Im 17 and I'm the President of the Young Democrats at my high school in Washington State. We often discuss the 2008 election and which candidates we like the best and I can tell you the only one common theme -- NO ONE is high on Hillary.
Obama is liked by all in the Mt. Spokane Young Democrats club, but many have doubts that he can actually win in the general election. Recently I have told all of our members about Wesley Clark, and EVERY young democrat I have talked to supports him and admires him now. When I mention to people how passionately me and many others support Clark for President, they say, "Oh Clark. Hmmmm...he ran last time didn't he? He got smoked!" But what really happened? Let's take a brief look back to February 3rd, 2004, when 7 states held their primaries...
Arizona - Kerry (43%), Clark (27%), Dean (14%), Edwards (7%)
Deleware - Kerry (50%), Edwards (11%), Lieberman (11%), Dean (10%), Clark (10%)
Missouri - Kerry (51%), Edwards (25%), Dean (9%), Clark (4%)
North Dakota - Kerry (51%), Clark (24%), Dean (12%), Edwards (10%)
Oklahoma - Clark (30%), Edwards (29%), Kerry (27%)
South Carolina - Edwards (45%), Kerry (30%), Sharpton (10%), Clark (7%)
New Mexico - Kerry (43%), Clark (27%), Dean (14%), Edwards (7%)
This should have shaped up to be a 3 person race after that point because even though Kerry was dominating, Clark AND Edwards each ended up 4 out of 7 first/second place finishes on that day. Not Edwards, BOTH of them. But, the media counted Clark out and instead chose to cover the surprising momentum of Edwards and the last stand of Howard Dean in Michigan, Washington, and Maine.
So fast forward to 2007 -- we have a very good field of candidates, but I think there is really only 1 who can easily win. Think about the negatives for each "frontrunner":
Obama - He doesn't have the experience needed but if chosen as VP could keep the democratic party in the white house for 16 years.
Clinton - She is the only candidate who could motivate the republican base to rally behind someone else. A LARGE segment of the population dislikes her and a LARGE segment of the democratic party is skeptical. She seems cold and calculated.
Edwards - Was on the ballot last time and we lost North Carolina by 12%! He talks about two Americas but has a house worth millions of dollars. Some people will think he is hypocritical.
Clark, although not yet a household name, has very few negatives. He ran the Kosovo campaign without the loss of a single American soldier in combat. He was the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO. He was a 4 Star General who faught in Vietnam and received many millitary decorations. He is a businessman. He has relationships with foreign leaders. It seems obvious to me that Clark is the only one in the field (save maybe Richardson) equipped to deal with the threats that we face and power games going on in the world right now.
BUT! I can't write this diary biased so I have got to explore the bad things about him. Some say they won't vote for Clark because he is a military man and may start another war. Some say that Clark is not liberal enough. Some say Clark does not have a large enough base of supporters. Well...First of all, Clark has learned through the military that war is not the first option. He is actually one of the most socially liberal candidates we have. AND -- if he got the nomination for president, media coverage would follow, and the number of Clark supporters would expand exponentially. Remember -- Kerry didn't suffer from lack of name recognition in 2004, the media will cover the nominee.
And Clark brings with him one more advantage. In 2004, John Kerry lost the state of Arkansas by 7%. Clark could win Arkansas and possibly other southern/midwest states such as Missouri, Iowa, and Virginia. Do you think we can win any of those states with Hillary Clinton? Nope. Did we win them with Edwards on the ballot last time? Nope.
So I guess going back to what I was originally saying about my Young Democrats club, once people hear about Wes Clark, they will support him. I was talking to the VP of the G.O.D. as we call it (Glorious Order of Democrats) the other day and she said "Clark's a really good guy but I don't know if he has a chance to win." WELL! Who decides that?? US. So I say it's time for the Democratic Party to step up to the plate and support an intelligent candidate who is by far the most qualified and capable of holding the title, President of the United States. LET'S DO THIS! I know many of you will say "Oh, this guy is a Clark staffer" or something ridiculous like that, but I'm not. I'm in High School for God's sake and I look up and down this field and I only see one guy who really has everything that can make an unbeatble candidate. Clark's that guy and if he doesn't declare his candidacy, I think we will have lost our best change at winning. That's why I ask that EVERYONE who reads this send an emai to WESPAC right away demanding that Clark run. It is us who decide this nomination so take charge NOW.
http://securingamerica.com/...