The first important decision of retired Army General Wesley Clark’s new political career was the long deferral of its launch. As Clark lodged safely in the rear echelon, the other Democratic Presidential aspirants spent most of the year hustling money at fund-raisers, finessing the Iraq question, and trying to befriend every citizen of Iowa and New Hampshire. By September, a bleak common wisdom had taken hold among Democratic Party pros: the established candidates were struggling, and an outsider, Howard Dean, seemed destined to win the nomination but would be a weak opponent for George W. Bush. By mid-September, many Democrats...