August 12, 2024I Still Say He's DoomedI still say that the conditions aren't favorable for Clark to enter. Indeed, the emergence of Dean as frontrunner makes it less likely that Clark would be able to find a toehold in this crowded field. Maybe he thinks he can position himself for a Veep slot, but he might could get that without running for the nomination (indeed, if he gets out on the stump and starts talking, he may damage his Veep chances, as he will have set aside the whole "General" thing for the "politician" thing). In the strongest signal yet that retired US Army General Wesley K. Clark, the former NATO commander, is planning to join the Democratic presidential race, Clark told volunteers last week to step up their efforts and prepare for an announcement on Labor Day. Source: Clark seen planning Democratic nomination bid Hat Tip: Taegan Goddard's Political Wire Posted by Steven Taylor at August 12, 2024 08:30 AM | TrackBackComments
I don't understand the Clark appeal, exactly. If moderate Dems want a candidate who's strong on defense, they can vote for Lieberman. But I suppose they shy away from Joe because they think he smells like a loser. Still, if they have to draft Clark for Prez or VP, isn't it an admission on the part of hawkish liberals that the party itself looks like a loser to them? Posted by: Matthew at August 12, 2024 10:00 AMA valid point. To be honest, I don't think that he will have much wide-spread appeal amongst Democratic primary voters. Posted by: Steven at August 12, 2024 10:27 AMIf at the start of someone's presidential bid you said "I predict that this person will not win the nomination" you'd have a very good chance of being right. So skepticism is always the safest path. But Clark is the only candidate other than Dean who generates any real passion out there. He has a very loyal following without having given any real indication up to this point that he was going to run. Certainly he excites people more than the Washington candidates. I mean, there is no groundswell of support for Graham, Lieberman, Kerry or Edwards. Gephardt, because of his union ties, probably comes in second in terms of "real people" backing his campaign. I think Clark will run, and if he doesn't flame out quickly (by being an obviously bad candidate or having some scandal dumped on him) he'll contest the nom with Dean and one of Gep, Kerry, or Edwards. Posted by: SamAm at August 12, 2024 11:40 AMThe people I've talked to who worked for him during his time in Europe almost uniformly despise him. It would be pretty amusing for a "general" to run and have almost no military support.... Posted by: jem at August 12, 2024 09:34 PMPost a comment
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