You see him on TV. You read about him on the internet. You hear him on the radio. But just how seriously do you take Wes Clark? Would you vote for him? Do you even consider him a candidate? Most would answer no to that last question...but why? I may be the only one on this planet, but it seems certain to me that ol’ General Clark is going to give it one more shot. Don’t believe me? Here’s why...
Wes Clark is worried.
He is worried about Iran and the Middle East. Just this Friday, Wes Clark went on CNBC and expressed his concern about the "countdown to war" as he put it, with Iran. He condemned the "saber rattling" of Joe Lieberman and other conservatives, and laid out what he has many times, a "full court diplomatic effort" with Iran. When his counterpart on the show, Jed Babbin, claimed that UN diplomacy with Iran has not worked in changing Iranian thinking, Clark responded forcefully, "I would need 15 minutes to refute what you have said...I never said the United Nations is going to solve this problem...We haven’t tried diplomacy. This administration isn’t trying. This administration is on a countdown – and here’s what is at the end of the road: a nice air strike...And at the end of it we don't have the capacity to occupy Iran. We don't have to capacity to calm down the Islamic world after the strike." Wes Clark cares about the Middle East issue passionately. We all know about StopIranWar.com, his website through which he amassed 50,000 signatures calling for diplomacy with Iran. But even more telling is during a recent interview on Air America Radio, Clark said that people running for President are seen as willing to say anything to get elected. He sees this as the major problem with running for president – people won’t think that he cares when he pours every ounce of his effort into caring.
Wes Clark is makin’ changes.
After his stint on Fox News as an analyst, Wes recently made the move to MSNBC. One may wonder why. Clark says it’s because he likes MSNBC, but we all know he is so much smarter than that. When asked what he thought about his time at Fox, Clark replied "I think I reached a lot of people I wouldn’t have reached otherwise." Hmmmm. Why would he need to reach these people in the first place? Maybe to bring common sense viewpoints to conservatives. Maybe because the soldier in Wes likes being in tough situations. Maybe. But I think he did it in case he is to become the nominee of the Democratic Party for President in 2008, he will have vastly improved his crossover appeal to the millions who have heard him on Fox News. Now he has moved back to MSNBC (a much more liberal audience) to be exposed to more Democratic primary voters for the ’08 election, not because, "I like MSNBC" as he has put it. This may just be my conspiracy theory but General Clark is a master of strategy, and it seems to me he knows what he is doing.
Wes Clark is makin’ noise.
Just several days ago on Sunday, July 1st, I was completely taken by surprise when I visited SecuringAmerica.com. Clark had been interviewed – not by the Huffington Post or Texas Blue – but by the New York Times. This newspaper has a Sunday circulation of over 1.6 million copies. This wasn’t Wes Clark getting on DailyKos and being read by a couple thousand people, it was millions of people across the country reading an interview with the General entitled "Generally Speaking". During this interview, Wes used some rhetoric that I haven’t heard from him before and that sounded like he was a candidate for President and we just didn’t know it. When asked if we live in a nation where everyone wants to be in charge and no one is satisfied with second place, Clark responded, "Every American should strive to be all they can be. And that striving will make them better even if they end up in second place." After calling on every American to be a leader, Clark was asked if he thought everyone being a leader meant no one to boss around. He replied, "Leaders don’t boss. Not if they’re any good. They persuade. And I think America needs a whole lot more persuading and a lot less bossing." What does this sound like to you? To me it sounds like a retired 4 Star General and Supreme Allied Commander gearing up for another run at the White House. Wes is going to continue making noise when he releases his upcoming book, entitled "A Time To Lead". He was asked about the book in the New York Times and offered an extremely eloquent and epic explanation, "’A Time to Lead’ is a time for America to lead. That is the intention of the title. Certainly we are having a leadership crisis. We have an administration that has lost all sense of strategic purpose in the Mideast. I am very concerned that we have lost the foundation of America’s worldwide power and influence. It has been squandered. The most important element of power is not the military. After World War II and through the end of the 20th century, we had a legitimacy that magnified our military strength and economic strength. We weren’t like other powers. We weren’t after an empire. We didn’t torture. What we’ve lost is our legitimacy. It’s time for every American to be a leader." If that’s not enough noise for you, Clark also recently said of the Iraq War, "It’s time to find a responsible way out of Iraq". This is a healthy line with Democratic primary voters and means that Wes will probably begin advocating redeployment of large numbers of the troops from Iraq to where they will be needed elsewhere. Speaking of Democratic primary voters, Wes Clark spent the mid term election season campaigning for 80+ Democratic candidates across the nation. He visited Iowa, New Hampshire, Florida, California, Nevada, and many other key primary states. The reason for this was obviously to help elect a new Democratic Congress, but in doing so Wes Clark familiarized himself to thousands and thousands of activists along with many influential people in the party.
Wes Clark has got the bruises.
His first campaign for President was no cake walk and Clark was forced to find out the hard way how to deal with the media. He was forced to find out the hard way that YOU CAN’T SKIP IOWA! He was forced to find out the hard way how to give a campaign speech. Remember that when Wes Clark entered the race in 2003, he had no political experience, no staff, no money, and no position papers. He had to learn the hard way how to win. But that’s the thing about tacticians and Generals like Wes Clark. If they make a mistake, they change and adapt. And boy has Wes learned. If you compare his first media appearances in 2003 with today, you can see the maturity. Clark is comfortable and charming in front of a camera now and he is able to stay focused and calm during even the most provocative interviews. Go to youtube and watch his interviews with Bill O’Reilly. You will see Clark cut right through the spin and stay on message and on the issue every single time.
Wes Clark is driven.
Based on accounts I have read, Wes Clark is one driven individual, always striving to meet new challenges. His military peers have labeled it his "unrelenting quest for excellence". He worked his way up the command ladder despite resistance from some on the other side of the divided military culture. When the Draft Clark movement sprung up and Wes got his chance, I don’t think he could resist. Now here we are, closing in on 2008. It appears ever less likely that Al Gore is running, it appears ever less likely that things are improving in the Middle East, and it appears ever more likely that a retired General is going to take on the challenge one more time. He sees polls that show 65% of Democrats looking to someone besides Hillary Clinton, 40% of democrats wanting more choices, and I don’t think he’ll be able to resist this time either.
Wes Clark is thinkin’.
When asked if he is running for President, General Wesley Clark responds, "I think about it every day."
What do you think?