; wesley; wesleyclark; whataweasel
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To: yoe
Come on you West Pointers and other Military people, post what you have been telling me!

I have been waiting for a big old document drop from the Pentagon; Clark certainly has waved a red flag in their faces concerning his service -- practically daring them to say anything against him.

I don't know what the hell they are waiting on.

21 posted on 01/05/2004 9:56:13 AM PST by Howlin (Bush has stolen two things which Democrats believe they own by right: the presidency & the future)
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To: Solson
Uh dude, this was written by Reuters. You know the press agency that mandated a couple of days after 9/11, that the terrorists shouldn't be called terrorists.
22 posted on 01/05/2004 9:57:17 AM PST by Dane
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To: Huck
The recent negative press has very little to do with it. I am looking at the momentum of the candidates as well as name recognition. Clark got in this race late, comparitively speaking, and his name recognition is shooting through the roof.

Moreover, internal Dem support for Clark is very high. The screaming banshees of the left are supporting Clark, not Dean. The tide has already started to turn. Now, WITH the media's help, Dean will be taken down. Clark is the guy. The media is paying attention to him already and offering nothing but softballs, a la Meet the Press yesterday.

23 posted on 01/05/2004 9:57:28 AM PST by Solson (Our work is the presentation of our capabilities. - Von Goethe)
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To: Howlin

24 posted on 01/05/2004 9:58:36 AM PST by jwalsh07
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To: Solson
Your entitled to your opinion.
25 posted on 01/05/2004 9:58:58 AM PST by Huck (This space available--monthly rates---great exposure)
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To: Solson
Wesley Clark lost his shine about 3 days after entering the race. I don't know why you consider him the favorite.
26 posted on 01/05/2004 9:59:21 AM PST by HitmanLV (I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.)
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To: yoe
I think that will happen in the general election. Then it will be folks who wouldn't follow Clark against folks like General Zinni who openly lambasts Bush.

I still think Bush wins this election but it will be against Clark.

27 posted on 01/05/2004 10:00:05 AM PST by Solson (Our work is the presentation of our capabilities. - Von Goethe)
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To: HitmanNY
With low unfavorables, increasing name recognition, Clinton and DLC support, Radical leftist support, a growing war chest, and media compliance in labeling him a moderate with foreign policy experience are some of the reasons I consider him the favorite.

Watch South Carolina. If Clark can win, he wins the South and the nomination. If Dean can pull off SC, he will win.

28 posted on 01/05/2004 10:02:58 AM PST by Solson (Our work is the presentation of our capabilities. - Von Goethe)
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To: jwalsh07
Danger, Will Robinson!
29 posted on 01/05/2004 10:04:35 AM PST by Howlin (Bush has stolen two things which Democrats believe they own by right: the presidency & the future)
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To: Huck
I'd much rather see Dean win. I don't think he can maintain his leads.
30 posted on 01/05/2004 10:05:27 AM PST by Solson (Our work is the presentation of our capabilities. - Von Goethe)
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To: Solson
I completely disagree. His best days are behind him - the time leading up to his announcing his entry was his glory days. He was exposed shortly after that and hasn't done a thing to improve that perception in any of the debates, where he looks just like the rest of the pack, admittedly with more of a 'wide eyed' look of wonder to him.

Second, you went from anointing him the nominee in your first post to a strange 'South Carolina' analysisyjay I think is 1/2 baked, frankly.

Wait and see.
31 posted on 01/05/2004 10:06:48 AM PST by HitmanLV (I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.)
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To: Solson
Clark won't even beat Sharpton in South Carolina and if it wasn't for Carol Mosely Braun, neither would Dean.
32 posted on 01/05/2004 10:08:05 AM PST by jwalsh07
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To: jwalsh07
We can hope.
33 posted on 01/05/2004 10:09:12 AM PST by Solson (Our work is the presentation of our capabilities. - Von Goethe)
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To: Solson
I guess we'll see. I don't have a preference really. I think they're both nuts.
34 posted on 01/05/2004 10:09:40 AM PST by Huck (This space available--monthly rates---great exposure)
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To: Solson
Take it to the bank, look at Jesse Jacksons numbers when he ran in the south.
35 posted on 01/05/2004 10:11:42 AM PST by jwalsh07
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To: jwalsh07
Yeah, I read an article earlier today on that exact premise...that Sharpton will win in the South. I'd love to see Sharpton take the majority of the south and Dean win the nomination. I just want us to be prepared for the Clark onslaught.
36 posted on 01/05/2004 10:15:27 AM PST by Solson (Our work is the presentation of our capabilities. - Von Goethe)
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To: Solson
While I'm a bit more worried about Clark than many seem to be, I can't see how one could currently think he's definitely going to be the nominee.

1. Clark got in late. Not even campaigning in Iowa.
2. Dean has far more money.
3. Dean has Gore's endorsement, 1 senator and like 13 reps. He's picking up Bill Bradley's today.
4. Dean has union endorsements.
5. Dean has by far the best organization of any of the Dems. His supporters are kooky, but numerous and dedicated.
6. Clark just isn't polished and it shows.
7. Dean has the highest name recognition.
8. If Dean wins IA and NH, he'll get a boost in fundraising and probably enough momentum to pull off a SC victory as well.

It's not impossible, but Clark is still a long shot. Bush will crush either of them in the general election.
37 posted on 01/05/2004 10:23:14 AM PST by zencat
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To: Solson
Interesting headline from REUTERS. Five days into the new year, and Clark hasn't put a major foot into his mouth yet, if you don't count that "joke" about Dean the skier.

Give him a little more time.
38 posted on 01/05/2004 11:05:20 AM PST by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: Solson
He will be the Democratic nominee.

Doesn't matter. He's a nutcase as well.

His tax "reform" plan raises taxes. Bush will kill him with that.

And, he will likely be confronted by those in the military who know him well.

Bush's record speaks for itself. Dean and Clark are the two mental unstables in the race, and they're leading in the polls. What does that say about Democrats?

39 posted on 01/05/2004 11:13:06 AM PST by sinkspur (Adopt a shelter dog or cat! You'll save one life, and maybe two!)
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To: Solson
"It's going to be about facing down George Bush and his failure to perform his duties satisfactorily as commander in chief,"

This is lunacy on Clark's part. President Bush may have weaknesses but they are not military ones.

40 posted on 01/05/2004 11:16:03 AM PST by NeoCaveman (Happy New Year)
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