Clark Campaign Manager Quits, Signaling Rift (The Weasel's Screwup du Jour, Part 2!)

The New York Times ^ | October 8, 2003 | Glen Justice

[Timesink]

Clark Campaign Manager Quits, Signaling Rift

By GLEN JUSTICE

ASHINGTON, Oct. 7 — Wesley K. Clark's campaign manager resigned on Tuesday, exposing a rift within the retired general's camp just three weeks into his fledgling bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, campaign aides said.

The manager, Donnie Fowler, stepped down a week after Eli Segal, a former aide to President Bill Clinton, arrived at General Clark's headquarters in Little Rock, Ark., to take charge of the campaign. Aides to the general said Mr. Segal's arrival could have been the source of friction with Mr. Fowler.

Mr. Segal issued a statement on Tuesday night that praised Mr. Fowler and said, "General Clark and all of us at the campaign are grateful for his efforts."

A campaign spokeswoman, Kym Spell, declined to elaborate about the resignation, and Mr. Fowler did not respond to phone calls.

In addition to Mr. Segal, other former aides to Mr. Clinton have emerged in recent weeks as prominent figures within the Clark campaign. They include Ron Klain, a policy adviser; Mark Fabiani, a communications adviser; and Mickey Kantor and Bruce Lindsey, who are also regarded as part of General Clark's inner circle of counselors.

Two top aides to General Clark said they were surprised by Mr. Fowler's departure, and one of them described the resignation as "growing pains" in the Clark campaign.

The departure is a bruise for General Clark at a time when his organization is still coming together even as he is outpolling his eight Democratic rivals in some recent surveys. Campaign aides said the change occurred amid complaints from some of General Clark's supporters — who took charge of an online effort to draft the general into the race and collected roughly $2 million in pledges — that they were not being taken seriously by the campaign's professional staff.

"This is an extraordinary campaign that got started from a dead stop," one aide said. "There wasn't a warmup or a buildup. A lot of people jumped in as volunteers. Managing that in the first two and a half weeks was an enormous task."

Many among General Clark's staff were once aides to former President Bill Clinton or to Vice President Al Gore and are veterans of past Democratic campaigns. Mr. Fowler, the son of Don Fowler, a former Democratic Party chairman, has also worked on several presidential campaigns.

General Clark was criticized shortly after entering the Democratic race, which now includes nine candidates, for giving conflicting answers on whether he would have supported the Congressional resolution to go to war in Iraq. His affiliation to the Democratic Party, which he announced shortly before running, also came into question after it was reported that he voted for the Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan and Richard M. Nixon and that he had failed to register as a Democrat in Arkansas.

[Timesink]

BWA-HA-HAAAA!

Here's Part One:

Clark Speeches May Violate Election Law (The Weasel's Screwup du Jour)

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[RWR8189]

There appears to be a feeling of general confusion in this campaign.

[Lion in Winter]

No, the clintonoids are taking over the reins of his campaign... completely.

weasel-clark is a front man/dummy/substitute/sock puppet/marionette/yesman/chamberpot holder for the clintons.

[Defender2]

The Campaign Manager realized Clark is nothing but DeadWood, Also realizing America is better off now that this DeadWood retired from Military Service!!!!

[snooker]

The campaign of General Confusion. Where am I and why am I here. This guy folded up real quick.

[Alberta's Child]

Before a candidate allows Bill Clinton to have any say in his campaign, he should first realize that Democrats for whom Bill Clinton actively campaigned are something like 0 for 27 in elections over the last couple of years.

Gray Davis being the latest casualty of Clinton's "assistance," of course.

[Timesink]

bump

[MegaSilver]

This caught my eye, from a similar article:

Clark's Campaign Manager Quits in Feud

"Donnie Fowler, 35, told associates he was leaving over concerns that supporters who used the Internet to draft Clark into the race are not being taken seriously by top campaign officials. Fowler also complained that the campaign's message and methods are focused too much on Washington, not key states, said two associates who spoke on condition of anonymity."

We should be focusing on "key states"? Methinks he revealed a little more than he intended about the attitude of the Democratic party with that complaint...

[austingirl]

I can see it - I'm getting a vivid mental image - seriously, he is the antithesis of everything I think of and admire in a military man.

[ladtx]

...a former aide to President Bill Clinton, arrived at General Clark's headquarters in Little Rock, Ark., to take charge of the campaign.

The "Judas goat" arrives.