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Politics : Wesley Clark -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Don Green who wrote (859)	11/25/2003 1:28:24 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 1414

Wesley Clark tells Minnesota supporters he's a good bet to beat Bush By Susan Feyder Minneapolis Star Tribune Published November 23, 2003 startribune.com About 200 supporters of Democratic presidential hopeful Wesley Clark shrugged off the threat of the season's first snowstorm Saturday afternoon to hear the retired general tell them he believes he can beat President Bush in next year's election. The $100-per-person event at the Thunderbird Hotel in Bloomington was one of two fundraising appearances for Clark in the Twin Cities area on Saturday. Later he spoke at a smaller, $1,000-per-person gathering in St. Paul. Stepping to the lectern at the Bloomington event to cheers and chants of "We want Wes," Clark wasted no time in reminding the crowd of the central message of his campaign: That his extensive military experience lends authority to his criticism of the way Bush has handled the war in Iraq. Clark, a supreme commander of NATO before he retired in 2000, led the 1999 war over Kosovo. Clark mocked the staged appearance of a uniformed Bush on an aircraft carrier at the height of the Iraq war. "A lot of great people have worn that flight suit," he said. He called the current situation in Iraq "a mess" because the United States pursued a war without sufficient international support or a realistic plan for a postwar government. Jeanne Jones, a St. Paul psychologist who was in the crowd, said she believes Clark's military experience lends him credibility that will resonate with voters. "He understands the world scene," she said. "I don't get the sense that Bush does." Jones says she believes that some news accounts that have shown Clark initially favoring the war were based on comments by him that were taken out of context. Some Democratic rivals have used the remarks to accuse Clark of waffling on whether to go to war. Jones said she also isn't bothered by the fact that Clark, who considered both parties after retiring, declared himself a Democrat only in September. "I like the fact that he's been an independent," she said. Clark didn't focus solely on foreign policy Saturday. He said the Bush administration wants to take credit for good economic news, such as the recent impressive rise in the gross domestic product, but not for the prolonged recession and joblessness that preceded it. He spoke of visiting textile workers in South Carolina whose plants were earning record profits in 1998 but who have seen the factories close or cut back their workforces. Clark also said there is something wrong with an economic system when union workers at American Airlines take pay cuts so their company can survive, while executives continue to collect bonuses. "Our president hasn't stood up and fought for working people," he said. Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch attended Saturday, not as a Clark supporter, he said, but as an interested bystander and the only statewide Democratic officeholder. He said that the Clark campaign might not currently be as well-organized as those of his rivals but that "what it lacks in organization it makes up for in spontaneity." Hatch said he was impressed by the number of younger people. Although Clark entered the campaign late, he ranks in the top tier of Democratic hopefuls. In most recent polls he is close behind the front-runner, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean. One recent poll conducted for NBC News and the Wall Street Journal put him slightly ahead of Dean. In Minnesota, Clark last month won a straw poll at a DFL fundraiser attended by about 100 people in Northfield, edging out Dean.