The latest from Wes Clark regarding a possible 2008 Presidential run

[Tom Rinaldo]

These comments were made in a press interview with Wes Clark that took place at Brown University before Wes Clark spoke there Monday night. I took them directly off a longer blog about it at the Clark Community Network:
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/9867

I am posting this here because I know people are curious about Clark's current thoughts on running in 2008. To pretend otherwise would be silly:


The Herald: How likely is it that you'll run for president in 2008?

General Clark: I haven't said I won't run.


The Herald: If you do run, how will your campaign differ from your 2004 campaign?

General Clark: In virtually every respect.


The Herald: Why do you think you were unsuccessful in winning the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004?

General Clark: Because I got in too late. Because I had no political experience. Because I had no money prior to the time I announced, and because I had no staff. Other than that I was a pretty good candidate.


The Herald: What political experience have you gained since then?

General Clark: Hundreds and hundreds of visits around the country with various groups. I campaigned for, I think, 86 candidates in 26 states in 2006. I was John Kerry's number one surrogate other than John Edwards in 2004. I raised more than half a million dollars directly for John (Kerry) plus represented him, especially during the final three or four weeks, all through the West.


Stay tuned, as they say, for further announcements.

[BOSSHOG]

1. I would welcome and support a General Clark Candidacy

I hope we have a lively primary season. I will support whomever the dems nominate, but I don't believe there is a more honest potential candidate then General Clark. And I'd love to see some candy assed chickenhawk motherfucking organization try to swiftboat him.

[skipos]

2. The more good non-senators running, the better.

The more good candidates from somewhere other than bright blue states, the better. I hope he gets in.

[geek tragedy]

3. Gotta love that candor. He has a great sense of humor. eom

[Tom Rinaldo]

10. That part jumped right out at me also

I've seen Clark speak a number of times now. He really does have a great sense of humor.

[geek tragedy]

12. Remember his Outkast ad? eom

[Pithy Cherub]

13. Voted MTV's best.

"It's not true that outkast is breaking up, Andre and Big Boi just made separate albums, that's all.":rofl:

One of the funniest moments was the MSNBC intern screaming on camera that he knew the words, a four star general saying "shake it like a polaroid picture." :rofl:

[CarolNYC]

19. Great ad....

I learned to like Outkast because of our General. My nephew, who was 14 years old at the time and who went out petitioning with me for Wes and was upset he'd be too young to vote for him in '04, loved that ad and the fact that Wes could quote Outkast...

The video's on youtbue....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCQZNMCbES0

[CountAllVotes]

4. I prefer Clark over Clinton or Kerry

I'd vote for Clark.

I'd vote for Kucinich too.

I'd vote for almost anybody at this point except a puke.

:kick:

[Pithy Cherub]

5. Love the answer "in virtually every respect" for 2008.

Clark is now doing what he does best planning and strategizing in a political system that is now familiar terrain to him. Looking forward to Clark engaging in the debate and he has a lock on my primary vote. Hope he is Iowa, Nevada, South Carolina and New Hampshire again soon with the Clark version of a fifty state strategy.:patriot:

:bounce::woohoo::bounce:

[Megahurtz]

6. GO CLARK!

:yourock:

[Leilani]

7. Happy to hear this news

He's still deciding

I was beginning to think he wouldn't run..

[demnan]

8. He's a very strong candidate

and was outspoken against the war in Iraq. That ad he did for the Veterans was really good. He comes off looking a bit intense at times on T.V. which could work against him. Also he would have had a better chance had he become a governor or something, particularly of a Southern state, like his native Arkansas. But at this point in time he stands as good a chance as any of ending up on the ballot.

[w4rma]

9. Good news. (nt)

[Cameron27]

11. That's definately not a no,

sounds like a pre-yes to me, ROFL!

I'm so ready for this, but he's right to wait a little longer before declaring.

[KT2000]

14. Example of why he should run

Besides his positions - he connects with the people he is talking to!
He comes across as honest.

Hope he runs!!!!

[democrank]

15. I`m begging Clark to run.

On my knees, hands clasped. He`s the absolute best we have.

RUN WES,RUN!

[Eurobabe]

16. Thanks Tom for posting this....

The Clarkmobile is promoting the General Daily in Southern Germany. LOL.

[Adelante]

17. "Other than that I was a pretty good candidate."

:D

Wes slays me sometimes.

[crispini]

18. I like Clark.

In fact, I like MANY of our rumored 2008 candidates. :D

[FrenchieCat]

20. Glad to hear this, as I kinda of thought he wouldn't run, why.... with

the Corporate Media having already picked their favorites, his odds in picking up free publicity from the national media to increase his name recognition and therefore the poll numbers heralded every five minutes in promoting the "horserace" is going to be his (our) toughest job this time round as it was the last time....meaning the General is a brave soul if he does choose to run, because the odds of getting throught the media noise will be formidable.

If he chooses to run, I gather he will have a warrior like strategy to combat the media black out and he will run for no other reason than because he must not see anyone running that could accomplish what he feels could be accomplished in the next eight years, most particularily in the Foreign relations arena (Biden included) like ending wars, mending fences and really working on Middle East peace as honest brokers.......which is the only reason, IMO, that he would be willing to face the Conventional Wisdom of the no-nothing pundits who will slight him at every opportunity and act like they don't see the 800 pound gorilla/donkey in the room even when they are discussing the subject matter that appears to be continuing to dominate every news cycle every day for the last 4 years.

I can also see him putting through a Universal Health system, Global Warming legislation, an alternate energy program, reworking the Patriot Act totally, revising NAFTA/CAFTA language to provide safeguards for workers at home via serious regulations, rearranging Homeland Security, bringing back the fairness doctrine via the FCC, promoting an election day holiday as well as putting election laws in place dealing with the machines, re-opening an investigation into 9/11, promoting and encouraging the good work of labor unions, approaching immigration in a multi prong rational manner while keeping pressure on the Mexican Government to provide more incentives economically so that citizens want to stay, capturing Bin Laden, ordering a complete review and overall of the Pentagon current budgetary and priority system...and putting in charge of the pentagon some real honest to goodness Democratic patriots (for a change) who will also believes as he believes that Duty, Country and Honor are the virteous slogans to keep in mind first and foremost when working for the benefit of the citizens of the United States of America.

Shit, I'm getting excited on the possibilities of what a Clark Administration could accomplish, and how the Clark Administration would once and for all put to bed the myth that Republicans are better on defense for the next century. The man thinks at the level of MAC3, is an able multi-tasker manager who anticipates the future very presciently. His 100 year vision of what we should accomplish in this new century (that so far hasn't really started except for one fuck up after the other) stands from 4 years ago, and nothing in it has yet been accomplished, let alone started as we have worked our way backwards since the year 2001. http://www.clark04.com/vision/

I only ask that those voters who naturally tend to choose a candidate based on who the corporate media hails as the frontrunner (because it is so much easier to support a projected possible winner getting losta publicity, that is certainly true) will give Wes Clark a fair and open hearing and really understand the short and long term gifts that he is offering to the Democratic Party as well as to the American people, and the world for that matter. I really want the American people to hear his ideas and views....instead of having to listen to him endlessly answering questions about his party affiliations, and/or why he allowed Michael Moore to call Bush a deserter.

Wes Clark is the President that I was promised as a kid. An honorable patriot who has foregone earning a personal fortune year after year since his graduation from Oxford in the pursuit of "doing good where he could" as the key to fulfilling his ambitions.

Finally, I will be able to sleep well at night knowing that next day's news won't be an dismal administration pony and dog show attempting to scare us out of our good judgement.

[blm]

26. I hope he does because I fear no solid debate and welcome honest voices.

And I hope like heck he targets the coverup Democrats who work AGAINST honest Democratic voices at every turn.

Please run, Wes - even if you think winning isn't in the cards, this fragile democracy depends on whatever few honest voices are left.

[TwilightZone]

21. Hmm, I don't know...

Can the American public handle someone who actually says what he means? :)

[Texas_Kat]

22. Here's another story from AP

"Clark Wants to Avoid Late Campaign Start"

Clark Says He Wants to Avoid Jumping Into '08 Presidential Campaign Too Late

"LITTLE ROCK, Ark. Nov 28, 2006 (AP)— Wesley Clark said Tuesday he wants to avoid waiting too late to make a decision on whether to run for president a mistake he made in his failed 2004 bid.

"I think it was clear that I got in too late last time," the retired general and former NATO commander told The Associated Press in an interview.

Clark announced his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in September 2003, just four months before the first votes were cast. He dropped out of the race the following February, with his only victory in 14 caucuses and primaries coming in Oklahoma.

Clark is considering running again, but he said the late start was one of the mistakes he learned from in his last attempt.

"(There was) an inability to create a staff in a timely fashion," Clark said. "I didn't have a campaign manager until the end of November. I had no money. I had no strategy when I started. It was my only faith-based initiative…. It's one of several mistakes that if I were to run that I would hope I wouldn't repeat."

Clark said one factor that has changed is the number of candidates who have announced their intentions or have formed exploratory campaigns for president this early.

"There's no doubt it's moved earlier," Clark said. "Some people have never stopped running…. It's just a factor that has to be considered."

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=2684990&page=1

[FrenchieCat]

23. That guy is really funny!

"Some people have never stopped running….

[Clarkie1]

38. "It was my only faith-based initiative."

:rofl: What a great sense of humor about the whole thing.

Go WES!

[dchill]

24. He's good enough, he's smart enough...

and doggone it, people like him!

[Name removed]

25. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Tom Rinaldo]

27. Lets just say

that the link you provided has more out right flagrant lies gathered together on one page, interspersed with more garden variety distorted view points and extremely misleading presentation of factoids (when they aren't total lies which is more often the case), than the entire book that the swift boaters for truth wrote to sink John Kerry.

You asked the question about your "contribution" to this thread, so I don't have to. Clark as Dr. Strangelove eh? That was EXACTLY the approach Gene Lyons predicted the Republican noise machine would take to try to undermine Clark's support with left of center Democrats, EXACTLY.

So, to answer you: Strangelove? No, not even a little. Try someone who has served his nation with honor his entire life who gives honest and complete answers to every question asked of him regardless of whehter or not what he has to say is politically popular at that moment.

[FrenchieCat]

28. Considering that you are a Kucinich fan

I'm kind of suprised that you would say that considering that you would seem to be informed! The Subliminal GOP messages and the many websites put up specifically for the whisper campaigns really are more effective than they should ever be!

GENE LYONS INTERVIEW FOR BUZZFLASH-- 10/22/03 - Which coincidently uses the very same language you use in his warning as to how opponents were going to go after Clark.
http://www.buzzflash.com/interviews/03/10/int03221.html

And then it started....

I've made a point of not editorializing about my interview with Wes Clark. I'd rather just let the plain text speak for itself (even my endless repetition of the word "obviously") and people can make up their own minds.

But I'll make one exception because of the article that appears in the New York Sun today. The front page story in the Sun takes Clark to task for this passage in the interview ?

Clinton administration: broad minded, visionary, lots of engagement. Did a lot of work. Had difficulty with two houses in congress that didn't control. And in an odd replay of the Carter administration, found itself chained to the Iraqi policy -- promoted by the Project for a New American Century -- much the same way that in the Carter administration some of the same people formed the Committee on the Present Danger which cut out from the Carter administration the ability to move forward on SALT II.
The piece in the Sun doesn't just disagree with Clark's point. They portray it as some bizarre or even unhinged misunderstanding of the main currents US foreign policy.

The author, Ira Stoll, got Bill Kristol to say "It's really a little bit crackpot. I don't think Clinton was really following the PNAC script. We called for regime change. Last I looked, Saddam was still there when Clinton left. Maybe he got confused."

Stoll also got Randy Scheunemann --- less publicly known, but an important neocon voice in DC --- to say Clark's comments were "bizarre."
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/week_2003_09_28.php#002044

Andrew Sullivan before his conversion....

Andrew Sullivan--HOW LOOPY IS CLARK? The answer, I fear, is that he's Ross Perot without the emotional stability...

The backdrop to the Clark-bashing from the White House and its helpers. This from Charlie Cook's weekly newsletter "Off To The Races" ...
For the White House, it is particularly important that Clark's credibility be impeached as soon as possible. President Bush now has a 40 percent disapproval rating on "handling foreign policy and terrorism." That is without a Democrat with any credibility in national security having thrown a punch. A credible Clark could inflict some very serious damage on this president, particularly after Bush's admission last week that there was no direct connection between the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and Saddam Hussein. That was news to 69 percent of Americans, who told Washington Post pollsters in August they thought a connection was likely. The Bush campaign cannot afford to have a credible Clark throwing fastballs at them for the next 15 months, whether he is the nominee, running mate or sitting on the sidelines.
This isn't rocket science, people. This is how they operate. Don't think it's random. If you go over to the Fox News website, you can see their featured video clip (page down on the left) with Brit Hume repeating the ridiculous Standard-peddled phone log canard : "White House phone logs suggest Wesley Clark is telling tales once again." You've seen this before. As I say, it's how they operate. The only question is whether the legit press gets dragged into it, as they have in the past. It's a test for them.
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/week_2003_09_21.php#002019

October 21, 2003
The one they're afraid of
Posted by Mark Kleiman
Nick Confessore at Tapped reports that the Republican strategists he talks to think that Wesley Clark would be the toughest candidate for Bush to handle. That helps explain the rough ride he's been getting in the media lately
http://www.samefacts.com/archives/wesley_clark_/2003/10/the_one_theyre_afraid_of.php

September 27, 2003
Spinsanity Takes on the Spin Machine
Posted by Mark Kleiman

There's nothing more boring than the game of pin-the-lie-on-the-liar, but Spinsanity does a good job on a couple of stray slanders against Wesley Clark. Don't understimate the importance of this stuff: if the public can be convinced that Clark is somehow untrustworthy, that will put a big hole in his ability to make the "character" issue against Bush.

Remember the punchline of Lyndon Johnson's story: you don't have to prove your opponent has sex with pigs, you just have to make him deny it. It worked against Al Gore.

So far, it doesn't seem to be working against Clark, at least among Democrats; Clark's favorable/unfavorable among Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters stands at 49/11 in the latest Newsweek poll. <*> But the Bush forces and their media allies are clearly more scared of Clark than of any other candidate, so expect the slanders to keep coming.
http://www.samefacts.com/archives/wesley_clark_/2003/09/spinsanity_takes_on_the_spin_machine.php

[Tom Rinaldo]

29. Inside find Lyons on Clark, plus a message to you

The entire interview is excellent, but here is the part that speaks to your comment:

October 22, 2003
INTERVIEW ARCHIVES
BuzzFlash

Gene Lyons, Political Columnist and Co-Author of "Hunting of the President," Chats with BuzzFlash About General Wesley Clark

A BUZZFLASH INTERVIEW
http://www.buzzflash.com/interviews/03/10/int03221.html

"BUZZFLASH: You're probably one of the most well-informed journalists on how attack politics play themselves out with a culpable media, based on your extensive research and writing on the Clintons. How do you think the right wing is going to go after Clark? What can he expect? What advice would you give Clark and the people who are working for him?

LYONS: Well, the outlines of it are already evident. They're saying he's too tightly wrapped, which is kind of akin to what they tried to do with John McCain. They're saying he's a zealot and tends to become unhinged. They're suggesting he's crazed with ambition.

I wrote in a column a couple of weeks ago that one of their lines of attack would be to portray him as sort of General Jack D. Ripper, who was the megalomaniacal general in Dr. Strangelove who was so concerned with his precious bodily fluids. And that's what I think they will try to do. They might go all the way to the edge of suggesting some kind of mental illness. I don't think he's very vulnerable to that sort of smear.

Clark gave a very interesting quote that I used in a column in a profile in Esquire. He said the whole question about running against George W. Bush boils down to how much pain can you take. So I think he has some idea of what's coming. I think he has some idea that it will be shrill, it will come from that side of the spectrum, and it will be harsh. I think they're going to try to portray him as a crackpot and as wildly ambitious, and therefore dangerous. The right-wing will definitely label him an opportunist and say he's switching parties simply to become President and he's power-mad."

Now here is my message to you, Fonde Ombre, because you are new here. If you want to be trusted as a sincere poster on Democratic Underground, I suggest you not try to jam in as many references to outrageous smears against a good Democrat as you can, in two sentances, while claiming of course that none of them are worth talking about and that you are not claiming that any of them are valid. I would not suggest that you advertize, in detail, an entire shopping list of articles which claim to expose a good Democrat as a mass murdering terrorist supporter and more, under the pretext that, Gee, isn't it interesting that some people say such terrible things about him. Go here and you can read each and every one of those terrible things that some people, not anyone I trust mind you, but some people say about him.

It really doesn't pass the smell test.

[Auntie Bush]

30. My quick answer to your post....

SCRAM! You're not welcome! Go back to Freeperville or where ever (that rock) you crawled out from under. No swiftboating of the General allowed here!

[roguevalley]

31. I can guarentee fourteen votes here in Alaska for him.

[FrenchieCat]

32. Not bad from one voter.....

now we'll just have to multiply that by 1,000,000, hey? :)

[roguevalley]

33. BWAHAHAHAHA! I wish. Of course, Alaska is famous for our

turnout, which averages 200% each election. :)

RV, scion of a big family

[snowbear]

34. Hey now Rogue... we had an AWESOME Clarkie group in Anchorage in '04 !!

Lots of fun sipping mochas at Title Wave Books with great people like Ethan Berkowitz (another Clarkie) and LOTS of others!

The guy who led the group lived way out in Chugiak and drove all the way in to set up each of the meetings ~~

Then when General Clark came up here that summer, we all got to meet him at several different events around town!

I can just about guarantee you that I laid the biggest hug on him that any supporter across the nation did.. I grabbed him when he was walking off stage and laid a big smooch and hug on him while his sweet wife Gert just smiled.. I don't have a thing for older men, but hey.. he looked HOT!

Every event that General Clark had here was completely packed -- including the only one you had to pay to get into ($100.00) at the downtown Hilton. That was SOLD OUT long before he got up here.

The picnic downtown was so crowded that you couldn't even get into the hall at Denali to see him.. TONS of guys drove in from Elmendorf, Fort Rich, you name it.

He has a HUGE fan following in the Great White North!

[Hippo_Tron]

39. I'd ideally like someone more liberal but he's our strongest candidate, IMO

Clark walks into the '08 election without the negatives of that Hillary, Kerry, and possibly Gore and Edwards would have. Bayh and Vilsack are dull and stand zero chance, IMO. Obama doesn't have negatives either but I think that in reality he's running for VP.

[snowbear]

35. Tom... did you listen to General Clark on Big Ed about a week ago?

You are right --- he's running!!

GREAT discussion about Iraq, then Eddie asks him about running and asks him if he'll announce within the next 30 days..

The interview is in the archive for 11/20/06 ~~~~> http://www.bigeddieradio.com/dailyAudio/index.asp

[UrbScotty]

36. Run, Wes, Run!! (nt)

[Clarkie1]

37. Thanks for posting this Tom. I expect we will hear something by January. nt