General Clark Edges Closer Toward Entry Into Campaign
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By MICHAEL COOPER
The New York Times
9/4/03
nytimes.com
Gen. Wesley K. Clark, who has been thinking about running for president as a Democrat, moved a step closer to joining the race yesterday by announcing that he is indeed a Democrat.
General Clark, who was the supreme allied commander of NATO, said he had still not made up his mind about running. But after months of saying he belonged to no political party, he announced in an interview on CNN and later at a forum at New York University that he was a Democrat.
At the forum, which was held by the Oxonian Society, the four-star general, who attended Oxford as a Rhodes scholar, at times sounded very much like a candidate.
He criticized the Bush administration, saying it should have appealed to the United Nations for help in Iraq long ago, lamented the United States' loss of jobs and framed what he said he saw as the issues in the coming presidential election.
"The real issue in this election is going to be whether we believe in a two-party system and the ability of reasonable people of good intent to disagree and work through those disagreements to produce a higher-level product for the American people," said General Clark, who is retired.
And, weaving the themes of his military service and his vision for the country together, he said: "I fought for the right of people to disagree. I fought for the right of people to protest. I fought for the right of people to question the president, and not just to question, you know, what did he eat today and how far did he run."
"I fought for the right of privacy," he went on. "I fought for freedom from government intrusion of our personal lives. I fought for the belief that every American is a human being who is worthy of respect and who should be treated fairly and equally, regardless of race, religion, creed, sexual orientation or any other discriminating factor."
General Clark spoke of experiences leading the campaign in Kosovo, did an uncanny impression of Slobodan Milosevic, the former Yugoslav president, and praised former President Bill Clinton, a fellow Arkansan and Rhodes scholar, as a "tremendous leader."
He was received enthusiastically by the Oxonians, including some who said they were Republicans. Outside the forum, several groups that have been trying to draft General Clark to run for president handed out fliers and Clark candy bars. |
