Clark expected to shake up Democratic presidential race
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By Dave Montgomery
Star-Telegram Washington Bureau
Posted on Sun, Sep. 14, 2003
dfw.com
WASHINGTON - Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean grabbed the early front-runner status in the Democratic presidential campaign, but the spotlight is shifting to retired four-star Gen. Wesley Clark, whom many expect to join the race this week.
Clark's emergence as the 10th Democratic candidate would further reshape an unpredictable campaign season that has seen Dean brush past more established candidates like Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri for the right to take on George W. Bush in November 2004.
Also doing well early in Texas, where the primaries are set for March 2, is Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, who had raised more money than any of his competitors in the Lone Star State as of the end of June.
Clark, who commanded the successful U.S.-led NATO attack on Yugoslavia in 1999, has reportedly told friends that he wants to make the race. An announcement could come any time this week before Clark delivers a long-scheduled speech Friday at the University of Iowa.
In Texas, which hopes to play an influential role in the nomination battle, Clark has ignited intense interest among grassroots voters and Democratic activists, many of them committed to other candidates.
Some say the general from Little Rock, Ark., offers the same kind of fresh appeal that Dallas billionaire H. Ross Perot used to whip up a populist groundswell a decade ago. With his military bearing, Southwestern roots and fluency in Spanish, Clark also presents credentials that could easily resonate with Texas voters.
"A lot of people who matter are really intrigued with Wesley Clark," said former Land Commissioner Garry Mauro, who is leading the Texas effort for Gephardt.
Clark, 58, placed second behind Dean during a Labor Day straw poll of Dallas County Democrats.
A vigorous "Draft Clark" movement has been operating in Texas since June, and organizers say they have been assured of a spate of endorsements from state and local politicians if Clark becomes a candidate.
"Our guess is that he's absolutely getting in," said John Oeffinger of Austin, a seasoned political activist who heads Texas' Draft Clark movement. "There's no way that he's not."
Arlington attorney Bob Gammage, a former state Supreme Court justice who is also a leader in the Draft Clark movement, predicted that Clark's candidacy is "as certain as the sun coming up tomorrow."
Clark's entry would add a new dimension to the Democratic race in Texas, which has largely taken place out of public view as the competing campaigns seek to raise money and build behind-the scenes support.
The exception is Dean, who has extended his front-runner status into the Lone Star State through high-profile campaign appearances, a well-organized political operation, and anti-Bush TV ads.
The doctor and former governor has been in Texas repeatedly, drawing crowds of more than 3,000 on President Bush's home turf.
Texas is one of 11 states holding "Super Tuesday" primaries on March 2, although Republican Gov. Rick Perry has raised the possibility that the election may be delayed because of the state's squabble over legislative redistricting. California also is scheduled to vote March 2.
A number of senior political operatives in Texas, including those aligned with other candidates, agree that Clark has the potential of replacing Dean as the Texas front-runner, largely on the strength of his military record.
Clark was first in his 1966 class at West Point and was cited for valor in Vietnam. As head of the U.S. Southern Command in Panama, he became fluent in Spanish, bolstering his appeal to the state's Hispanic voters.
"He's going to have a serious impact," said Roy Spence, an Austin ad executive who is working on behalf of Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut. "He's a guy who starts from the military perspective. Democrats haven't had that in a long time."
Spence's household typifies the divisions in the party as Clark considers the race: While Spence is committed to his friend Lieberman, his wife, Mary, is an ardent Clark fan and checks the Draft Clark Internet site daily.
Supporters say Clark's unquestioned expertise on the military and defense pre-empts Bush's strengths on national security and makes him the best-positioned Democrat to beat the Republican president in the 2004 general election.
Although few believe that Clark could seriously threaten Bush in his home state -- where the president has an approval rating of 65 percent, according to the latest Scripps Howard Texas Poll, the retired general offers Democrats their best hope of penetrating Republican strongholds elsewhere in the South, supporters say.
"It's going to take somebody with a Sunbelt association, somebody the South is comfortable with to beat Bush next year," said Gammage, a former state senator and congressman who is now a member of Arlington's Hill Gilstrap law firm. "Wesley Clark can do that."
State Rep. Pete Gallego of Alpine, chairman of Texas' Mexican-American Legislative Caucus, predicted that Clark would also draw strong support among Hispanics in the state's Democratic primary race.
"There are a lot of Hispanics with a service history, all very supportive of the country and very patriotic," Gallego said. "They would take him [Clark] much more seriously than they would some of the other Democratic candidates."
Clark's biggest potential weaknesses, both nationally and in Texas, include his lack of political experience and, consequently, the prospect of rookie mistakes. The buzz surrounding his potential candidacy, say analysts, could evaporate quickly after he enters the race and confronts voter and media scrutiny on his still-undefined positions.
"People will need to know where he stands on the issues," said Ty Meighan, director of the Texas Poll. Although Clark has a relatively high profile as a military leader and former CNN analyst, he is still an unknown to a large sector of the electorate, Meighan said.
Gammage said that Clark supporters began developing a Texas political operation in early summer. "It just started networking, mushrooming and building on itself," he said. "We've got coordinators and directors all over the place."
Clark's supporters include moderate and conservative Democrats disillusioned with current candidates, as well as dissident Republicans angered by the sluggish economy or Bush's handling of the war, he said.
Oeffinger, who is on the national leadership team of the Draft Clark movement, said volunteers are organized in 80 of the state's 254 counties and are ready to begin circulating petitions to place Clark on the Texas primary ballot.
With his late start, Clark would nevertheless face a challenge overtaking Dean, whose insurgent candidacy has propelled the liberal former governor to the front of the Democratic pack in Texas and the nation.
Dean won the Labor Day straw poll in Dallas with 214 votes -- twice that of Clark -- and drew enthusiastic crowds when he swung through Texas as part of a 10-city "Sleepless Summer" campaign.
Opposing Democratic operatives credit Dean's state coordinator, former State Rep. Glen Maxey of Austin, for building a highly effective "people-powered campaign" that boasts 20,000 volunteers in a majority of the state's counties.
"It's too early in the campaign to say who is the man to beat, but you've got to believe that Dean's got a jump-start on everything," says Mauro, a Texas adviser to former President Bill Clinton, who also ran for governor against Bush in 1998.
As Gephardt's point man in Texas, Mauro says he is concentrating on raising money to help his candidate stay viable during the long Democratic primary season. Organizers for other candidates are following a similar strategy, relying on Texas for dollars as much as votes.
By June, with help from prominent Dallas lawyer Fred Baron, Edwards had raised the most money in Texas, amassing $1.4 million. Gephardt was second, with $207,200, followed by Dean, with $146,395.
Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, a Vietnam veteran who had been perceived as Democrats' leading national contender, was fourth with $130,300. Others have raised smaller amounts, ranging from $2,000 for the Rev. Al Sharpton to $85,450 for Lieberman.
The candidates are also courting early endorsements to flash later when the Texas race heats up.
Kerry drew an endorsement from former San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros when he appealed for Hispanic support during a speech to the National Council of La Raza. Former Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes, another venerable Texas political figure, is also backing Kerry's candidacy.
Edwards won an endorsement from Dallas Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, who heads the Congressional Black Caucus, while Gephardt has secured pledges from five other Democrats in the Texas congressional delegation.
Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich, a defender of the family farm, has the backing of country singer Willie Nelson.
Most of the Democratic contenders apparently see no need to campaign heavily in Texas until after the first round of contests in other states.
Beginning with Iowa and New Hampshire in January, 19 states and the District of Columbia will hold contests before the March 2 Super Tuesday primaries, further defining the front-runners and presumably driving the weaker candidates from the field.
If Texas remains in the Super Tuesday cluster, it could either play an influential role or be little more than an afterthought, depending on the results of the earlier caucuses and primaries.
Party leaders believe the nominee could be decided during a six-week period ending with Super Tuesday. At stake are 2,710 delegates -- well over the 2,160 needed to win the nomination. Texas will yield 232.
Clark expected to enter already crowded Democratic presidential race
Retired Gen. Wesley Clark is expected to announce his candidacy for the Democratic presidential campaign this week. Clark has ignited interest in Texas among grassroots voters and Democratic activists, many of them committed to other candidates. But some candidates have a head-start on raising campaign funds in Texas. By June, President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney raised $4,270,430 in Texas, compared with $1,445,550 by John Edwards, who leads the Democratic presidential candidates with funds raised.
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