Wesley Clark

excerpts from the Iowa Daily Report

August, 2003

From CNN transcript of Friday’s “Crossfire” with co-hosts Robert Novak and James Carville interviewing prospective – but, obviously, unprepared – wannabe Gen. Wesley Clark –  NOVAK: OK. General Clark, how would you vote -- if you were president of the United States -- I'm sorry -- would you pass -- would you sign the partial-birth abortion bill, which is about to be passed by Congress? CLARK:  I don't know whether I'd sign that bill or not. I'm not into that detail on partial-birth abortion. In general, I'm pro-life -- excuse me, I'm pro-abortion rights.  CARVILLE: General, are you a Democrat? CLARK:  I've not declared that I'm a Democrat yet.  (8/3/2003)

… Are these folks serious about drafting Clark for the presidency – or are they just a bunch of drunks who keep using the potential Clark candidacy as another reason to keep visiting bars and “drafting” him? Pass another draft beer. Headline from yesterday’s Washington Post: “Gen. Clark’s Backers, Brewing Up a Draft” Excerpt of report by the Post’s Ann Gerhart: “On a typical evening at Stetson's on the U Street strip, the paper Heineken bucket is for hauling chilled beers to your table for serious swilling. This night, the bucket holds ‘regime change,’ and look there -- four quarters, five dimes, a nickel and a penny, to fund the effort to draft a certain former Army general to run for president. It's Meetup night for the Draft Wesley Clark movement, and early Monday evening, there's a sign on the door leading upstairs: ‘Closed for Private Party.’ There, the guys who started this mini-movement in April are bustling around the two pool tables and the Dr. Who pinball machine, putting out bumper stickers and buttons, pasting up a banner…Nine Democrats have been running for months, raising money and building support. None of them is good enough for those who would draft Clark. It's nothing personal; most Clarksters just think the declared candidates can't win in a campaign that will turn on national security. But how about that four-star general? Impeccable bona fides on that, they say. Led the NATO forces trying to put the Balkans back together, believes in America working with its allies, shot four times in Vietnam, Bronze Star, Purple Heart.  Some 30,000 people have sent Clark letters begging him to run, and $338,000 has been pledged to his campaign if he gets in, draft organizers say. On Monday night, Clarksters gathered at 92 Meetups across the country. ‘Something is going on here,’ says Hlinko.  As for the conventional wisdom that says Clark is too late to the party to raise funds and build support, co-founder Josh Margulies trots out the practiced answer: ‘The last time a Rhodes scholar from Arkansas announced against an incumbent named Bush who had just won a war in Iraq, he did okay. And he declared in October.’ Clark himself, in an appearance on CNN last week, said, ‘I am approaching a time when I am going to make a decision,’ adding: ‘I think one of the principal rules of making decisions is, you never have to make a decision before it's time to make a decision. And it's not time to make this decision.’ Vacationing with his wife in California, Clark was unavailable for comment yesterday on his unsolicited faithful.” (8/7/2003)

… Kerry to formally announce candidacy right after Labor Day, but that’s not the really bad news: Four of the nine – Edwards, Moseley Braun, Kucinich and Sharpton – still haven’t made formal candidacy announcements. It’s going to be a long – and interesting – few weeks. Excerpts from AP report in this morning’s The Union Leader “He's been campaigning for president for months, but Democratic Sen. John Kerry will finally make it official in a two-day campaign swing after Labor Day. The Massachusetts senator will begin his announcement on Sept. 2 with appearances in Charleston, S.C., and Des Moines, Iowa, where he plans to focus on his record as a decorated Navy veteran who served in the Vietnam War. Both stops will feature crew members who served on the small gunboat Kerry commanded during the war. On Sept. 3, Kerry will shift his focus to jobs and the economy, first in a swing through New Hampshire and culminating in a rally at Boston's Faneuil Hall. Besides Kerry, four of the nine Democrats seeking the nomination have yet to make official announcements. North Carolina Sen. John Edwards will formally launch his bid on Sept. 16 and former Illinois Sen. Carol Moseley Braun also is expected to announce in mid-September. Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich has said he will make his announcement in mid-October, while Rev. Al Sharpton has not scheduled a formal announcement. Retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark, who says he is seriously considering a run, said on CNN's ‘Late Edition’ Sunday that he would make his intentions known ‘in the next two or three weeks.’” (Iowa Pres Watch Note: For Kerry, this apparently is a new approach. Just a few weeks ago, the announcement plan was to do a major announcement on “Old Ironsides” in Boston Harbor. Maybe his campaign advisers decided it wasn’t the best idea to draw attention to his Massachusetts roots – not to mention the failed prez aspirations of Ted Kennedy and Michael Dukakis.)  (8/19/2003)

… Will Wesley Clark be the Great Dem Hope? Paul Bedard, writing in his “Washington Whispers” column on usnews.com, reports DC Dems are gaining interest in his candidacy – and Arkansas Democrats are considering changing the primary date to give home state favorite an early win. Excerpt from Bedard’s report: “Retired Gen. Wesley Clark, the NATO boss who is toying with a bid for the 2004 Democratic presidential primaries, is starting to gain the interest of key Democrats and the curiosity of the White House. Whispers learns that White House officials have in recent days clicked through the Draft Clark Web site, www.draftclark2004.com, in an apparent effort to keep an eye on the possible presidential or vice presidential candidate. And insiders tell our Suzi Parker that Democrats are becoming interested in the Arkansan, the one possible Democratic candidate whose military and national security credentials can’t be questioned. We learn, for example, that House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi recently reached out to Clark in a phone call and that Arkansas Democratic officials are trying to move up the state’s presidential primary to give the native an early victory next year. Clark’s allies, who are pressuring him to get in, say he might wait until October to declare or bow out of the race, and they also believe that a fall entry won’t be too late. They point out that fellow Arkansan Bill Clinton entered the 1992 race late. Further, they say that money won’t be an issue because defense contractors will line up to back his bid. And speaking of Clinton, Clark’s friends hope that a candidate Clark would revive the former president’s Arkansas Traveler gimmick of sending supporters to key primary and caucus states to talk up the Army vet, laying the groundwork for an eventual Clark visit.” (8/20/2003)

… Persona non Clarka -- Clark banned by CNN’s Dobbs. Under the headline “Straight talk or nothing from CNN’s Dobbs,” Paul Bedard reported in his online “Washington Whispers” column:  “Retired Gen. Wesley Clark may still be a CNN analyst while he contemplates a run at the White House, but there's one network show he has been barred from: ‘Lou Dobbs Tonight.’ The reason? Dobbs believes that when Clark came on his show during the Iraq war and teed off on the Pentagon blueprint, the possible Democratic candidate was pushing his personal political agenda, not providing straight military analysis.”(8/24/2003)

… Typical Clark rally in Little Rock: All the elements and about 300 folks show up – except the presumed wannabe. Most overblown headline of the weekend – from the New Hampshire Sunday News: “Clark supporters rally to call for candidacy” Excerpt from Little Rock coverage by AP’s Tom Parsons: “All the elements of a classic summertime political rally in Arkansas were present Saturday evening, except one. A small band warmed up the crowd at the River Market pavilion on the bank of the Arkansas River near downtown Little Rock. Red, white and blue balloons were tethered to railings and chairs, and a huge American flag was draped across one end of the pavilion. A large photograph of a distinguished-looking gentleman provided a backdrop for the stage. A crowd of about 300 people, many wearing red or blue T-shirts emblazoned with a message, mopped sweat from their brows as they cheered for their chosen candidate. The only thing missing was the candidate. The crowd turned out in the hopes that retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark will get the message and enter next year's presidential race. A dozen speakers exhorted the crowd to keep their enthusiasm and support until Clark announces his decision. Jeff Dailey, co-chairman for Arkansans for Clark, said he felt that might happen within the next few days. Charles King, president of the Arkansas Democratic Black Caucus told the crowd that ‘we need another Arkansan to put America back on the right road.’ Clark grew up in Little Rock before becoming a Rhodes Scholar and a having a 34-year career in the Army, capped by a stint as Supreme Commander of NATO in Europe. King told the crowd that, in America, good is not good enough. ‘We need the best, and Wes is best,’ King said, before leading the crowd in that chant: ‘Wes is best, Wes is best.’”(8/25/2003)

Des Moines Register’s Thomas Beaumont reports in copyrighted story this morning that Clark said yesterday he will announce his decision about seeking the Dem nomination before visiting Iowa next month. Clark is scheduled to speak 9/19 at the University of Iowa in Iowa City(8/27/2003)

… Dean Blows Kerry – and others – away in latest New Hampshire poll. Dean 38%, Kerry 17%, Gephardt 6%. Excerpt from report posted late this morning by the AP’s Will Lester: “Democrat Howard Dean has jumped out to a commanding 21-point lead over rival John Kerry in the latest New Hampshire poll. Dean, who held a single-digit advantage in a recent survey, led Kerry 38 percent to 17 percent in the Zogby International poll of likely primary voters conducted Aug. 23-26 and released Wednesday.  Kerry, the Massachusetts senator, led in New Hampshire polls earlier this year, including a 26 percent to 13 percent advantage in February. The two candidates were essentially tied in a poll by Zogby in June. The August survey comes as Dean has shown political strength in his fund raising, drawn large crowds for his ‘Sleepless Summer’ tour and appeared in television ads in New Hampshire, which is slated to hold its primary Jan. 27. Pollster John Zogby said Dean's support was in all regions of the state, among men and women, Democrats and independents, liberals and moderates. Dean took support from Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri and from undecided voters. Gephardt, who was at 11 percent in February, dropped to 6 percent. Undecided voters fell from 29 percent to 23 percent. ‘His support is really across the board,’ Zogby said of the former Vermont governor. The rest of the Democratic field was in single digits. Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut was at 6 percent, and Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina was at 4 percent. Edwards also is airing ads in New Hampshire. Retired Gen. Wesley Clark, who is considering a presidential bid, was at 2 percent, while Sen. Bob Graham of Florida and Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio were at 1 percent. Carol Moseley Braun and Al Sharpton were at 0 percent. Almost two-thirds of those in the poll, 64 percent, said they think it is likely that President Bush will be re-elected in 2004. The poll of 501 likely primary voters has an error margin of plus or minus 5 percentage points.(8/27/2003)

… Today’s most incredible claim: Clark says the White House tried to run him off job as CNN military analyst. Headline last night on FOXNews.com: “Clark Alleges White House Pushed CNN to Fire Him” Excerpts from coverage: “The White House pressured CNN to fire former military analyst Gen. Wesley Clark, the retired Army chief told a Phoenix radio station on Monday. ‘The White House actually back in February apparently tried to get me knocked off CNN and they wanted to do this because they were afraid that I would raise issues with their conduct of the war,’ Clark told Newsradio 620 KTAR. ‘Apparently they called CNN. I don't have all the proof on this because they didn't call me. I've only heard rumors about it." CNN had no immediate comment on the general's allegations. White House officials told Fox News that they are ‘adamant’ that they ‘never tried to get Wesley Clark kicked off the air in any way, shape or form.’ Beyond that, the White House ‘won't respond to rumors.’ Clark was one of cable network CNN’s military analysts and commentators during the Iraq war. Frequently named as a possible presidential candidate, Clark has not said whether he is interested in seeking the Democratic nomination. But, in his comments on the ‘Drive Home With Preston Westmoreland Show,’ Clark indicated that he is debating a bid. ‘I had a very clear understanding with CNN that if I ever decided to go forward in considering becoming a political candidate that I would at that point, leave CNN. That's what I did in June,’ he said. Previously, Clark claimed publicly that after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, he was pressured by the Bush administration to link the attacks directly to Iraq. When pressed on Fox News' Hannity & Colmes show, Clark refused to name White House names and instead fingered a public policy think tank in Canada. ‘I personally got a call from a fellow in Canada who is part of a Middle Eastern think tank who gets inside intelligence information. He called me on 9/11,’ Clark said. When asked who in the White House contacted him, Clark responded that he was ‘not going to go into those sources.’ Once again, the White House insisted they never applied any pressure. Grassroots organizations have encouraged the former NATO commander to make a run. The DraftWesleyClark.com group commissioned a Zogby poll in which those surveyed were asked to select a candidate based on his bio without knowing the candidate's name. The poll, released Monday, showed Clark with 49 percent support in the ‘Blind Bio’ survey compared to 40 percent for President Bush. Matched up against six of the nine Democratic candidates, Clark polled in first place. That number dropped to fifth place among likely Democratic primary voters, however, when the candidates were named. Clark backers still found this data encouraging, noting that he earned high marks ‘despite his low name recognition, and the fact that he has not spent a dime’ on campaigning. Clark, who is holding his decision close to the vest, told the radio station: ‘I still am not a candidate. I'm not affiliated with the party, and I haven't raised a penny of political money.’” (Iowa Pres Watch Note: The first thing to remember about Clark’s claims is that he was a Rhodes Scholar from Arkansas – like a former president from Arkansas.) (8/27/2003)

… This sounds like another Dean campaign gimmick, but this time it’s the Draft Clark crazies who are trying to bother Bush – by renting office space in Crawford. Excerpt from report – headlined “Candidates encroach on Bush…Democratic hopefuls boldly hit Texas to stump” – by Julie Mason in Monday’s Houston Chronicle:    “Organizers of the Draft Wesley Clark for President movement are trying to rent office space in Crawford, on the theory it's becoming the national seat of power. Their effort, which also includes sending Clark bars and T-shirts to White House adviser Karl Rove, is part of a mini-surge among Democratic presidential hopefuls and would-be contenders to take their fight directly to President Bush, wherever he may be, during his monthlong hiatus from Washington. ‘If the seat of government has moved to Crawford for the better part of the year, we realized we should establish a presence there as well,’ said Josh Margulies, a Republican who is among those urging former NATO Supreme Commander Clark to enter the Democratic fray… So far, Dean's campaign has proved the most adept at thumbing its nose at Bush in prankish, campaign-style ways. The Austin television ads were followed by a ploy last week, when organizers managed to park a colorful Dean-for-president van along the route of the president's motorcade when he traveled to Washington state. But not far behind are the Draft Wesley Clark organizers, who claim they have been rebuffed in trying to lease office space in Crawford. Later this week, Margulies said, supporters may visit from Washington, to ride around in a pickup truck and clear brush -- mocking a frequent pastime of the president at his ranch. So far, Clark has not said whether he will run, although an announcement is expected soon.”(8/27/2003)

… Saving a seat for Wesley. Under the subhead “Squeezing play,” Paul Bedard reports in his “Washington Whispers” column in U. S. News & World Report that Clark will not be forgotten during the NM wannabe debate. The column item: “Democratic officials preparing for the New Mexico primary debate September 4 are so confident that retired Gen. Wesley Clark plans to join the race they're adding a 10th podium to the dais. Word in party HQ is that the former NATO boss will announce his decision Labor Day on whether to get in or bow out. If he joins the other nine candidates, officials say, he'll immediately become ‘top tier.’”(8/27/2003)

… For months, the main rivalry has been Dean vs. Kerry – but if Clark enters the wannabe race it could shift to Kerry vs. Clark on military record comparisons. Boston Globe notes that Kerry – now the only vet in race – could face competition for military/veteran support. Headline from yesterday’s Boston Herald: “Kerry touts hero rep as Clark mulls run” Excerpt from coverage by the Herald’s Noelle Straub: “Sen. John F. Kerry yesterday played up his own history as a combat hero as another candidate with military background - retired four-star Army Gen. Wesley Clark - mulled a presidential run. Kerry, currently the only veteran in the race, told the VFW convention in Texas yesterday that as president he would ‘bring the perspective of someone who's fought on the front lines.’…Jennifer Duffy, a political analyst for The Cook Political Report, noted the string of events and said Clark - the former NATO supreme allied commander - would ‘certainly’ compete with Kerry on national security issues. ‘Obviously, Kerry is building on that credential,’ she said. ‘I doubt it is entirely or even halfway geared at Clark, but he certainly is laying a marker down.’  But Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said Clark would have difficulty launching a viable campaign because he has no political organization and most operatives already work for other campaigns. Meanwhile, Clark backers said their internal polling shows he would run fifth among the Democrats in the race, boosted by his military credentials.” (8/27/2003)

… Let’s see now, weren’t the frontrunners rounding the Labor Day turn supposed to be Lieberman, Wonderboy Edwards and Kerry – with Gephardt locking up the AFL-CIO endorsement months ago? And while we’re at it, who’s this Dean guy?  Under the subhead “Waiting for Clark,” Greg Pierce in yesterday’s “Inside Politics” column reported on Amy Sullivan’s observations: “’The script for the 2004 Democratic primary has not worked out as written,’ Amy Sullivan writes in the September issue of the Washington Monthly. ‘By this time, with nine candidates in the running — representing various wings of the party and several regions of the country — one or two were supposed to have caught fire. But so far, after a half-dozen cattle calls, a full round of 'Meet the Press' appearances, and an untold number of pancake breakfasts, there is no real front-runner,’ the writer said. ‘The early favorites, like Joe Lieberman and John Edwards, are struggling. John Kerry has raised money, but not hopes or excitement. The one guy who has surged ahead, Howard Dean, is widely seen as, in Texas-speak, snakebit. He was adamantly against the war in Iraq, which 62 percent of the country still supports, and while he is no dove — he says he supported every post-Vietnam U.S. intervention through Kosovo — he lacks national security experience. Leading Democrats are increasingly worried that he just can't beat Bush next year. And so are voters. Instead of coalescing around one or two strong possibilities, likely voters are withdrawing their support. Today, there are actually more undecided Democrats than there were just a few months ago. The number stood at 15 percent in May and 30 percent in early July. In a late July Zogby poll, almost half of those Democrats polled — 48 percent — said they wish they had other candidates to choose from. Democrats want somebody else to run. And that somebody could be Wesley Clark, the former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO and current undeclared candidate for the Democratic nomination, who has assured supporters that he will announce his intentions sometime this month."(8/27/2003)

… “General Is Said to Want to Join ’04 Race” – headline from yesterday’s New York Times. Report says he will wait until after the September filing period and “possible” announce date and site will be 9/19 speech at University of Iowa. Excerpt from report by the Times’ Michael Janofsky: “Wesley K. Clark, the retired four-star general who has been contemplating a run for president, has told close friends that he wants to join the Democratic race and is delaying a final decision only until he feels he has a legitimate chance of winning the nomination. ‘It's safe to say he wants to run,’ said a longtime friend who has had frequent political conversations with General Clark. ‘But he approaches this like a military man. He wants to know, Can I win the battle? He doesn't want to have a situation where he could embarrass himself, but I'm absolutely certain he wants to run.’ Whether he does, his friends said, will be determined by his instincts and a firm assessment of Howard Dean, the former governor of Vermont, whose early success has come in part through criticism of White House strategies in Iraq that are every bit as strong as General Clark's. While General Clark has consistently maintained that he has not yet made up his mind, his friends said a major obstacle has been cleared — family approval. They said his wife, Gert, who had initially expressed reservations, now favors his running. ‘He is going to do it,’ said another of General Clark's friends. ‘He's just going back and forth as to when’ to announce. In an interview from his office in Little Rock, Ark., General Clark said today that he intended to announce his decision whether he would run in two weeks or so. ‘I've got to by then,’ he said. ‘I've just got to. I can't have done nothing, and if I do it, there's groundwork to be laid.’ More than likely, General Clark would wait until sometime after Sept. 15, a financial reporting date for presidential contenders. If he announces before then, he would have to reveal how much money he raised in the third quarter of the year, which pales beside the millions generated by Dr. Dean, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts and other leading Democratic candidates. A possible date for an announcement is Sept. 19, when General Clark, who has been highly critical of Bush administration foreign policy, is scheduled to deliver a speech at the University of Iowa. The subject is ‘The American Leadership Role in a Changing World.’ The addition of General Clark into the presidential campaign could shake up a race that has remained fairly static for months, with Dr. Dean, Mr. Kerry and Representative Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri showing greater traction than the others running: Senators Bob Graham of Florida, Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, John Edwards of North Carolina, Representative Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio, former Senator Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois and the Rev. Al Sharpton.  While some contenders view General Clark more as a running mate than presidential threat, his credentials could pose problems for several of them. As a former military officer, he would sound at least as credible on national security matters as Dr. Dean. As a Southerner from Little Rock, General Clark might blunt the appeal of Mr. Edwards and Mr. Graham in the South. And as a Vietnam veteran, he would temper a prominent theme of Mr. Kerry's campaign, that he is the only Democrat running to have served in combat. But almost all the other Democrats have financial and organizational advantages over General Clark. He has done almost nothing to prepare for a nationwide campaign or even one centered in the early test states, Iowa and New Hampshire. A spokeswoman, Holly Johnson, said his only political activity had been traveling the country, giving speeches.”(8/29/2003)

… Clark – who’s generating as many news reports as real wannabe Dean – would, according to Boston Globe column, transform the race, presumably pass “go” and move directly to the top tier. Kerry’s support would be jeopardized. Headline on Robert Kuttner’s column in the Wednesday’s Globe: “If Clark runs, all bets are off” Excerpt from commentary by Kuttner, who is co-editor of The American Prospect:   “Wesley Clark has told associates that he will decide in the next few weeks whether to declare for president. If he does, it would transform the race. Call me star-struck, but he'd instantly be among the top tier. Clark, in case you've been on sabbatical in New Zealand, is all over the talk shows. He's the former NATO supreme commander who headed operations in Kosovo, a Rhodes Scholar who graduated first in his class at West Point, and a Vietnam vet with several combat medals including a purple heart. He has been a tough critic of Bush's foreign policy. His domestic positions are not as fully fashioned, but he'd repeal Bush's tax cuts and revisit the so-called Patriot Act. More interestingly, Clark is progressive on domestic issues by way of his military background. Though it is very much a hierarchy, the military is also the most egalitarian island in this unequal society. Top executives -- four-star generals -- make about nine times the pay of buck privates…Clark is the soldier as citizen. Even better, he's the soldier as tough liberal. Just imagine Clark, with his distinguished military record, up against our draft dodger president who likes to play ‘Top Gun’ dress-up. Imagine the Rhodes Scholar against the leader who can't ad lib without a speechwriting staff. Oh, and he's from Arkansas. The draft-Clark people have already raised over a million dollars. Clark's not-yet-announced campaign is the second Internet phenomenon this year, after Howard Dean's. If he declares, Clark will have lots of volunteers and donors. Like John McCain, he'd be a terrific draw for political independents. Except he's a Democrat. The downside is that it's hard to get into the race this late. A lot of the fund-raisers and campaign professionals are already committed…a lot of the support for the existing candidates is soft, with the exception of Dean's. Some of Dick Gephardt's own closest backers wonder if he can really do it, and that also goes for John Kerry, Joseph Lieberman and John Edwards. This year, just about everyone engaged in Democratic politics has a higher commitment to the goal of ousting George Bush than to any single Democratic candidate. Clark could probably peel off a lot of donors and campaign professionals -- and grow some new ones. And, as candidates drop out, many professionals will soon be looking for work. If Clark gets in, Kerry would be hurt the most, because Kerry is most like Clark. His military record and defense expertise make him the most bullet-proof of the Democratic field on national security issues. But, paradoxically, Dean might be hurt, too. Dean has been the favorite of the antiwar activists and he's also the freshest face. Clark is an antiwar candidate and a former four-star general and an even fresher face. As someone who's not an identified liberal from a conservative part of the country, he'd also pull votes from Lieberman, Edwards, and Graham. Who might Clark pick as a running mate? Someone with domestic political experience: a Western or Midwestern governor or senator. Maybe New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, a former Clinton Cabinet official and a Hispanic. Or how about Michigan's effective and popular governor, Jennifer Granholm? Or Illinois Senator Dick Durbin? Dwight Eisenhower was the last general to make it to the White House. He could have had the nomination of either party. He decided that he was a Republican, but he governed as an old-fashioned moderate, and he was phenomenally popular. Now all of this may just be an August sunstroke fantasy. We'll soon find out. And if Clark doesn't get in, he'd make one fine vice presidential candidate for any of the bunch.”(8/29/2003)

… “Clark likely to run, says Democratic panel chief” – headline from yesterday’s Des Moines Register. Excerpts from coverage by the Register’s Thomas Beaumont:   “Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe told Gov. Tom Vilsack on Wednesday that he expects Gen. Wesley Clark to run for the party's 2004 presidential nomination. The speculation came as the former NATO commander hinted that he would decide in the next three weeks. ‘Chairman McAuliffe indicated he thought General Clark would get into the race,’ Vilsack press secretary Matt Paul said of Vilsack's conversation with McAuliffe. Their talks centered on recent Democratic victories in special legislative elections, outreach efforts by Iowa Democrats, and President Bush's political vulnerabilities. The comments about Clark were in passing as the conversation ended, Paul said. While a Washington, D.C.-based effort to draft Clark to run has been running ads in several states including Iowa, the retired army general told The Des Moines Register on Tuesday that he would decide whether he will be a candidate by the time he speaks at the University of Iowa on Sept. 19. The Iowa visit is of interest because the Iowa Democratic precinct caucuses kick off the 2004 nominating season on Jan. 19. Clark has been mentioned as a potential presidential candidate since last year. An aide said Clark was traveling in Washington, D.C., but planned to spend the Labor Day weekend at home in Little Rock, Ark., with his family.” (8/29/2003)

… $1M in pledges await Clark decision, but even Kucinich has raised more than that. Under the subhead “Million-dollar man,” Greg Pierce reported Friday in his “Inside Politics” column in the Washington Times: “A group trying to persuade retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark to run for president announced yesterday that it has exceeded $1 million in pledges. ‘By raising over a million dollars in pledges before General Clark has even finalized his decision, Clark supporters everywhere have sent a powerful message of just how strongly they want General Clark as our next president,’ said John Hlinko, co-founder of DraftWesleyClark.com. ‘But we're not stopping at $1 million — we will continue to drive this effort forward, raise as much as possible in pledges for this candidacy, and give General Clark the money he needs to hit the ground running from Day 1,’ he said.” (8/31/2003)

… Des Moines Register political ace David Yepsen warns Kerry might not withstand a Dean win in Iowa, says it may be time for Edwards and Graham to get “gut checks” and notes that it’s “getting pretty late” for Clark to join the fun. Excerpt from column on CNN.com by “Inside Politics” anchor Judy Woodruff: “David Yepsen, veteran Des Moines Register reporter and political watcher, appearing on Friday's CNN's ‘Inside Politics,’ told me that he sees Dean building a slight lead over Gephardt.  Yepsen believes a Dean win in Iowa could prove costly to another rival, Kerry, down the road. ‘The candidate who wins Iowa automatically gets a 8- to 10-point bump in the state of New Hampshire, where Dean is already leading Kerry by, in some polls, double-digit margins,’ he said. ‘So I don't know that Kerry could withstand Dean winning here because it would just have a real multiplier effect in New Hampshire.’  Yepsen also said that Sens. Bob Graham, D-Florida, and John Edwards, D-North Carolina, might be due for a ‘gut check’ after spending considerable time and resources in the state, but failing to register any movement the polls…And what about a possible tenth member for the '04 Democratic field? Yepsen says it's still possible for former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Wesley Clark, who is weighing a run, to throw his hat in the ring. ‘Fifteen percent say they're undecided, so there's room for General Clark to get an audience, but it's getting pretty late.’ In a sign that some Democrats can't let go of the regular fall campaign marker, Kerry and Edwards scheduled official campaign ‘announcements’ for September 2 and September 16 respectively. Some political traditions never die.” (8/31/2003)

… “Mr. Clark says he is considering running because of a ‘groundswell’ of public support. He seems to be the only political observer who has spotted the groundswell.” – Sentence from Friday’s Washington Times editorial examining the former general’s possible candidacy. The headline: “Wesley Clark – Mercenary” An editorial excerpt: “Retired Gen. Wesley Clark's year-long flirtation with running for the presidency is becoming absurd. Not since Mario (Hamlet-on-the Hudson) Cuomo's ultimately fruitless presidential dalliance in the eighties has a non-candidate received so much press coverage, most of it uncritical. Mr. Clark is posturing himself above partisan politics, presumably deciding which party he will represent should he actually run for president based on an undisclosed calculus of self-interest. He doesn't seem to grasp that there are clear philosophical differences between Republicans and Democrats, and that choosing sides is a matter of principle, not expediency. Mr. Clark's actions in the presidential arena make him the equivalent of a political mercenary. Before Mr. Clark campaigns for the White House, he needs to go through basic training in American politics. His first lesson should be to memorize Lincoln's adage about the impossibility of fooling all the people all the time. Mr. Clark has been posturing as an independent who doesn't know whether to run as a Democrat or a Republican. In August, he told CNN's Aaron Brown that ‘for me, it's not about partisan politics.’ Yet Mr. Clark's track record is plainly partisan. In Georgia's Senate race last year, he endorsed the Democratic incumbent over Republican challenger Saxby Chambliss. Mr. Clark votes as a Democrat in primaries in his home state of Arkansas. The ‘Draft Clark’ Web site lauds him for having ‘progressive social principles in line with our Democratic ideals.’ Time magazine reported last year that Mr. Clark's presidential prospecting included meetings with top Democratic donors and fundraisers. Mr. Clark's evasiveness regarding his Democratic Party affiliations is troubling, but his ignorance of American politics is more disturbing. Last week on ‘Crossfire,’ Mr. Clark said: ‘The majority of the people in this country really aren't affiliated with parties, they're independent.’ This is dead wrong. Three-quarters of the voters register as Republicans or Democrats, and another five percent or so belong to minor parties. Four out of five voters identify themselves as partisans because they embrace the particular set of political ideals for which their chosen party stands. They grasp something that apparently eludes the general: Politics is about principles. Mr. Clark is a mature man whose intellectual formation includes West Point and Oxford University. If choosing between political parties is so difficult for him, it reveals a core lack of principles. This mercenary mentality raises serious doubts concerning his fitness for the presidency. Mr. Clark could be attracted to the commander in chief component of the job. Ambition may tell him it is the only rank left to attain higher than that of four-star general. But that is only part of the president's job description. The majority of a president's duties involve working with other elected officials. This requires keenly-honed political skills. Mr. Clark's dismissive attitude toward the role of parties on America's governing process suggests he would fail miserably as our top politician. Mr. Clark says he is considering running because of a ‘groundswell’ of public support. He seems to be the only political observer who has spotted the groundswell. We rather doubt that the people are, or will be, clamoring for a political mercenary in the Oval Office. They know that the presidency isn't a matter of choosing a flag of convenience.”    (8/31/2003)

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