Wesley Clark

In My Humble Opinion
1

Wesley Clark hasn’t said he’s running for the Presidency in 2008. But he hasn’t said he won’t.

  1. Do you think Clark will run?

  2. Do you think he would make a better, or worse candidate than Clinton or Obama? (i.e., are his views more, or less in line with what people are looking for in a President? Is he more ‘electable’ than Clinton or Obama?)

  3. If you were going to vote for a Democrat, would you vote for him?

2

I poured my heart and soul into Wes Clark in '04, and learned a bitter lesson – the political hacks that run the parties don’t want real leaders, they want plastic figures that say the word “leadership” a lot but otherwise don’t scare the shit out of the great, contented masses of Americans.

I think (1) the Democrats have never had a better opportunity to take the presidency for eight years and (2) we will fuck up that opportunity so royally that John McCain will walk into the White House with bells on.

My only hope is that McCain will reach across party lines and pick Wes Clark for his secretary of defense or, at the very least, chief of staff.

3
  1. Clark came to speak at my university in the US last november (about a month behind Obama, 6 months behind Clinton). It seemed like from the way he was speaking he would be running, although he wouldn’t admit it when asked.

I’m going to answer out of order.

  1. I would definitely vote for him. He came off as very intelligent, friendly, and genuine. He answered a gazillion questions and even stuck around to chat with the audience after the speech. I appreciate that he actually talked about policy, and what he would do if he were in charge (not that he’s running for president or anything :wink: ), while Clinton blathered on about women in politics and Obama, who I missed, I heard talked only vaguely about hope and our generation.

  2. I think he would have more appeal than Clinton and Obama to general voters in the main election, but I don’t know if he’ll ever get there. No one seems to care about him in the media. He also has less of a stage presence than the other two, which could hurt.

4

He was my favorite in the last election and I would happily vote for him if given the chance. He was the first candidate to whom I ever donated money.

5

This is my imaginary conversation with the Democrats in early 2004:

Me: Hey Democrats, you guys should nominate Wesley Clark. Among other qualities, he is an experienced general, which will be a big plus to voters while we are in wartime. It will take away this idea that the Dems are weak on defense.

Democrats: Nah man, we’re going to go with John Kerry. We’re not really interested in anyone who appears to have any measurable quantities of testosterone.

Me: Come on dudes. C’mon.

Democrats: Hey John Kerry was in Vietnam. There is no way the Republicans will be able to use that against him.

6

I actually voted for General Clark in the last Primary. By early absentee ballot. Before he pulled out of the race, which then rendered mine a throw-away vote. :frowning:

I’d definitely consider it again, only this time I think I’d wait a little longer to make sure he doesn’t throw in the towel again, though I’m really leaning very heavily towards Obama right now.

ETA: For those unfamiliar. . . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wesley_Clark

7

Never happen in a billion years.
This was my pick not that it means anything.

Russ Feingold
Mark Warner
Wesley Clark
John Edwards
Obama
Clinton

8

Nope.

I think he could get votes from folks who wouldn’t vote for a woman or a Black guy.

I don’t understand the question.
If I were going to vote for a Democrat, I would vote for the Democratic candidate.

9

I really believe that Kerry/Clark would have won last time around. WTF was Kerry thinking with John Edwards? The Nam combat vet and experienced politician combined with General Clark.

Come on draft dodging coke head spoiled momma’s boy president, we’ll show you a real war presidency. Naw, let Bush be labeled as the “war President, and damn good thing we don’t have the demo pussy Gore as President right now.”

Man, I’d love to see Wesley Clark as either pres or vp, just wonder if his time has passed.

10

I wanted to vote for him in '04, and though he appeared on the ballot he had already dropped out of the race. I would vote for and support his candidacy again.

Knowing that he won’t get nominated I just may vote Republican (McCain). I felt like I was asked to vote for Kerry, and I did what I felt was my duty. I’m not doing that again.

11

hijack:

I’ve seen that SDMB’s poster Wesley Clarck’s last post was in April last year. I must say I miss his presence, and I hope he’s well.

/hijack:

12

Ouch! Kindof a scathing article in today’s L.A. Times about a comment Clark made about who are the force behind whether or not we’ll eventually attack Iran; rich Jews, apparently.

13

Agree. You can see it coming a mile away.

14

I assume you meant the reaching-across-party-lines part. I’m thinking that McCain’s apparent toadyism to the Bushies and the neocon/Christian wingnuts is simply a wise political ploy, and that the man recognizes a strong, bright leader when he sees one. Of course, the bad part about being as noncommittally cynical as I am is that my lack of committment to my cynicism leaves me open to even more disappointment. I think I realize something about old liberals: They’re not grumpy, they’re just perpetually disappointed.

15

Because of the structure of unified commands and the particular assignments I had in the 1990’s, General Clark was in my chain of command in two different theaters for a number of years.

Based on what I saw, I would never vote for the man, and I wouldn’t vote for him if he were a registered Republican.