Wesley Clark Joins the Race for President
A general for president? It is not uncommon. There have been ten total; six of them popular--George Washington, Andrew Jackson, William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Franklin Pierce, Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, and Dwight Eisenhower.
The fact is this--I'm eager to see what Clark brings to the current fray of presidential hopefuls. I have liked his commentary when he has been on CNN. In fact, this reminds me of the TomPaine article, titled The Reckoning, by William Rivers Pitt in which he relates the interview that Wesley Clark had with Tim Russert on Meet the Press. In the article, Wesley reveals that the White House, after 9/11, called him personally to have him make the connection between Al-Qaeda and Iraq. Read the article here.
While you're there, you might want to read the newest addition to the front page, the article Bush's Worst Nightmare, by Stephen K. Medvic. And, yes, that nightmare is Wesley Clark. Medvic suggests that Bush would skewer any candidate who has made a campaign on the basis of opposition to war.
In other related articles, Slate magazine has a good article today by David Greenberg titled Cincinnatus for President. Greenberg describes the characteristics the public seems to require of generals who win the presidency--
1. Those who "can radiate purity and appeal to the public's distrust of power-grasping career politicians."
2. "Soldier-candidates typically succeed ...when, like George Washington, they use their experience in war to show how much they value peace."
3. Those who do not have an "excess of militarism."
Greenberg weighs in on the pros and cons of Clarks' decision:
Wesley Clark, as pundits have noted, faces many obstacles if he wants to be president, including the lack of a campaign team and a late start in fund raising. But he has mastered the two historical requirements: He doesn't act as if he needs the job, and he doesn't act as if he wants war. For a general, that's a good start.
Let's roll.
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