Wesley Clark Announces Intent to Run in 2004

[William C. Maune]

From CNN:

http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/09/16/elec04.prez.clark/index.html

While I need to do some more research for myself on his issues, he looks like a good candidate to me so far. Of the candidates out there also, his background may give him the best chance to beat Bush. Anyone else have a take?

(If you support the other side, there is nothing wrong with that, but that's not what this thread is for. Same goes for the non-Bush supporters, let's keep this thread on the candidates and not about bashing Bush. Thanks!)

[Weatherman]

Now this is certainly an interesting development......very interesting indeed. maybe he can finally inject some real fire into the Democrats drive for the White House.

And if I may make a sugestion, he should get Sen. Barbara Mukulski from Maryland as his VP cadidate. That would be a ticket to be feared, heheh.

[supermonkey]

Sen. Barbara Mukulski from Maryland

Why? (just curious, don't know too much about her)

[Tienshin]

I heard a few weeks back that Gen. Clark was thinking of giving a run for the Democratic nomination a shot, but then the news dried up, So he has decided to join the fray, this should cause quite a stir among the current candidates. We probably won’t get much in the way of his platform until his first sit down interview, I would expect his official announcement to be pretty bland, and he’ll probably keep his cards close to his chest. Though we do see a glimmer of some of his takes on issues:

-He feels that the war in Iraq was perpetrated under false pretenses, and that the US is not safer as a result

-He is a supporter of affirmative action in principle.

-He doesn’t think that the current “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy of the military is effective

All those will make for nice talking points for the opposition in the early going, but I am interested to see where he stands on many other things and how he handles himself in the “arena”

[Outlander00]

Well, now things have become more interesting!

Personally, of all the Democratic candidates he is probably the most promising based on his views, background, and charisma (yes, charisma DOES matter).

However I think his lack of a political dealings (unlike Colin Powell) may hurt his chances in 2004, creating a target that other candidates can exploit.

[Delthayre]

Clark's entry into the race has thrown me into something like dissarray. I have been for some time a Dean supporter, but in the end so long as it's not Sharpton (not likely), Lieberman (for those who wanted vote for Bush, but thought he wasn't Jewish enough), or Gephardt, I can live with it.

I like Clark, but I see a lot of commonalities between him and Dean in what their stances are and how their campaigns will proceed. Clark may be entering the race late, but he's got a lot of supporters and he's quite charismatic. So until I see otherwise, I'm assuming he's going to really turn things on ear.

For now, I'm going to pull back and start cautiously re-evaluating the situation. I've got a whole new field of things to consider and a lot of hard choices to make.

[William C. Maune]

As for entering the campaign late, it is important to remember that Clinton entered the campaign in the equivalent of this October.

I'm in kind of the same quandry also, especially until i get some more info on Clark. I actually do like Gephardt, and Dean as well, pretty much as long as it isn't Sharpton or Lieberman. Clark will probably be on TV a lot in the next couple weeks though.

[Delthayre]

Slate (http://www.slate.com) has an intestings historically-oriented article (http://slate.msn.com/id/2088306/) that may offer some insight into Clark's validity as a candidate. But not as much as I'd like.

A general for president is hardly unprecedented. But we haven't had one since Eisehnhower. I just hope that if Clark wins, he follows Eisenhower's lead on fashion and wears a Homburg (http://www.villagehatshop.com/product151.html), it might help bring them back into style.

Sorry, there I go into my goldarned hats again.

Another difficulty for me with the General is his name. As a Babylon 5 fan, I would probably get very nervous whenever I heard the words, "President Clark announced today..."