Clark's Gamble: A Rookie's Education
By EDWARD WYATT
General Clark has learned that while generals rarely have to answer a question twice, candidates answer the same question several times a day, as hosts of people listen for the slightest difference, ready to pounce on inconsistency.
Published: January 25, 2004
ANCHESTER, N.H. — Washington founded a nation. Grant preserved the Union. Eisenhower liberated a continent. Clark - well, didn't he do something with the Muslim Albanians that live in that province that is part of what used to be Yugoslavia?
Like those three other former generals, Wesley K. Clark ended his military life only to decide to try to continue his public service, choosing the nation's highest office for his first political target.
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Unlike the three others, however, the general from Arkansas was all but unknown to most of the American people, as was the place and the people that he saved.
So for the last four months, General Clark has had to spend most of his time not only campaigning for votes but also simply introducing himself - telling people who he is, explaining to them where Kosovo is, and doing other things that might seem beneath a man who, arguably, saved 1.5 million people from genocide.
It has not been an easy task. General Clark frequently tells of how he started his quest for the presidency with "the four no's" - no money, no staff, no policy positions and no experience at seeking elective office. "I call it my faith-based initiative," he says.
Because he is a rookie, he has drawn attention to the most elementary techniques of the politician's craft, which are often taken for granted.
First in his class at West Point and a Rhodes Scholar, General Clark is a quick study. He has begun to lose a bit of his military starch. A CNN analyst during the Iraq war, he understands how to let the television cameras flatter him. He has learned how to shake hands, how to keep his throat lubricated to avoid losing his voice and to call on reporters by name at news conferences.
But to become the 13th general to make the transition from the top military ranks to the White House, much more is required. General Clark has learned that while generals rarely have to answer a question twice, candidates answer the same question several times a day, as hosts of people listen for the slightest difference, ready to pounce on inconsistency.
Unlike those other generals, Wesley Clark has occupied a unique spot in this campaign - that of the antiwar general, opposing the commander in chief even as American troops are overseas. That appealed to voters when Iraq was foremost in their minds, but that subject has now lost ground to more usual concerns of jobs, health care and education. Whether General Clark will similarly fade remains to be seen.
nytimes.com |
