Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: stockman_scott who wrote (30188)	10/18/2003 12:20:09 PM
From: Karen Lawrence	Respond to of 89467

THE CONTENDERS: Wesley K. Clark For General, Salutes or Hoots Few Gray Areas About Clark, Whose Intellect and Drive Are Givens By Lois Romano Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, October 19, 2003; Page A01 washingtonpost.com LITTLE ROCK -- More than 40 years ago, a high school swim team here showed up one man short for a state meet. Everyone assumed they would forfeit the relay race -- the organizers, the school, even the team, which was resigned to loser status. But the teenage captain had a different plan. Young Wes Clark announced that he would swim twice in the relay so the team could compete. "I just couldn't believe it -- no one could. I was ready to forfeit," said Phillip McMath, a member of that team and today a Little Rock attorney. "But the guy just won't let himself lose, and he doesn't tolerate failure in others." Wes Clark won the relay for Hall High School that day, demonstrating the traits that would define his life and his career: a supreme confidence in himself, an absolute disregard for conventional wisdom and a relentless force of will. Those gifts, and an undisputed brilliance, would carry him through a modest childhood shaped by profound loss, through West Point to the highest levels of the Army, and into the presidential race today -- his first foray into politics. Along the way, that same intellect, intensity and drive would also leave a trail of resentful military colleagues, some of whom can still feel his boots on their backs. There are few grays when it comes to the life of Wesley Kanne Clark, the latest Democrat to enter the presidential race. To old friends and new supporters, he is a beloved and admired military hero who can protect the nation in troubled times. But to a fervent group of military detractors, the former NATO supreme commander, who led the allies to victory against the Serbs in Kosovo, was so unpredictable in his interpersonal dealings and overbearing in pushing his agenda that then-Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen had no choice but to relieve him of his command. After publicly pondering his future for nearly a year, during which time he was a highly paid speaker and commentator on CNN, Clark, 58, last month entered the presidential race with fervor and momentum, pounding home an anti-Iraqi war, "new American patriotism" message before large, enthusiastic crowds. Strategists say it is too early to fully assess Clark as a candidate. It remains unclear how he will withstand the inevitable challenges to his still-developing positions or whether he can catch up with the other eight Democrats in fund-raising and organization. "There's a lot more to this than running around to tarmacs, although they are doing that well," said Joe Trippi, manager of rival Howard Dean's presidential campaign. During recent stops in Florida, Texas, Oklahoma and New Hampshire, Clark seemed a natural at his new calling as he charmed elderly women, kissed babies and happily signed autographs while aides tugged at his pinstriped jacket to move him along. At the lectern, using rhetoric befitting a veteran partisan candidate, he tore into the Bush administration. "When I went to Vietnam . . . there were people in the streets. They had a right to express their disagreement with that war, and millions did," Clark thundered at an Austin park. "People had a right to protest . . . and I knew in Vietnam I was fighting for that right. "How dare this administration make the charge that if you disagree with its policies you are somehow unpatriotic!" he shouted to cheers and applause. It is precisely this kind of talk from an antiwar general that seems to be drawing the crowds, people who say they are still searching for the candidate who can set the country right, wondering if this military man can make them feel safe again.