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 : WHO IS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT IN 2004 -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: stockman_scott who wrote (8791)	1/11/2004 8:13:52 AM
From: Glenn Petersen	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10965

Clark's Cash Came Quickly nytimes.com By GLEN JUSTICE Published: January 11, 2004 GEN. Wesley K. Clark turned some heads when he announced a few weeks ago that his campaign had raised at least $10 million from October to December. It was less than the $12 million some aides predicted but enough to finance a serious challenge, and it was all engineered by a campaign created in a matter of weeks. General Clark's late-blooming candidacy, which began in September, may have worked to his advantage when it comes to raising money. The fourth quarter fund-raising, though traditionally slowed by the holidays, was the general's first full quarter of seeking money. While some other candidates struggled to produce numbers so low that many would not publicly announce them, General Clark was able to chase what is often called the "easy money,'' contributions from donors who were naturally inclined to support him. In many cases, these were celebrities in New York and Los Angeles drawn by the early buzz surrounding his campaign. "This community responds to sizzle, charisma and newness," said Andy Spahn, an executive who handles political affairs for Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks SKG. "He has all that." General Clark worked to capitalize on the interest, harnessing celebrities on both coasts as an instant network. In Los Angeles, he appeared with the Eagles, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck. In New York, a one-night gala brought in $1 million. The campaign has also received backing from supporters of former President Bill Clinton, some drawn to the general's Arkansas roots. Diana Rogalle, the campaign's 35-year-old finance director, said it had been far easier to raise money in the Clark campaign than in her years fund-raising for Senate Democrats. She said that in last few months, "I would walk into work every day, and there would be a number of voice mails piled up from people who are major fund-raisers." Though Mr. Clark has the Internet to thank for about a third of his money, he has raised much of his money the old-fashioned way. He attended 28 fund-raisers in December alone, including events immediately before and after Christmas, Ms. Rogalle said. On a two-day swing through eight Southern states, he appeared at 11 small events. Even a trip to Europe to testify at the war crimes tribunal trying Slobodan Milosevic, the former Yugoslav president, offered a fund-raising opportunity. Upon returning, General Clark sent letters highlighting his role. Said Ms. Rogalle, "Our fund-raising staff didn't have much of a holiday.''

To: stockman_scott who wrote (8791)	1/11/2004 12:36:16 PM
From: Glenn Petersen	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10965

The Argyle General nytimes.com By MAUREEN DOWD Published: January 11, 2004 WASHINGTON--Can we trust a man who muffs his mufti? Trying to soften his military image and lure more female voters in New Hampshire, Gen. Wesley Clark switched from navy suits to argyle sweaters. It's an odd strategy. The best way to beat a doctor is not to look like a pharmacist. General Clark's new pal Madonna, who knows something about pointy fashion statements, should have told him that those are not the kind of diamonds that make girls swoon. Is there anything more annoying than argyle? Maybe Lamar Alexander's red plaid shirt. Maybe celebrities sporting red Kabbalah strings. After General Clark's ill-fitting suits in his first few debates — his collars seemed to be standing away from his body in a different part of the room — a sudden infusion of dandified sweaters and duck boots just intensifies the impression that he's having a hard time adjusting to civilian life. It's also a little alarming that he thinks the way to ensorcell women is to swaddle himself in woolly geometric shapes that conjure up images of Bing Crosby on the links or Fred MacMurray at the kitchen table. "I think there's an impression that the armed forces is a male-dominated, hierarchical, authoritarian institution," he told The Times about his gender gap, notwithstanding the fact that the armed forces is a male-dominated, hierarchical, authoritarian institution. After his rivals jumped on him for trading hats with the Bosnian war criminal Ratko Mladic in 1994, you'd think he'd stick to his true gear. His own Army camouflage — a material modish in the last few years in everything from bras to cargo pants to grenade-tossing Madonna videos — would have caused more of a frisson in female voters than country club plaid. (After all, the president's harnessed "Top Gun" costume set Republican female hearts aflutter.) On Thursday, eight reporters and three minicams trailed the general as he sweater-shopped at L. L. Bean in Concord, N.H. Chris Suellentrop filed a fashion dispatch in Slate that the Democratic candidate tried on "a plain, green, wool crew neck sweater." Maybe the former supreme allied commander should stop fretting over his style and do more with Colin Powell's belated admission that despite his assertions to the U.N. last year, he had no "smoking gun" proof of a link between Saddam and Al Qaeda. General Clark has long been skeptical of that link. Is his staff watching "What Not to Wear" or "Style Court"? It's discouraging to see presidential campaigns succumb to the makeover culture. Obviously, appearances count, but clothes don't make the man. Sometimes, they unmake him. In the final stretch of Michael Dukakis's moribund '88 campaign, he borrowed an aide's brown suede jacket to look cozier. (If General Clark has trouble with civvies, Mr. Dukakis was a dud with military duds, aping Rocky the Flying Squirrel on that tank.) Al Gore sprouted earth tones in 2000, hoping heathery brown sweaters and khakis would warm him up. During her Senate campaign, Hillary Clinton emulated Barbara Walters and began tying a sweater around her neck, over suits, to look softer and more feminine. Sometimes sweaters can do the trick, and sometimes they can't. Dan Rather, who had been perceived as colder than his predecessor, Walter Cronkite, suddenly got better ratings in 1982 and pulled into first place when he started wearing gray and maroon sweater vests under a sport coat to deliver the news. The Washington Post TV critic Tom Shales hailed Mr. Rather's "trust-me, you've-got-a-friend, hello-out-there-in-television-land" aura. But Jimmy Carter learned how clothes, like rabbits, can viciously turn on you after he gave an energy conservation fireside chat in a gray cardigan. Americans who had embraced Mr. Carter's populist polyester blend suits railed against the cardigan, associating it with malaise and economic pain. I asked Dan Rather about Wesley Clark's sweater strategy. "It makes a difference what kind of sweater you wear," he replied. "Some sweaters went out of style about the time spats did. You don't want to pick one of those." In a sartorial update to Churchill, General Clark wants to lead us in our battle against terrorism, giving his blood, toil, tears and sweaters.