Decision near, Clark says
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By DUNCAN MANSFIELD
Associated Press
September 14, 2003
knoxnews.com
Retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark, sensing growing support for a Democratic presidential bid, said Saturday he is days away from announcing a decision.
"There is only one decision," he told The Associated Press in an interview on actor David Keith's front porch before a speech at the Democratic Truman Day Dinner. "And that decision is, do you run for the office of president or do you stay in the private sector?"
Sounding like a candidate, he said without hesitation, "I think I have a tremendous amount to offer this country, a lifetime of public service and leadership."
Clark, 58, a career military man who headed the U.S. Southern Command and was NATO commander during the 1999 campaign in Kosovo, said a vice presidential slot is not on his mind, though he won't rule it out.
"Let's be honest," Clark said, "When you haven't ever been in elective office before and you've commanded companies, battalions, a brigade, a division and (been) supreme allied commander in Europe, and somebody asks you to stand for elective office - it is about the presidency.
"That is the decision that is here. They don't have primaries for the vice presidency."
Clark, whose calendar includes a speech in Iowa late next week, said he will announce his intentions within "the next few days probably," most likely in his home state of Arkansas.
"It just seemed to me if I was going to go to Iowa, I probably ought to know what I was doing before I went there," he said.
Tennessee Democratic Party Chairman Randy Button said he was "very impressed" with Clark.
"He brings a lot to the table. He is from a Southern state, he brings a tremendous military background, and there seems to be a real draft effort, which is pretty phenomenal, behind him," Button said.
About 1,000 Democrats attended the event. The only announced presidential candidate on hand was Al Sharpton.
Button said many of the state's Democrats remain uncommitted as the primary season approaches.
"They're waiting to see whom Gov. Phil Bredesen supports," he said.
Clark said many logistical issues have to be decided before entering a race against nine opponents just months before the first primaries and caucuses. "We've got about all the cards out on the table to be able to answer that question," he said.
He said he has talked "to a lot of congressmen over the last few months," many of them friends he knew when he was in the top ranks of the armed forces. Without naming names, he said he has found support.
"People have come up to me all over the country and asked me to do this," he said. "I wouldn't have considered it without that."
Still, there is the personal decision for Clark.
"It is really a difficult thing," he said, "because the fundamental thing is what is the best way to make a contribution? There are only so many hours in the day; there is only so much you can do. What is the best way to do this?"
Clark was a Rhodes scholar, finished first in his 1966 class at West Point and was a White House fellow before his long service in the military. He said he is still adjusting to civilian life and the freedom to speak his mind.
"When you are in the United States armed forces, I guess it is like being a surgeon, and they tell you you are going to do an operation. And even if you are not sure why that patient wanted that operation, you are going to be 100 percent committed to doing it right."
As a civilian, Clark said, "It takes you awhile to get your bearings and say, 'Well, gee, I wonder is this is the right thing to do?' "
Clark said he is ready to hold members of the Bush administration "accountable for their stewardship, for their leadership, for what they have represented and what's happened in the country."
"It shouldn't be about the past; it should be about the future," he said of the campaign. "But the thing is, sometimes the past is the best guide to what is going to happen next." |
