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Politics : THE VAST RIGHT WING CONSPIRACY -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: calgal who wrote (5111)	12/30/2003 8:11:19 PM
From: calgal	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6358

Clark Running On His Résumé Ad Focuses on Role As Military Leader By Howard Kurtz Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, December 30, 2003; Page A04 Bill Clinton made his first appearance in a 2004 presidential campaign ad yesterday, although he doesn't have a speaking role. Retired Gen. Wesley K. Clark uses footage of Clinton draping him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his role as NATO commander in Kosovo during the war there. Although the former president has avoided any endorsement in the 2004 race, Clark, who like Clinton is from Arkansas, has drawn support from a number of former Clinton aides and advisers. The new spot -- featuring Clark in uniform and helmet, meeting a veteran and reading to children -- makes it clear that the retired general is pursuing a markedly different advertising strategy than the other major Democratic candidates. Clark's ads are almost entirely devoid of specifics, using images and swelling music to dramatize his military background and depict him as an inspiring leader. They do not discuss taxes, health care, the environment or other staples of his rivals' commercials. "What if we could have a president who in his lifetime has seen ordinary people do extraordinary things?" asks the new ad, part of a $125,000 buy in New Hampshire. "Because he believed in them. Who was decorated for valor and service to our country. Who helped negotiate a peace. And has dedicated his life to protecting our country. . . . A new American leader." Four previous ads have described how Clark was wounded in Vietnam, praised his "quiet, real American courage," and featured him talking about how "I've led soldiers into battle" and how leaders should be "held accountable." In only one spot is there a glancing mention of "jobs and health care," without elaboration. Chris Lehane, a Clark strategist who worked in the Clinton White House, did not dispute that Clark is running on his résumé. He said the ads avoid policy specifics because most voters are not following them. "Many of these candidates, including ourselves, have detailed nine-, 10-, 15-point policy proposals. . . . At the end of the day, they're all very similar," he said. The advertising theme is that "Wes Clark is a leader, not a politician," and the Clinton footage "validates Clark's valor," Lehane said. By contrast, two ads released by Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) last week are built around issues. In one, Kerry talks about a breast cancer victim who had to keep working through her chemotherapy to avoid losing insurance, and he promises to "introduce legislation that makes your health insurance more important than the drug companies' profits." The other spot talks about Kerry's plan for "reducing America's dependence on Mideast oil." Jim Margolis, Kerry's media adviser, said that "there has to be a connection between the things you are fighting for and the things you've accomplished." But because Clark has not worked on domestic issues, he said, the "fallback position" is to keep emphasizing his "rank in the military." Bill Carrick, media adviser for Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.), said Clark is making a mistake because "campaigns succeed best when they are about voters' interests and needs and focus less on the candidate. The tendency in résumé campaigning is to lose sight of the fact there are real people out there that have got real problems." Gephardt, whose advertising has been limited to Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, began airing spots yesterday in Oklahoma, which has a Feb. 3 primary, and Michigan, whose primary is Feb. 7. Carrick would not provide figures but called it "a serious buy." © 2003 The Washington Post Company