Clark Refining His Battle Cry
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General's Campaign Trumpets His Mix of Experience and Inexperience
By Paul Schwartzman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 22, 2004
washingtonpost.com
On the Campaign Trail
BEDFORD, N.H -- Wesley K. Clark stood in the middle of a sprawling crowd at a high school here and declared that he had no intention of "bashing" President Bush.
Then, over the next 90 minutes, Clark did just that, excoriating the president for not doing enough to prevent the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, for failing to capture Osama bin Laden, and for taking the country into an unnecessary war in Iraq.
"George Bush is the most divisive, polarizing president in modern history," the retired Army general said to clamorous applause.
Follow Clark on the campaign trail, a winding path through musty VFW halls and cozy living rooms, and you hear promises of tax reform, restructuring health care and mending public education. He offers himself up as a kind of "General Smith Goes to Washington," telling crowds he is not a professional politician, even as he is surrounded by veterans of the Clinton-Gore campaigns.
Yet the portion of Clark's appeal that triggers the loudest applause is his sneering indictment of Bush, whom he accuses of "misleadership" and of presiding over the "the most closed, autocratic government since Richard Nixon."
Clark warns voters that America is "a nation at risk" and says his 34-year rise to the top of the military has prepared him to "get those terrorists instead of warning people about them." Comparing his foreign policy know-how with that of his Democratic rivals, he told an audience, "I'm the only one who has pitched in a major league game, and I can throw a 95-mile-per-hour fastball."
Yet, for all his bravado, Clark takes pains to portray himself as anything but the general next door. He dresses in crew-neck sweaters and duck boots, and he blunts his otherwise simmering intensity with a telegenic smile. He talks of an Arkansas boyhood, of losing his father when he was 4, of his recently born grandson, whose multicultural name he loves to roll slowly off his tongue: "Wesley . . . Pablo . . . Oviedo . . . Clark."
When it comes to war stories, Clark delves only briefly into the circumstances surrounding his wounding in Vietnam (an "insignificant, meaningless fight," he calls it), and he told one audience that he joined the Army "because I believed in public service, not because I wanted to kill people."
At times, he sounds more like a four-star missionary, closing each appearance with a story about an impoverished Haitian he met in Cite Soleil, a man whose "huge hand" wrapped "twice around mine." "It was as though, on this darkened street, if he could just hold on long enough, firmly enough, that somehow I would bring him out," he said.
If Clark does not always bring crowds to their feet, he is generally well received, particularly by voters searching for the candidate capable of ousting Bush. And although he is often asked about his recent registration as a Democrat, many claim no concern over his past votes for Nixon and Ronald Reagan.
"I'm not looking for the best candidate, I'm looking for the one who can beat Bush," said Wayne Goldner, a physician waiting for the retired general at a crowded house party in Bedford. "Clark is the only one who can beat Bush in the South."
But what may be his great strength -- his brassy résumé -- also leaves some Democrats wary. "He's a little too militant, he's going to be a little too 'You do this, you do that,' " Corey Blair, 24, a Howard Dean supporter said after listening to Clark in Bismarck, N.D.
Tiffany Calcutt, 30, said that although she was impressed with Clark's command of the issues, she worries that his political inexperience will leave him lost in Washington. "If you're not a politician, can you navigate the complexities of the bipartisan system?" she asked.
In the weeks after Clark launched his campaign in September, his inexperience as a candidate showed. His speeches rambled, and he struggled to connect with voters. Then, in late December, while on what he called his "True Grits" tour of the South, he honed his appeal around four themes -- a folksy blend of patriotism, faith, family and inclusion -- and seemed to find his footing.
While most of his opponents battled in Iowa, Clark appeared to relish his growing crowds in New Hampshire, and the swirl of journalists who covered everything from his speeches to factory visits to a trip to Dick's Barbershop in Concord. "Do you have best hair of all the candidates?" a reporter asked while the retired general slumped in the chair and giggled.
For all his newfound polish on the stump, Clark is still prone to awkward moments. At a Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration in South Carolina, he ended his speech with a lurching, unscripted salutation to the civil rights leader that left aides cackling privately. "Happy birthday, Martin Luther King!" Clark shouted. "Happy birthday, Dr. King! Happy birthday, Dr. Martin Luther King, Dr. King, Dr. Martin Luther King -- happy birthday to you, SIR!"
And for all his affability, Clark is also capable of baring his fangs. As results of Iowa's caucuses rolled in Monday, Republican Robert J. Dole needled Clark during a CNN appearance that the success of Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.), a decorated Navy veteran, had reduced him from a general to a colonel.
"Senator, with all due respect, he's a lieutenant and I'm a general," Clark shot back. "You've got to get your facts right." |
