Wes Clark plays field as '08 hopes fade: "I think about running every single day." [View All]

[DeepModem Mom]

The Politico: Wes Clark plays field as '08 hopes fade
By: Ben Smith
May 31, 2007


Clark holds a unique position with his military credentials in a wartime election in which none of the front-running Democrats served in the military.
(Photo by John Shinkle)

As of Feb. 2, retired Gen. Wesley Clark seemed to be running for president.

"I think we need a president who understands that to project strength and earn respect is to be strong and show respect," he told the Democratic National Committee's Winter Meeting. The meeting was a cattle call at which he spoke along with nine other Democrats who were all actually running, and Clark did seem to be talking about himself.

But in the months since then, any sense of momentum behind his still-undeclared candidacy has seemed to vanish without a trace.

"I haven't said I won't run," Clark told Politico.com. "I think about running every single day."

But in the meantime, he's been acting more like a Democratic Party wise man than a candidate in his own right, to the degree that he's offered private advice in recent weeks to potential rivals. He's spoken in recent weeks to leading presidential candidates, said Clark spokesman Erick Mullen....

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Clark occupies a unique role in the Democratic Party. His military credentials, stretching from service in Vietnam to the position of NATO supreme allied commander during the war in Kosovo, stand out in a wartime election in which none of the front-running Democrats, and only one leading Republican, served in the military....

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0507/4262.html