Not Your Sweetie

NEWS FROM CLARK


Saturday, February 21, 2004

Hello, everyone.

General Clark has been in the Los Angeles area for a
few days staying at a seaside house in Malibu,
relaxing, spending time with his family, and getting
ready for the next steps. On Friday my wife and I
spent a little over an hour with him and Gert in
Malibu candidly discussing a wide range of topics,
including the campaign, modern journalism, economics,
world history, and the road ahead. I'm not sure
whether any other grassroots leaders have had a chance
to meet with him since he stopped actively
campaigning, so I want to share with everyone some of
the pertinent parts of our conversation.

The General and Gert were both remarkably genuine and
honest with their analysis of the campaign. And,
though they were clearly disappointed, they didn't
seem sad or down at all, rather they seemed resolute
and a little tired. Their assessments are really not
that different than what we've all concluded on the
newsgroups and blogs. Basically, they felt they had
terriffic and widespread support nationwide, but had
remarkable difficulty getting their message
articulated in the mass media. Also, the General
himself took blame for starting late and not knowing
exactly what kind of team would be required for a
compressed-schedule primary season. In other words,
he lived up to his own principles and was holding
himself accountable.

It's also very clear that his primary motivation for
entering the race was to defeat George Bush. He's not
interested in glory, a big house, or any of the
trappings of being President. He genuinely feels that
he gives us the best chance to beat George Bush, and
he considers that another 4 years of Bush would be
grave.

I came away from our meeting convinced more than ever
that he would be a fantastic President. His knowledge
of manufacturing processes, U.S. economic history, the
military, and every other topic we discussed was
extensive. His tone, demeanor and positive
attitude--despite the setback in his campaign--were
inspiring. In all, this man might have been the best
candidate we've seen in a LONG time (since Lincoln?).
And Gert? Well, she's just awesome. I don't know how
else to say it. I keep imagining her as First Lady.

Wes Clark has many policy nuances and details in his
head, but the two themes that he repeated several
times yesterday were that we really need to get back
to 1) an effective multilateralist foreign policy, and
2) sound domestic fiscal policies. Why are these the
two most important near-term agenda items in his
opinion? Because their ill-effects can devastate a
country in just a few years. Once we get these two
sectors in order, then we can deal with health care,
education, the environment and so forth.

I told the General a little bit about the
conversations on the blogs and newsgroups and the
overwhelming desire by our various regional groups to
stay intact in some form or another. I think he was
encouraged that his supporters aren't going anywhere,
and I'm sure he would be pleased to see us carry on
and remain a national force.

I asked if there is anything we can do to help him
out, and he said plainly that he would love it if
everyone can give $10 towards the $150,000 remaining
campaign debt, which otherwise will come from his own
pockets.

I asked him about his future, and he genuinely doesn't
know what's next. He remains committed to getting
George W. Bush defeated in November, and so he plans
on doing whatever he can to help that cause. As to
whether he expects to be V.P. or a cabinet member, he
said he doesn't know, and that it depends on too many
other factors to guess right now where he can
contribute best to the cause. In other words, my take
away message is that this man remains dedicated to the
country, and he will do whatever is necessary to make
the country stronger and economically sound.

He is an amazing man. It's hard to believe that
someone this honest tried to run for President, and
it's frustrating to see that the American political
process doesn't reward such honesty.

After yesterday's intimate discussions, I feel more
determined than ever to carry his legacy forward.
Here's what I think we *ALL* need to do:

1) form a single national group umbrella organization
dedicated to furthering his principles (effective
multilateralist foreign policy, fiscally-sound
domestic economic policies, reformed health care,
investments in education, protecting the environment,
accountable/transparent leadership, and so forth)

2) all of us grassrooters would then form local
chapters of this single national organization

3) activities could include monthly community service,
Voter registration/GOTV, and
networking/spread-the-word events (house parties?),
and so forth

4) local chapters could also form democratic clubs for
endorsing candidates and electing like-minded people
into office

I think we have an obligation to build this
organization, which could then be an intellectual
platform for Wes Clark. He's responded to our call to
duty before, so I feel VERY CONFIDENT that if we build
this organization and ask him to lead it, then he
will. At the least, I'm sure he would be willing to
join us for a monthly conference call. We can become
the mouthpiece through which his ideas are heard and
the vehicle by which his principles take hold.

We need to figure out our specific form (a 501c(3),
527, or PAC?) and our name ASAP, and then get this
thing rolling officially sometime in the next few
weeks.

I know that my participation has generally been silent
on these newsgroups, so many of you have no idea who I
am, but I assure you that a single national
organization with local chapters is simply our best
route to success.

And, because L.A. has such a stronghold of Clark
support (5500+ local grassroots Clark supporters built
from the ground up!), we would be happy to volunteer
ourselves take on the tedious
organizational/administrative burden for this
organization. And, I think we can count on the
support of Wes Clark, Jr., who lives in Los Angeles,
as the organization's first Chairman--he's basically
admitted as much to me.

Here are our tasks:

Action Item #1: Figure out our name (Wes Clark
Society, 4 Star Alliance, Wes Clark Democrats,
Principled Leadership Coalition, etc.)

Action Item #2: Write our mission statement

Action Item #3: Figure out our legal form (PAC, 527,
501c(3),...)

Action Item #4: have a kick-off event and conference
call with the General in the second half of March!

We need to act NOW, before we lose our energy and
organizational structures.

After having spent so much time with Wes Clark
yesterday, I feel that we owe him an organization like
this. He answered our request to become a candidate,
and so now we owe him the favor of keeping his
national impact permanent.

Should we have another conference call on this topic
this week? NOT a conference call where we complain
about what went wrong with the campaign, but instead a
call where we focus purely on the road ahead.

With great enthusiasm for the future,

Michael Webber

Michael E. Webber, Ph.D.
Greater LA Area Grassroots Organizer, Clark 2004

Wesley Clark for President! All Patriot, No Act.

10855 Barman Ave.
Culver City, CA 90230
ClarkForPresident@rarejules.com