Wesley Clark, Waiting for the Voters to Thaw

[Demobrat]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33034-2003Dec26.html

BERLIN, N.H. -- As an Army general officer, Wesley K. Clark commanded thousands of troops in hot spots around the globe. As supreme allied commander of NATO, he helped bring down foreign dictators and lived in a "magnificent Flemish-style chateau with five gardeners, a tennis court and newly renovated interior fixtures," as he once described it.

As a presidential candidate Clark now finds himself in the chilly vestibule of the Fraser Papers mill in far northern New Hampshire, on a concrete floor sloppy with slush, virtually begging the shift workers to talk to him.

(snip)

The men are clocking in for the 7:30 a.m. shift. They walk in and out, alone or in pairs. Almost all are armored in thick coats and gloves, some wearing safety glasses and hard hats. "I'm real late," says one. "My boss . . . " he starts, and then drifts off. "I'm a Gephardt guy," yells another as he swings open the door, sending a gust of frigid wind straight up into the nostrils.

[deminflorida]

1. He's coming to Pensacola, Florida on Monday....

and the turn out is going to be really good. It's all over the radio.

[mikehiggins]

2. Ah, yes. The traditional factory gate scene

Its like Mr. Smith Goes To Washington.

I can't count the numbers of times I did just that with candidates in Yonkers, Brooklyn and Queens. The numbers are bigger, but the intent is the same, whether its "Chippie" Flynn running for the Mayorality of Yonkers or RFK running for the future of AMerica.

You put a human face on the picture on the screen or the voice over the radio. It's often cold, wet, frustrating work but the person who would win the votes of his or her fellow 'mericans has to go through it, time and time again, for a campaign to succeed.

Seeing Michael Bloomberg walking down the Coney Island Boardwalk, shaking hands with people like one of the guys, even though everyone knows he could buy the whole neighborhood with a signature on a check is to get an idea of the humbling nature of running for office in this nation.

Thinking you are above doing something like that shows that you just don't get it. Clark gets it.

[janx]

3. This isn't good for Clark. He should be doing better in NH,

especially since he decided to opt out of Iowa.