Clark should have run as an Independent

What first made me think of this was a memory of Clark being challenged in a debate to say that Clinton had screwed up on foreign policy, too. I don't remember the exact exchange, but I do remember that Clark wouldn't. Which is too bad. Because he's running as a Democrat, for the Democratic nomination, he can't risk ticking off certain heavy-hitters.

I was reminded of this again by the diary below about Clark's complaints during the Kosovo bombing about Clinton's political interests. If Clark was running as an independent, he could have brought this up early on, to make that point that members of both parties have at times made these decisions with politics in mind and that the international situation right now demands a leader who can rise above politics.

Obviously, running as an independent would have made things more difficult in a lot of ways. 3rd party candidates have a difficult time, because they don't have access to a party apparatus. But perhaps he could have kept the loyalty of some of the Draft Clark movement. He could have positioned himself more as a moderate than as a lefty. And he could be picking up a lot of disgruntled Republican support along with the Democratic support he's getting-- and because, in my opinion, he could have had a stronger rationale for his campaign as an independent, I actually think he'd be getting more support from heavily-Democrat-leaning voters than he is currently.