Not Your Sweetie

United for Clark post

What seems to me most unfortunate is that the schism that existed in the Draft Clark movement continued, if fact continues to this day, in the campaign, particularly in HQ. That is the pity to which I refer. How much further might we have gone if it could have been contained, or if it never existed? Why do people hold such grudges? Couldn't they put aside their petty differences, and find common ground to propel this campaign forward? Not that they didn't do that, but c'mon, this is a battle for the country, and for the world in many ways, surely that's more important than hanging on to old feuds.

For my part, I examined all the candidates last summer and concluded none had the ability to beat Shrub. I don't believe in Anybody But Bush, I believe(d?) in SOMEONE WHO COULD DEFEAT BUSH. I didn't watch the war coverage (too depressing), and was unfamiliar with Clark, but when I heard about the Draft movement, and read the Esquire article and some other stuff, I was intrigued.

The next thing I did was read EVERYTHING negative I could find on Clark (and forwarded much of it to my local Clark compatriot, freaking her out at bit, sorry Sara), because I know how the GOP will run their campaign. I found some warts, to be sure, but on balance I found I candidate I knew could go toe to toe with Shrub on National Security, and who could appeal to the all-important swing voters.

By late August, I was on board, and I was certain he would be a candidate. I saw how he carefully espoused moderate positions that would sell in the general election- on the death penalty, civil rights, abortion, affirmative action, labor, etc. But I have to admit, I was never a "Clark is the perfect candidate" true believer, and I honestly pointed out the flaws in his record, while stridently advocating his strengths. And mostly, I knew that much was beyond his, the campaign's, and our control, as I am a firm believer in the law of unintended consequences.

I knew it would not be easy for this "outsider", Clark, to be successful in the primary season, dominated as it is by hard core, life long, left leaning, military mistrusting, Democrats. The perceived leftie candidate with Mo was Dean, and so it was clear that Calrk would have to move to the left to capture some of those folks, and he did. And I said all along that Clark would have good shot, if he could avoid any major gaffes, and he did fairly well, but not perfectly in that area, with a few exceptions, "I probably would have voted for it", and yes, I know all the context around this quote, but it doesn't matter.

As Clark went up (and down) in the polls, and released more of his policy proposals, I became more and more of a true believer, and engaged in the campaign. Certain events like the town hall meeting in NH where there the retired military woman spoke about her abuse in the Army, and how Clark REALLY connected with her, started to turn me into a true believer. His long term vision for the country, his progressive policy proposals, and his committment to fostering dialogue and dissent were items that convinced my heart and my brain that he could truly be a great president. Still I was concerned that his stump speaches and debate appearances were uneven, and the press was no longer infatuated (in a good way) like they were with him early on.

After reading many posts of the experiences of folks volunteering in NH, I decided in early January to go there myself and do what I could for the general. It was an experience I will NEVER forget. We had a pretty small Clark group here in conservative eastern Washington, and so being in NH, with dozens of campaign volunteers, and going to rallies with up to 2000 (the Michael Moore rally) screaming Clark supporters just blew me away. I got to meet John Hlinko, and Susan Altrui, and dozens of committed volunteers, from all over the country. And one of our own from Spokane, was working for the general (paid staff!) as the surrogate scheduler in NH. Howard Park from DC heard I was going to NH, and set me up with lodging and campaign activities, for which I will be forever grateful. I tromped around neighborhoods in Dover and Manchester, in the freezing cold wearing longjohns and all the warm clothes I had, speaking to voters about Clark, and loving (almost) every minute of it. I was there in Clark NH headquarters, on the night of the Iowa primary, and the infamous Dole-Clark "debate", altho I could only hear the general's side of the conversation. And also that night was the infamous Dean screach, and the Kerry win, and I could see it on the faces of all the senior staff there... whoa, what the hell happened, and what are we gonna do now?

It seemed like everything changed that night, but really it didn't, the momentum just changed. Clark had it up until then... he had passed Kerry in the NH polls, and was nipping at Dean's heals, but then the Mo changed after Iowa. I was impressed that NH had a whole office dedicated to veteran outreach, but perplexed that I'd hadn't seen much in the way of veteran support, and all of sudden we weren't running so much against Dean, but against Kerry.

I think I'll end this rambling post now, but I must say I agree with much of what Josh had to say in his critique... yes, Iowa changed much, but really the general's handlers did not serve him as well as they should have. Clark needed some zingers and/or something to beat off the "not a democrat meme", the Axciom issue, the desserter issue, the war flip flop issue, and his defenses were not forthcoming. I, and most of you, could have defended him better than he, or his campaign staff did, if fact I did just that on many occasions.

After NH, and Iowa, I still came back energized and believing in the general, and continued to promote the general here, and yes, I'm a Clark delegate to the County Convention, and proud of it. I couldn't see the general as VP for Dean, but I can as VP for Kerry, and assuming he, Kerry doesn't implode, that's what I'm shooting for now. Altho the general took a different path, I respect Kerry (always have) for his anti-Vietnam war stand in the early 70s. Like I always say, you want the perfect candiate, go run yourself. BUSH MUST BE DEFEATED.

Chuck Tingstad
Clark Action Team
Spokane, WA
Support the troops, elect one!