Clark: From ABC News' Clark campaign reporter Deborah Apton:
HANOVER, N.H., Jan. 25 — He's wearing a red tie tiled with mini-New Hampshire maps. He's holding rallies instead of conversations. And he's trying to keep the mood of his campaign up with last minute, added retail stops at diners, Dunkin' Donuts, and a bowling alley. It's T-minus 48 hours until the final push towards the primary or, as the press has nicknamed it, the "Hell on Wheels" tour of the Clark for President campaign.
Riding on the Clark campaign bus-the second bus since coming full-time to New Hampshire (p.s.-it's the bus that the Gephardt campaign had rented for their Granite State run)-most of the talk is not about New Hampshire but about the February 3rd states. In the hotel lobby Sunday morning, one campaign staffer stood around waiting to catch a flight to Missouri.
In an off-the-schedule Sunday night stop at a restaurant in Hanover, Clark sat down with a dozen women who had just come from the Lifetime/ABC News women's forum to try and convert many of the independent, undecided voters to his team.
When one woman asked him about strategy coming out of New Hampshire, Clark said: "I'm all set for the third. We've got ads everywhere … we hired thirty-nine of Gephardt's people, we've got tons of money, we're moving into Missouri, we've got all we need to win all this stuff." And in response to a question about an endorsement from Gephardt, Clark said: "Gephardt hasn't made up his mind … I talked to Dick."
In the end, Clark's drop-in at dinner convinced one of the women to switch over from Dean to Clark. And while handing out Clark04 pins, The General kept asking the women for their votes--even offering to buy one woman a drink. She refused.
And Monday's star power on the trail? Actress Drew Barrymore, who will be riding with the press corps and following General Clark for a documentary she's making, according to Clark campaign staffers. |
