The Definitive Wesley Clark Thread

[Big Questions]

What's the latest on him? I read an article in The New York Times today (7.10.03) about he might run. It mentioned something about a date when he would announce his decision, or something like that. What is it? What do you think the chances of him running, in either spot, on the Democratic ticket are? If he does run, in what ways will he help or hurt the Democrats?

While I am sure this has been discussed on other threads, I want it to be discussed here.

[Big Questions]

1. BUMP

BUMP

[Circe_Invidiosa]

2. on cnn today

they discussed him running and there appears to be a rather large group that is supporting him to run....although he says he has not yet decided...

[AmyStrange]

3. well there's the draftwesleyclark.com or something like that...

Website.

yeah I saw that piece too. My supe is all bonkers for him. She's pretty liberal and sent it to me. He said he would announce in a month or a month and a half. A lot of insiders in Arkansas don't think he will run. Personally, if he's gonna do it anyway, this is the best year for him because of all the free exposure on CNN.

What will it do to other Dems? Well it depends on your point of View (POV). Some people think all the other candidates should just drop out, because they think they don't have a chance against him. Some of them consider their dream president.

And the other end of the spectrum doesn't want anyone who is a military man in anyway should lead this country. They don't know anything about diplomacy and only know how to kill, or atleast that's what I've read from other people here and all over the web.

Plus he hasn't ever declared his party anywhere, so no one really knows if he's even a democrat. Alot of his positions though are definitely democratic like he's for the right to choose and a few others I can't think of right this second.

All in all, the next couple of months (especially for some one like me who is a political newbie and finds everything about it so fascinating) are going to be an interesting two months to watch. Things are starting to heat up in the presidential campaign. Fall is just two months away...

Dave (AmyStrange.com)

DU (slang/ folklore) Glossary (Dictionary): http://DUG.SeattleActivist.org/
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[saoirse]

4. I think Clark will run

And as more and more shit hits the fan for Bush - on
everything from Iraq to the economy - I think it becomes
more and more likely.

Clark is a career military man - one who put himself in
harms way in Vietnam when the GOP chickenhawks were
scrambling for draft deferments or going AWOL from the
Texas Air Guard. He can't like the fact that our troops -
the best in the world - are now, thanks to the Bushies,
sitting ducks in Iraq. Or that so many of them died so
Bush's friends could get rich from lucrative oil and
construction deals. Or that the alliances that Clark
himself so diligently cultivated are being systematically
destroyed by those very same GOP chickenhawks.

Clark is a true patriot who is seeing our great nation
being destroyed by greed and incompetence. I'm convinced
he wants to continue to serve his country - and I think
that, more and more, he's seeing that the best way to do
that is by running for president.

Some think he's merely posturing for a spot as someones
running mate, but I think that's ludicrous. This is a
Rhodes scholar who graduated first in his class at West
Point - he's used to aiming for the top, and hitting his
mark.

I, for one, think he'll win handily if he does run. He'll
certainly get my vote.

[Donna Zen]

5. Something to think about...

When I heard a very, very liberal friend was supporting Clark, I wrote and asked him why? Here's an interesting part of his reply:

We are too timid in our vision. We seek a new President, but we don't seek a radically different governing coalition to achieve Democratic ends, one that will bring us not only the Presidency but also both houses of Congress. Only then will constitutional legitimacy be reestablished, as only then can we attack the systematic rot and undermining of the rule of law we've seen at the top over the past twenty five years.

That's exactly what we've been saying - we have to win the White House, the Congress and turn the corner on the courts. The American people can't afford another 49% Presidency.

That was written by someone with a PHD in Economics.

One of the key visions that Clark has is "constitutional legitimacy" which refers to our having strayed from the underpinnings of government with checks and balances. The imperial presidency, and a weak congress that does not accept responsibility for its actions are destroying our democratic ideals. Clark talks about a return to a dialogue and believes people must voice their opinions and they must receive the best information. No one else is talking about this and to be honest, I never expected to hear it. The man knows and is very concerned about Black Box Voting. How do I know this? Because I got in contact with the draftclark people and asked.

For me, and I'll vote Democratic, so in a way I'm just watching this thing unfold, learning how progressive he is on every issue, every one...is amazing. Another candidate would be branded a "liberal crazy" for putting forth such beliefs, and yet no one refers to him as a liberal. It is such a hoot! A stealth liberal in uniform. I don't think the Dems I know and love are going to pick up on how unbelievable this opportunity really is. If things worked out, I am convinced that we could wipe the floor with bushco and send all the rats like DeLay packin'. I loved it...on CrossFire, Tucker started spouting about something DeLay had recently spewed. Clark just glanced at Tucker and very calmly said, "Tom Delay is a fool." Game. Set. Match.

[saoirse]

6. The Tom DeLay quote alone

Makes me want to vote for him!