The Clark-Clinton connection

For those of you looking for more info on Wesley Clark, this article, though over a month old, is still the best journalistic piece on a possible Clark candidacy to date.

I'm working up a great deal of material on Clark for future posting, but for now, I leave you with one important question: where are Clinton's people? His top strategists are now media personalities, and perhaps less likely to jump back into the fray, but in general, the Clinton juggernaut (and its potent fundraising apparatus) has sat out the Democratic primaries.

What are they waiting for? As an unabashed fan of the Clintons, I was intrigued by their silence. Then the Clark buzz began humming in the political background. An Arkansas native, Clark has known Bill since 1965. A piece of the puzzle was in place. And then the afore-linked piece came out:

Just before Thanksgiving, [Clark] had a lunch meeting with a group of New York Democrats led by investment adviser Alan J. Patricof, who headed Hillary Clinton's financial campaign in 2000. (Time magazine got wind of this, and its item started the Clark boomlet.) The group included prominent New York Democrats who customarily receive Democratic presidential candidates who hit town; this same klatch, or a near version of it, auditioned Bill Clinton in 1991 [...]

Conclusive proof that Clark will grab the Clinton machine? Nah. And I don't have any particular insight into the campaign.

But it's clear to me that national security will be a paramount issue in voters mind, and Clark has more credibility on the subject than Bush can ever amass. He's got all the right stances on social issues:

He told me in an interview that he favors both abortion rights and affirmative action. We spoke just after the Bush administration filed its brief against the University of Michigan's admissions policy, and Clark said he was "surprised and dismayed" by the president's decision. He has "tremendous regard" for the Clintons. And, just as a little sweetener for the culture department, he quotes Bob Dylan toward the end of his book, Waging Modern War, and writes affectionately about the protest folk music that he used to love to listen to as a young man.

And, while he may be entering later in the game, it'll be a long year. His CNN gig has given him exposure the other candidates can only dream about, and if he indeed has the Clinton machine backing him up, he'll do just fine in the dollars and consultants department.

Posted April 09, 2003 01:10 AM | Comments (58)