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To: Giordano Bruno who wrote (256304)	8/18/2003 7:33:59 AM
From: Giordano Bruno	Respond to of 436258

Gen. Clark Tosses Out More Hints That He May Run for President By JACOB M. SCHLESINGER Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL WASHINGTON -- Retired Army Gen. Wesley K. Clark increasingly is talking like a man ready to run for president, a move that could jolt the already topsy-turvy 2004 Democratic field. Gen. Clark won't say if he is going to throw his decorated hat onto the pile of nine already in the ring. He won't even say if he is a Democrat, though he often talks like a member of that party, such as supporting affirmative action, questioning the Bush tax cuts and blasting the Iraq war. But the former supreme commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization appears to be laying campaign groundwork more each day. "I know something about leadership. ... I've put my life on the line for this country," he responded in a lengthy telephone interview Friday, when asked what he could add to the field of candidates. "Right now, the emphasis is on national security, so people are feeling that's an important component." "I haven't made a decision," Gen. Clark said. But he peppered his comments with phrases such as "I'm not a candidate yet," and "if I were to become a candidate." In an appearance Sunday on CNN's "Late Edition," he said a decision is imminent: "I'm coming to closure on the matter ... sometime in the next two or three weeks." Indeed, with increasing frequency, Gen. Clark is making the rounds of television political-talk shows. And independent "Draft Clark" committees -- groups of disparate volunteers with which he said he has no contact -- are ginning up interest by running television ads this week in the first two states voting for a nominee, Iowa and New Hampshire. Some key players in party politics are intrigued by the prospect of his candidacy. "He's a very articulate guy," said Gerald McEntee, president of the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, who has been attempting to slow the apparent rush by organized labor to endorse Missouri Rep. Richard Gephardt. "He's a four-star general. ... He's known as a 'soldier's soldier,' " added Mr. McEntee, who worries Democrats will find it tough challenging President Bush on national security. Gen. Clark met recently with the union's leaders, as well as top officials of the AFL-CIO. A Clark candidacy could complicate the campaigns of several rivals. One is Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran, who repeatedly cites as an advantage the fact the he alone among current contenders has combat experience. Gen. Clark's antiwar views could draw support away from former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who has had the backing of the party's peace wing largely to himself. In what could be a staple of stump speeches, the general talked in the interview poignantly about visiting recently maimed American soldiers in a military hospital, and asked: "Why is the invasion of Iraq the center of the war on terror? I just don't get it." And as a native Arkansan, he could steal Southern votes from North Carolina Sen. John Edwards and Florida Sen. Bob Graham. Still, Gen. Clark would enter the campaign with several weaknesses. A 34-year veteran of the military who retired four years ago into finance and investment banking, he has no political experience. Nor is he known for expertise on the many nonmilitary issues, such as economic and environmental policies that will be debated throughout the campaign. But as shown by actor Arnold Schwarzenegger's top-dog status among Republicans in California's gubernatorial recall race, voters don't always consider that a liability. Gen. Clark clearly has spent time anticipating criticisms about his inexperience and crafting answers, should he run. As for experience, he said that his time running the army's national training center was "the equivalent of being a mayor." In Europe, he added, "there was a 44,000-child school district I was responsible for," as well as a "$4 billion operating budget." "You cannot be at the highest levels of the armed forces without being very attuned to the political process," he said. As for issues, Gen. Clark said, "I wouldn't consider myself a one-issue candidate, I'd be broader than that." He said he would join the other Democratic candidates in reconsidering the Bush tax cuts, and would look for "a better means of addressing health care." Write to Jacob M. Schlesinger at jacob.schlesinger@wsj.com Updated August 18, 2003