Supporters Mob Gen. Clark on First Campaign Stop
Thu September 18, 2003 07:51 PM ET
By Kristin Roberts
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (Reuters) - Hundreds of Florida well-wishers mobbed Gen. Wesley Clark on Thursday when he made his first campaign stop since declaring that he was joining nine other Democrats in the 2004 race for the White House.
Clark, standing on a chair in the middle of an overflowing restaurant in this city north of Miami, criticized President Bush on the economy and Iraq and told supporters he needed money.
"We're the envy of the whole world but we are trapped in a jobless economy and an endless occupation and that is the problem we have to address," Clark said.
"I'm running for president because this country needs leadership. It needs honest leadership, it needs visionary leadership, it needs leadership with experience," he said to cheers from the crowd.
Clark, a former NATO commander, announced his candidacy on Wednesday. Late to the race, the political novice was candid about his need for financial support.
"This is America. We operate on the greenback. I need your support," he said.
Clark has a grass-roots support network built on the Internet and a "Draft Clark" Web site launched months ago has laid the groundwork for volunteer groups in many states, including Florida.
The retired general has yet to lay out an economic or domestic agenda and declined to do so on Thursday. But supporters said his military background was what made him an attractive alternative to other Democrats in the field, and to Bush.
"Bush has the whole national security aura, but he does not have that over Gen. Clark," said Aaron Dickerson, 26, who drove 500 miles from his Tallahassee home to meet Clark.
One of many World War II veterans in uniform told Clark that his candidacy was his "greatest public service."
Clark did not discuss what pushed him to make Florida his first campaign stop, other than to say he thought it was a beautiful state and that there was "no better place to start."
Bush won the presidency in 2000 after a bitter recount fight in Florida. The state, whose Republican governor Jeb Bush is the president's brother, is seen as a key battleground for 2004 as Democrats say they are determined to avenge the loss. |
