2004 Presidential Election
According to the AP [September 12, 2003, "Clark Poised for 2004 Presidential Race"] former general Wesley Clark is about "to enter the presidential race as the 10th Democratic candidate." Fans of Clark have been urging him to run for quite a while now, even building a grassroots movement draftwesleyclark.com and at draftclark.com. I haven't reported on this because he was not a declared candidate. Up until a couple of weeks ago he hadn't even declared if he was a Democrat or Republican. He recently assured voters that he is, in fact, a Democrat.
This really makes the race interesting. Most of the current crop of Democratic candidates would love to have Clark on board as the potential vice president. Being an ex-military man will be both an asset and liability for Clark. From the article, "Clark has a resume that unnerves potential rivals - Rhodes scholar, first in his 1966 class at West Point, White House fellow, head of the U.S. Southern Command and NATO commander during the 1999 campaign in Kosovo. Dean's effort to solidify his front-runner status might suffer from the distraction of a Clark candidacy. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts would no longer be the race's only decorated combat veteran. Sens. John Edwards of North Carolina and Bob Graham of Florida would face another Southerner. If he enters the race, Clark would benefit from the support of a legion of Arkansas Democrats who helped Clinton get to the White House, including Skip Rutherford and Bruce Lindsey. Clinton has not taken sides in the nomination fight, but his glowing assessment of Clark in private talks has been noted by his oldest allies."
"Clark believes his four-star military service would counter Bush's political advantage as a wartime commander in chief, friends say. The retired general has been critical of the Iraq war and Bush's postwar efforts, positions that would put him alongside Dean, Graham and Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio as the most vocal anti-war candidates. Clark is scheduled to deliver a speech at the University of Iowa on Sept. 19, but is expected to make his decision before that, with an announcement likely in Little Rock, Ark."
Here's a story from the Washington Post [September 12, 2003, "Clark Stays Noncommittal on White House Run"] about Clark's hesitancy in entering the election. From the article, "By entering the campaign at such a late stage, Clark would have to run a nontraditional campaign, say some Democrats, and would have to develop quickly a clear rationale for his candidacy. Clark gave some hint of what that might be yesterday in his CNN interview, citing stories about the latest tape from Osama bin Laden, deteriorating relations between the United States and its European allies and President Bush's request to expand the Patriot Act."
My hope is that the presidential candidates continue to run against President Bush and keep the campaign as free from negativity as possible, not unlike Denver's recent Mayoral campaign. I'm sure it won't happen that way but one can wish. 
5:21:22 AM 
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