Draft Clark Contingent Hopes Candidacy Is Near

[DoveTurnedHawk]

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Still, the untested Clark has "succeeded in putting himself in the position of the last unopened Christmas present," said Peter Hoe Burling, the Democratic leader of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, who is supporting Representative Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri.

"After a while, after we've all run the new trucks and toys around the floor," Burling said, "we all want to see what's in that last box."

What's best known about Clark are his statements on foreign policy: He has blasted the Bush administration for alienating allies and fixating on Iraq at the expense of other trouble spots. Administration leaders have struck back, saying Clark and other retired-military critics are jeopardizing soldiers' morale. Clark makes no apologies: "I've been outspoken, but I've been moderate in what I've said . . . I've just called it like I've seen it."

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His social views run liberal: He supports abortion rights, affirmative action, and Vermont-style civil unions for gay couples. On questions about health care and education issues, he points to his career in the military, where "we treat people well and we look after them as individuals."

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It is a perspective many Draft Clark leaders seem to share. They often speak of Clark with longing and an air of wish-fulfillment. This is, after all, a Rhodes Scholar who finished first in his West Point class, a man whose NATO title was supreme commander, and whose background of heroics can seem too good to be true. The time he helped clinch a state high school championship by swimming the first and last legs of the relay. The time he rappelled down a mountain outside Sarajevo, in a territory riddled with Serbian snipers, to try to rescue colleagues who crashed in an armored personnel carrier.

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http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2003/09/02/draft_clark_contingent_hopes_candidacy_is_near/

DTH

[Mz Pip]

1. Save the best

for last. Not a bad way to look at it. That last present often makes us smile the most.

MzPip
:dem:

[Palacsinta]

2. I'm ready, waiting, willing and able......

I've been talking him up and sending out info on him for weeks now. C'MON WESLEY!

[MattNC]

3. getting impatient

i'm a clark supporter (obviously) but i'm starting to get overly anxious in regards to clark announcing. it seems like it's dragged on forever and now that we're past labor day, i keep hoping for an announcement any day now.

[elfin]

4. Me too!

To me, he combines the best traits of all of them in a VERY attractive package. (Boomer females will love this guy - who says sex doesn't sell?)

Last I read, he spoke of mid September - if he goes much beyond the 15th - too late, I fear.

I hope the wait will be worth it and that he announces and with some sound proposals and a plan to build a solid infrastructure of funding and PR.

I was an early Dean supporter, then switched to Kerry - now think Clark is our sure ticket back from the wilderness. The others will struggle mightily and with Diebold voting machines in the mix may suffer the same fate as Gore. I think Clark could give GW the electoral smashing he so richly deserves.