Wesley Clark

excerpts from the Iowa Daily Report

October 16-31, 2003

… Are the supporters who drafted Wesley Clark into the 2004 presidential race now finding there’s ‘no room at the inn’ for them? Washington Post’s Terry Neal writes an interesting analysis in yesterday’s Post. Here are some excerpts: “The thing about wild-eyed idealism is that it doesn't pay the bills. When it came time to turn the movement to draft retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark to run for president into a nuts-and-bolts campaign, the usual dramas surfaced over power and money … after Clark announced, the Internet activists had trouble melding with each other or with the professional campaign people, many of whom were veterans of the Clinton and Gore presidential campaigns. Initially, some of the Internet folks said they felt as though they were being shunted aside by people who understood the value of their product but not their value as human capital. The leaders of DraftWesleyClark.com, John Hlinko and Josh Margulies, had said before Clark entered the race, that they would only take a salary if anything were left over after paying for expenses. This week, they said they were asking the Clark campaign for reimbursement for their work, and they acknowledged that the amount of their request -- which they would not reveal -- had generated a fair amount of dissension in the campaign. They said their lawyers were in negotiations with the campaign over "fair market value" for the e-mail list. Problems such as these aside, the campaign was happy to report Wednesday that DraftWesleyClark.com had come through, converting about half of the $1.9 million in pledges into actual dollar contributions in the third quarter. In addition, Margulies, who has been hired by the campaign as a deputy spokesman, predicted that about 70 percent of the total $3.5 million raised by the campaign in the previous quarter came from Internet contributions. … Not all of the Internet activists who worked on the draft Clark movement are so happy. Stirling Newberry, a Lowell, Mass., activist who helped start or run a number of pro-Clark Web sites, including DraftClark.com, has been the most vocal. In a blunt (his critics say bitter) "Open Letter to the Clark Movement", Newberry predicted that the dual failures of the Internet-based movement and the professional campaign leadership will lead to the candidate's political demise. (10/17/2003)

… Retired General Wesley Clark has added some 200 pages to his resume. The pages, sent to the New York Times this week, are expected to be released publicly as well, according to an article in yesterday’s New York Times. Excerpts: “The campaign of Gen. Wesley K. Clark, who has based his Democratic presidential bid on his career in the United States Army, this week released 200 pages of internal military evaluations from his commanding officers, who repeatedly used only superlatives to describe his skills, energy and leadership abilities….The release comes at a time of increasing interest in General Clark's biography and several weeks after officials who had served with him said his career revealed both strengths and shortcomings. In one incident in 1994, General Clark posed with Gen. Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian-Serb general accused of slaughtering hundreds of civilians. General Clark had been advised by the State Department not to meet with him, but he did anyway, swapping caps and posing for pictures. At a forum last month in California, Gen. Henry H. Shelton, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and who is retired, spoke of a decision by William S. Cohen, then defense secretary, to end General Clark's command of the NATO alliance early, replacing him in 2000. "I will tell you the reason he came out of Europe early had to do with integrity and character issues, things that are very near and dear to my heart," General Shelton said, adding that he would not vote for General Clark. (10/17/2003)

… Targeting three of the Dem presidential candidates, -- Senator John Kerry, Senator John Edwards and former governor Howard Dean --  and blunting a fourth (Wesley Clark), U.S. Senator John McCain took the Democratic presidential candidates to task yesterday for not supporting the $87B Iraq reconstruction funding. The Union Leader’s senior political reports, John DeStaso, reports today that McCain had ‘harsh words’ for Dean, Kerry and Edwards. Here are some excerpts from today’s article: “…I’m not surprised that Governor Dean would oppose this,” McCain told The Union Leader. “I’ve lost confidence that he has any understanding of the national security responsibilities of a President.” Dean has said he would support the expenditure only if it was paid for with a repeal of $87 billion in Bush tax cuts — an unlikely scenario. McCain, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, accused Kerry and Edwards of “pandering” to Dean and the liberal base of the Democratic Party by opposing the package after voting a year ago to authorize force in Iraq. “I’m very disappointed in my friends John Kerry and John Edwards,” he said, “because they know better than that. McCain also targeted the newest Democratic contender, Gen. Wesley Clark, who has taken no position on the package. “It’s very unfortunate, and I’m disappointed in General Clark,” McCain said. He said that “anyone who wants to be considered a serious candidate is obliged to express an opinion.” McCain, however, said he was “impressed with and grateful to” Rep. Richard Gephardt and fellow armed services committee member Sen. Joseph Lieberman, who voted last year to authorize the use of force in Iraq. McCain said they are now acting consistently in supporting the $87 billion package. “I’m sure this will cost them with the far left,” McCain said, “but I also believe they are acting correctly in placing America’s national security interests first.”  (10/17/2003

… More in depth reporting on General Wesley Clark is found in today’s Washington Post. The lengthy article traces Clark’s background. Excerpts from the article: “…a supreme confidence in himself, an absolute disregard for conventional wisdom and a relentless force of will. …  Along the way, that same intellect, intensity and drive would also leave a trail of resentful military colleagues, some of whom can still feel his boots on their backs. … "All of his gifts are undercut by his relentless need to be front and center, to always make it all about him winning -- rather than the mission," said one former government official who was at odds with Clark during the Kosovo war. …

Clark's tenure at NATO may be the most illustrative case. He became the first allied commander to run and win a war -- and still lose his command. Cohen, the secretary of defense, selected Clark for the post over the objections of the Army, yet the two became locked in a conflict over the direction of the war. It was planned as a strategic air campaign against the Serbs, but Clark pushed a more aggressive strategy -- a ground invasion and the use of low-flying Apache helicopters. Cohen adamantly resisted. The tension, sources familiar with it said, was not over their differences on strategy, but over Clark's single-minded pursuit of his strategy. "It got to be an almost daily comic scenario," a former Pentagon official said. "We'd all make a decision. . . . And within eight hours, eight different versions of the story would come from eight different people. It was clear he was working the Hill, the White House. . . . We'd have to spend the whole day dealing with his back-channeling." At one point, when Clark appeared to be trying to advance his agenda through the media, then-Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Henry H. "Hugh" Shelton delivered Clark a message from Cohen: "Get your [expletive] face off the TV." [IPW NOTE: see Kosovo veteran Michael Sibert’s editorial on our OP-ED page]

The Washington Post article also provides this insight as to why Clark entered the 2004 presidential race so late: “He said he waited so long to enter the race because he wanted to give the others a chance to "catch fire." But another reason for the hesitancy, friends said, was the opposition of his wife of 36 years, Gertrude (Gert) -- known to be as feisty and opinionated as her husband. Having moved 30 times in 34 years, she was ready to settle down in Little Rock. Clark said that their only child, Wesley Jr., 33, encouraged her to sign up. But she is still a reluctant warrior, refusing interviews.” (10/18/2003)

Clark, following the loss of a top Internet guru, is back trying to pull in money with a novel approach. Clark is making a new pitch for donations, inviting Internet donors to his presidential campaign to predict the World Series champion with their money pledge. The "Clark04 Baseball Challenge" appeals to baseball fans to make a contribution to the retired general's campaign on behalf of their favorite team, the Yankees or the Marlins. Kent Cooper, co-founder of Political Money Line, an Internet service that tracks campaign finance, said mixing politics and baseball may not win Clark much support. "I don't know if fans will appreciate a politician keeping score," said Cooper. (10/20/2003)

Fox news is reporting sources in and close to retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark’s presidential campaign are denying that infighting between grassroots organizers and the so-called "Clintonistas" on the staff has caused their candidate to stumble. Clark interim campaign manager from the Draft Clark Movement, Donnie Fowler has not commented on his departure since he left, and the campaign has offered nothing but positive spin on the situation. Since the fallout with Fowler, key posts have gone to several Clintonistas — refugees from past Clinton and Gore campaigns and former high-level staff members of the previous Democratic administration. "We have the best and the brightest, and some of them just happen to have worked for the past Clinton administrations and campaigns. I think the fact we have them working here really bodes well for us," said Maya Israel, associate director of communications, whose roots are in the "Draft Clark" Internet movement credited with convincing Clark to run for office. The article goes on to review various theories, including the Clintons are using the campaign to spoil Dean’s chances. (10/20/2003)

Both the Clark and Lieberman campaigns have made the decision to not campaign in Iowa. Iowa is known as the winnowing state for Presidential campaigns. It appears that it may have taken two more casualties in the process. While many have tried to bypass Iowa, no one has ever been able to have a successful effort to date. Both candidates share better national political numbers than they do in the early important states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. South Carolina is important because it is the first Southern state in the nomination process. National popularity is deceiving to the process of being nominated. It is the grinding process of winning delegates state by state that secures the candidate the nomination. Popular support is more valuable in 2004. This is because of the short time frame of delegate selection. It is almost certain that the nominee will be selected by March 4^th. However, national popularity can quickly shift because of a victory in Iowa or New Hampshire. National popularity is in some ways also trumped by allotments of delegates to minorities, women and elected officials by the Democrat delegate rules.

·       Clark

Clark’s website’s newest press release is titled “New Hampshire Voters Ready to Hear Clark's Message.” Michael Contarino a professor of political science at the University of New Hampshire at Manchester said he thinks Clark is appealing to moderate voters because they are a "natural constituency for Clark's background and message" and more liberal Democrats because they are "horrified by Bush and see Clark as a winner." Clark’s campaign has been plagued with missteps and staff changes over the past several weeks. The difficulty seems to be the merging of the new cynical professional former Clinton staff with the exuberant naive Draft-Clark volunteers. The incorporating of new blood into a closed political process, such as being a delegate to the Democrat National Convention, is historically a challenging problem. Dean leads Clark in an Oct. 9 New Hampshire poll 30 to 10 percent with undecided voters at 20 percent. Clark is in third position with Kerry at 17 percent and all others in single digits. Kerry’s pattern in the Granite State continues on a downward tract. Independent voters as well as Democrats have a tradition of voting in the New Hampshire Presidential Primary. Clark’s campaign has issued a statement that it hopes to make a good showing in New Hampshire but doesn’t expect to win. (10/20/2003)

The ABC Notebook has a question about whether Clark and Lieberman will change their stance on supporting ethanol. The current energy bill is held up in Congress. A switch could be helpful in California where a MTBE gas additive is scheduled to be banned. Ethanol is the replacement additive for gas. Before they make the switch they might consider the repercussions with Iowa’s Senator Tom Harkin and how eloquently they can make the case that they are now more enlightened in their position.(10/21/2003)

Steve Bouchard, who recently joined Clark after directing Florida Sen. Bob Graham’s campaign, quoted in the Manchester Union said if Clark finishes in the top four in New Hampshire, he and Clark campaign officials believe he will be “competitive” going into the host of primaries that follow New Hampshire’s Jan. 27 event on Feb. 3, 2004. The latest poll of likely New Hampshire voters, released by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center last week, showed Clark in third place, with 10 percent to the vote, compared to 30 percent for Howard Dean and 17 percent for John Kerry. The Clark campaign refused to say who the candidate was that was going to pass them in the current poll numbers. However, they could be referring to Lieberman given the stories account of Gore’s former running mate’s campaign. Lieberman’s New Hampshire campaign announced it more than doubled the size of its Granite State field staff with the addition of 16 staffers. The campaign also announced new campaign offices will soon open in Berlin, Laconia, Lebanon and Salem, bringing the total number of regional offices to 10. The campaign says it has already opened regional offices in Concord, Keene, Manchester, Nashua, Portsmouth and Rochester.  (10/21/2003)

John Whitesides, political correspondent for Reuters offers a look at whether the strategy of skipping the early states has a chance. Lieberman, Clark and Edwards are all counting on gaining traction after the race is started. Edwards is counting on a win in South Carolina to prove that he has the South’s support. Lieberman is strengthening his campaign in New Hampshire where he needs to finish at least third in his own back yard. New Hampshire currently shows a two-way race with Dean and Edwards. Clark campaign seems to be hoping for the General’s national poll popularity to eventually translate into wins. The reason for the hope in being able to enter the race latter down the primary schedule is because of the compression of the schedule. The Democratic Party accelerated the 2004 primary calendar in hopes of producing an early nominee and giving the winner plenty of time to focus on challenging President Bush. The presumptive nominee of the Democrat Party is expected to be apparent by March 3. On March 2 thirteen states including California hold their delegate selection process. Eighteen states will have completed the process after the Feb. 27th round. Clearly the hope that the primary terrain is different because of this compression is evident in the Clark and Lieberman quotes in the Reuters article. "The race is going to go far beyond New Hampshire and likely will be determined when you get to the multi-state election days," said Matt Bennett, a spokesman for Clark, who entered the race one month ago. "The primary map has fundamentally changed. Unlike years past where there were two early states, now there are nine," said Lieberman spokesman Jan Cabrera. "We believe shifting resources to New Hampshire and the Feb. 3 states is a winning strategy." Dane Strother, a Democratic strategist unaligned with any candidates, said the compressed calendar might give the trio a better opportunity to change the process. "Who wrote the rulebook that says you have to run in Iowa?" "They are misunderstanding in a big way the kind of media crush that comes in Iowa and New Hampshire," a strategist for a rival campaign said. (10/21/2003)

The Manchester Union Leader is covering Clark’s visit to the Granite state and his campaign’s hope that they finally have their act together. The Union Leader reports Clark hopes to pick up his first victory Feb. 3 -- most likely in South Carolina, where veterans make up a sizable portion of the electorate. He’s also building teams to campaign in New Mexico, Oklahoma and Arizona. It’s a risky plan with competition from rivals who have been working for a win much longer. With Dean, Kerry and Dick Gephardt fighting for victory in the first two states, John Edwards, Lieberman and Clark are staking their campaigns on the Feb. 3rd states. Senior Clark advisers, speaking on a condition of anonymity, said their greatest concern is the candidate, who has shown great potential but has had little time to learn the craft of campaigning. They say he needs to learn to connect better with voters, and it’s unclear how open he will be to advice from political professionals. The Clark campaign has set a fast pace in fundraising. The campaign raised $1 million a week for its first three weeks. The campaign hopes to hit the $10 million mark by the end of the fourth quarter. This would give them money for ads and satellite time. Clark’s team recently added Geoff Garin as pollster and Joe Slade White of New York to make Clark’s first ad, but they’re still lacking a political director and field director. While in New Hampshire, Clark addressed in part his tax policy position. At the University of New Hampshire’s Manchester campus, he laid out the principles of an economic plan he said will save $2.35 trillion over 10 years and decrease the deficit. Clark said people making more than $200,000 a year will be required to pay more taxes than they would under Bush, but said he won’t reveal details until later. Aides said taxes on income, capital gains, dividends and inheritances are among those on the table. Clark would not rescind any tax cuts going to middle class taxpayers, and the child tax credit would be preserved for parents of any income, aides said.  (10/22/2003)

The Washington Post has a story about Clark’s relationship with the press or lack there of. It certainly shows the candidate and his campaign as naïve novices. In defending that they are not trying to shield, Clark's top strategist Mark Fabiani said: "We've certainly seen our share of 'gotcha' stories. Some of that is inevitable because the campaign literally started from scratch. There was no research, no vetting of the candidate, nothing." Clark appeared mystified in the story that he was still being pressed about his apparent wobble on the Iraq war. "There's no story there. . . . I don't know why they keep doing it," he says. "Just about anything's fair in this business. . . . I guess I have to answer each reporter." (10/23/2003)

Terry M. Neal’s Talking Points in the Washington Post today provides great insight into why Florida’s “Straw Poll” will be the first real test of the Democrat presidential nominating process. Iowa Presidential Watch predicts that three or four of the candidates will go flat out to gain votes among Florida’s 3,000 delegates to Florida’s Democrat State Convention, held Dec. 5-7. Dean has already begun defying the National Democrat Party’s pledge to not participate, Edwards is campaigning in the state on Friday and Lieberman cannot afford to sit it out in Florida. The other candidate that IPW is not sure about is the bungling campaign of Wesley Clark. Given that campaign’s performance, it is not sure that they have the good sense to do a survey of the delegates and find out where he is at in the number of delegates (probably 4^th) and announce that they are not participating and will abide by the DNC’s wishes. This is what Gephardt has wisely done already. The Florida Democrats are pressing for the straw poll for a couple of reasons. First and foremost they are still painfully hurting from what they feel is the Florida “rip-off’ of the election. Second, they want the attention, and they are willing to use their big givers to blackmail candidates into coming. Dean spokeswoman Tricia Enright said: "What we said [on the conference call] was that we'll abide by the rules, but we want to go to the [Florida] convention. We just want to go and take our message there, and we'd like to for this issue to just not be an issue."  (10/23/2003)

Inside Politics by Greg Pierce in the Washington Times believes that Clark is getting preferential treatment by the nation’s press. He points to the differences between various other candidates and Clark.   (10/24/2003)

Clark not only continues to lose his footing in the campaign but also his voice. According to ABC News online, late last night members of the press were contacted by the campaign with news that The General has again lost his voice. His Concord, New Hampshire, event has been officially postponed and New Hampshire Political Director Steve Bouchard told ABC News he was looking to schedule a replacement campaign stop for Clark where he wouldn't have to use his voice. Clark told his staff he still wanted to campaign today in New Hampshire as scheduled. Clark did find a way to get his message out by using the Op Ed page of the Wall Street Journal to publish his economic speech with the title, "Bullish on America." In response to the proposal the Wall Street Journal 's Jake Schlesinger notes that The General's economic plan, according to a former OMB official, "would save at most $28 billion over a decade." (10/24/2003)

If you visit the Clark for President’s blog (‘web log’ -- that is a place where Internet junkies go to converse online), you have got to ask the question, what is going on here? One person asks if it is true that Clark is not going to Iowa. Mostly, the typed missives cover how badly the site is being run, and why can’t they get their act together and do it like Dean? I don’t know, why can’t they? (10/25/2003)

Veracity, not to mention honesty and truth telling, became an issue for Presidential candidate Wesley Clark when National Co-Chair of the Lieberman campaign -- Katrina Swett -- related that on Oct. 9, 2002, Clark was campaigning with her when she was running for Congress in New Hampshire. At that time, he told an Associated Press reporter that day that although he was concerned about the country's move to war, he supported the resolution and would advise Swett to vote for it if she were in Congress. This is the second problem for Clark concerning his stance on the War in Iraq since becoming a candidate. Much of Clark’s appeal is his opposition to the war and ability as a four star general to have cover against President Bush on the War on Terrorism. What is worse is the fact this has been dragging out since Wednesday of this week when a Boston Globe reporter asked him about his advice to Swett. Today’s Associated Press story reports the following: On Wednesday, Clark pleaded ignorance when the Boston Globe asked why he said a year ago that he would have voted for the resolution and advised Swett to do the same. "I wasn't following the resolution and I didn't even know what was in the resolution," he told the Globe, according to a report in Friday editions. Swett said Friday that Clark was "extremely intelligent and well-spoken" on the resolution when discussing it with her. (10/25/2003)

Thomas Beaumont, Des Moines Register political reporter, takes an inventory of the Iowa Caucuses and the effect of Joe Lieberman and Wesley Clark’s departures and Bob Graham’s dropping out. Beaumont points out that if Lieberman or Clark win by bypassing Iowa that the status of Iowa in the nominating process is diminished. Given Lieberman’s low standing and Clark’s bungling campaign, the likelihood of either of these candidates seems to be slim and none and slim doesn’t exist. Lieberman’s frank talk and desire to be different has not garnered him a larger following, but rather has placed him to the far right of the field. Clark cannot seem to get his voice whether because of laryngitis or lack of cohesion and memory. The latest flap about his advising a Democrat candidate for Congress to support the Congressional War Resolution is just one misstep among many. The significance of Iowa is summed up well in a quote from the article: "The political significance of the caucuses has always depended much less on who wins Iowa's delegates than on the reverberations the caucuses generate in the national press and the general public," said Princeton University political science professor Larry Bartels. For further information on the article go to: Des Moines Register.  (10/26/2003)

The issue of military service is explored in an Associated Press story. The story explores the generation shift from elected officials of World War II to the Vietnam generation. Today’s candidates for President all came of age in the Vietnam era. Twenty-five of the 43 U.S. presidents have served in the military. The high-flying popularity of Wesley Clark is due to his four star military service; while Howard Dean’s popularity is due in no small part to his opposition to the Iraqi War. Pat Towell, a visiting fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, said, "Big surprise, the kids that were in the kinds of universities where you grow up and become a senator and run for president weren't drafted." Dean was assigned No. 143 for 1970 — a number that was called up — but he was rejected after a physical in February of that year. In an interview with the AP, Dean said he had known since he was in high school that he had an unfused vertebra, a condition called spondylolysis. For further details use the Associated Press link above. (10/26/2003)

"With gun rights come responsibility" is the new mantra Democrat political operatives and organization want candidates to use when talking about gun issues. The Washington Post covers the issue in Sunday’s edition: "Democrats will be extinct in red states unless" they change how gun owners view their party…” [said Deborah Barron of Americans for Gun Safety, which is tutoring candidates on the gun issue.]  "…Red states" is political shorthand for states President Bush won. These red states have a significantly higher percentage of gun owners than the states Gore won in 2000, studies show. …The centrist Democratic Leadership Council, which helped moderate the party's image on trade and taxes in the 1990s, is teaming with Americans for Gun Safety to try to do the same for gun control. Dean and most of his rivals have privately consulted with one or both of the groups on a new approach. Former American for Guns Safety spokesman Matt Bennett recently signed on as communications director for retired Army Gen. Wesley K. Clark. …The big test for the candidates will come as Congress begins considering whether to extend the 1994 ban on some semiautomatic weapons, which will expire next year. Some congressional Democrats want to make the law permanent and fold additional gun models and the importation of high-ammunition clips into the ban. But Bush favors a straight extension -- and that is a position many of the candidates sound willing to settle for.  (10/26/2003)

The Manchester Union Leader reports on a Union rally in New Hampshire yesterday where Democrat candidates tried to outbid each other in their loyalty to the union cause. Sen. John Kerry, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, U.S. Reps. Dennis Kucinich and Richard Gephardt, and Gen. Wesley Clark faced the union delegation in separate appearances, answering the same set of questions on trade, jobs and health insurance. Gephardt participated by telephone. More than 100 vocal union members cheered relentlessly yesterday as five Democratic Presidential Primary candidates pledged to create jobs for the nation’s millions of unemployed and to keep American jobs from going overseas. (10/26/2003)

Wesley Clark was scheduled to be at a fund-raiser for Iowa’s Secretary of State Chet Culver, son of former U.S. Senator John Culver, Saturday. So who showed up? Actor & Wesley Clark supporter Ted Danson.  (10/26/2003)

Even top Democrat operatives are suggesting after last night’s debate in Detroit that the Democrats are too shrill to win. However, it is clear that the Democrat candidates are finding a welcome audience among the primary going party faithful for the vitriolic invectives. Some top Democrats are arriving at a consensus that the Democrats’ hatred of Bush is greater than Republicans’ hatred of Bill Clinton. Jerry Crawford, a general in Iowa Democrat Party politics, commented on Iowa Public Television’s Iowa Press that all you need to do to fire up Iowa Democrats is say John Ashcroft -- and it doesn’t matter which candidate says it. With just two months before Iowa’s Jan. 19^th caucuses, many top Democrats are hoping to hear more about offering Americans hope and a vision of how they will lead America. Others are concerned that the Democrat candidates’ focus on the War on Terror is misplaced. "There's a huge credibility gap our party has on national security — not because we don't have enough military medals, but because we have no plan of action," said Democratic strategist Donna Brazile in an Associated Press story about the debate. The Democrat candidates are trying to buck the historical trend of Americans believing that Republicans are better in foreign policy and Democrats are better at domestic policy in focusing on Bush’s handling of the War on Terrorism. American soldiers continuing to die in Iraq combined with Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein whereabouts still in question could be like the shifting sands in Iraq if anything changes -- including another terrorist attack. Still criticism of the war and each other was the centerpiece of last night’s debate. Here is some of what the candidates said regarding the war:

John Kerry: "Our troops are today more exposed, are in greater danger, because this president didn't put together a real coalition, because this president's been unwilling to share the burden and the task. And I will tell you, the American people understand that."

Wesley Clark: "I didn't believe last year we should have given George Bush a blank check in Iraq. He said he was going to go to the U.N. Instead, he started a war. Now we're trying to give him another blank check. There's no telling what's going to happen."

Howard Dean: "I don't think service men and women do view my position as short of supporting the troops. I've made it very clear that we need to support our troops, unlike President Bush, who tried to cut their combat pay after they'd been over there and he'd doubled their tour of duty."  (10/27/2003)

USA Today covers Clark’s proposal to insure children: Wesley Clark says his health care plan is based on a lesson he learned from 34 years in the military — those who don't have adequate medical attention won't live up to their abilities. The retired Army general says if elected president, he would look to spend $695 billion over 10 years to provide coverage to 31.8 million of the more than 40 million uninsured Americans. (10/28/2003)

In a poll done for the Boston Globe and Boston CBS affiliate WBZ, Dean continues to lead in New Hampshire with 37 percent of Democrats and independents supporting him. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., is 13 points back at 24 percent. Trailing Dean and Kerry are Sen. John Edwards at 9 percent, retired Gen. Wesley Clark at 8 percent, Rep. Dick Gephardt at 7 percent, Sen. Joe Lieberman at 5 percent, Rep. Dennis Kucinich at 3 percent and Rev. Al Sharpton and former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, both at less than 1 percent. The survey was taken by KRC/Communications Research from Oct. 20 to Oct. 22 and has a margin of error of plus or minus five points. Lieberman in trouble: In the latest survey, 28 percent reported having a favorable opinion of Lieberman and 42 percent said they regarded him unfavorably. That's an almost complete reversal from six weeks ago when 46 percent viewed him favorably and 25 percent did not. (10/28/2003)

Clark’s numbers are fading, Dean moves back to front, Gephardt moves up and Lieberman is in free fall according to the poll. The numbers are: Dean-16; Clark-15; Gephardt-12; Lieberman-12; Kerry-10; Edwards-6; Sharpton-6; Moseley-Braun-4; Kucinich-1. The other startling find was that the Democrats are going more liberal. Democrats are 39 percent in favor of a liberal up from 27 percent in August. Those wanting a moderate are now at 53 percent. (10/28/2003)

Clark armed

Wesley Clark was firing bullets at President Bush regarding his responsibility for 9-11, and that was just a warm-up. He further argued that Bush has manipulated facts, stifled dissent, retaliated against detractors, shown disdain for allies and started a war without just cause. Then he called Bush's labeling of Iraq, Iran and North Korea as an axis of evil "the single worst formulation in the last half century of American foreign policy." Check out the coverage in the Associated Press: There is no way this administration can walk away from its responsibility for 9-11," Clark told a conference, titled "New American Strategies for Security and Peace." "You can't blame something like this on lower level intelligence officers, however badly they communicated memos with each other. ... The buck rests with the commander in chief, right on George W. Bush's desk." (10/29/2003)

Get your bullets

Get Armed with Information on the Vision for a  New American Patriotism is the lead-in on the Clark web-page with a picture of West Point beside the come-on. When you go to the link you are asked to sign-up and be a part of the campaign’s propaganda effort:  Clark campaign webswite. (10/29/2003)

Then again

In what appears to be an unusual lack of perspective by major media outlets the NY Times is running a story that questions the electability of both Howard Dean and Wesley Clark. Clarks profile dominates the story because about the only thing Clark has going for him is the claim he can beat Bush. However the story points out how electability has doggedly followed Dean. It takes a quote from Iowa Public Televisions’ Iowa Press’ interview with Dean: "It's possible that I am the only Democrat who can get elected," he said. "And let me tell you why: Every other Democrat in this race believes that the way to beat George Bush is to be like George Bush. I believe the way to beat George Bush is to bring a lot of new people into this process."  (10/30/2003)

General to cut military

The Manchester Union Leader reports that retired general said if he were elected President, some military projects might have to wait for funding behind programs that help children, such as the health care program he announced this week, which would mandate all children have health insurance. That proposal’s $700 billion cost over 10 years would be paid, in part, by reducing government waste and its “excess, redundant and unnecessary programs,” including defense spending, he said. (10/30/2003)

Marshalling the facts: Clark

Where oh where have the logic and facts gone? This is what many observers are wondering about Wesley Clark’s position regarding foreign policy and his positions vis-a-vis the Bush administration. Excerpts from Fox News report today: "Liberation is at hand. Liberation — the powerful balm that justifies painful sacrifice, erases lingering doubt and reinforces bold actions ... As for the political leaders themselves, President Bush and Tony Blair should be proud of their resolve in the face of so much doubt," he wrote. With comments like that, Clark's credibility as an opponent of war is under increasing attack. The statement implied that somehow Bush should have known that the United States was going to get attacked, said Mort Kondracke, executive editor of Roll Call and a frequent contributor to Fox News. Kondracke called that contention nonsense. "There had been reports that the president was told that Al Qaeda intended to hijack American airplanes. When? Where? How? I mean what could you do? It was not actionable intelligence," Kondracke said. "We broke the dishes, we're going to have to pay for them," Clark told supporters in New Hampshire this week. "Mr. Clark has a right to oppose the $87 billion as long as he comes up with something better, and so far, I don't think he has," said Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution.(10/30/2003)

Clark’s health care plan

Wesley Clark rolled out his health care plan yesterday, but he stomped it onto the back page -- or in most cases off the news page -- with his vitriolic attack on Bush yesterday. On his website, you need to go to the plan itself to get anything on the proposal. The speech and the press release don’t do it. Clark’s proposal would guaranteed coverage to all Americans under the age of 22, subsidize insurance for groups with special disadvantages and allow people without employee-provided health care to use the same system that covers members of Congress. Drawing heavily on references to the good health care he received as a member of the Army, Clark claimed that his plan would insure 31.8 million of the 43 million now uninsured. (10/30/2003)

California the golden state

An LA Times’ story points out that the Democrats are back in California panning for gold in the liberal strongholds – and especially in Hollywood. Excerpt: “The cash derby began Wednesday, when North Carolina Sen. John Edwards arrived in Los Angeles for two appearances and a fund-raiser at the Venice home of actor Dennis Hopper and his wife, Victoria. About 75 guests, most with Hollywood connections, mingled and admired the couple's pop art collection as a three-piece jazz combo played. Guests, including actors Bill Paxton and Jeanne Tripplehorn, gave a total of $50,000.

The Times reported the other following candidates’ hopeful visits:

·        Gephardt had scheduled fund-raisers in San Francisco, Oakland, Palo Alto and San Jose during his brief stay, although his campaign declined to provide further details.

·        Clark planned a town hall meeting Saturday afternoon at the Radisson Wilshire Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles and an address to attorneys from the San Francisco Bar Assn. on Sunday. He intended to hold fund-raisers in both cities. His staff also would not respond to requests for more information.

·        Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio planned to travel to Oakland on Sunday for a fund-raiser sponsored by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland), the only member of the House to vote against the war in Afghanistan. (10/31/2003)

Clark claims Bush Cronyism

Clark’s website shows that his comments about the report on links between contributors to the Bush campaign and contracts in Iraq is his breaking news:

Yesterday, the Bush administration announced an extension of Halliburton's no-bid contract in Iraq, even though Halliburton has been accused of gouging American taxpayers with an inflated bill for emergency oil imports. "It is time for more transparency and less cronyism," General Wesley Clark said. "American taxpayers deserve no less. Leadership is about making the best deal for the American people, not extending sweetheart deals for supporters." (10/31/2003)

‘C’ company

The Clark campaign has launched ‘C’ Company. C Company, is made up of members who give $100 apiece. This follows a Democratic trend to encourage donations from political newcomers, like young professionals and older voters who have not given in the past.  (10/31/2003)

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