Burnt Orange Report

Wesley Clark - A bold Prediction

By Byron LaMasters

Wesley Clark will run for President, and he'll get the Clintons money. And by the end of the month, he'll be the story of the race.

I don't have any source. It's really just a gut feeling. But I can see it. Why else would there be stories like this floating around. The New York Times is hardly a tabloid:

During cocktails in the back yard, one group heard former President Bill Clinton say that the national Democratic Party had "two stars": his wife, the junior senator from New York, and a retired general, Wesley K. Clark, who is said to be considering a run for the presidential nomination.

A lot of Dean people still downplay the roll that Clark would play if he came into the race. So what if Dean and Clark like each other, talk weekly, etc. If the Clintons come to Clark and offer him their support (either out front or behind the scenes), or Clark has gone to the Clintons and asked for it (and that's my guess. That Clark has delayed this long until he gets the offical "ok" from the Clintons). I think that Hillary is smarter than to run. I know that she and Bill probably really want to go back to the White House, but I honestly think that they'll hold off.

People are saying that its too late for Clark. Well, what if he has the Clinton's behind the scenes support? Play this out for a second. Clark could announce on September 19th, do a whirlwind tour for the next week. Get the Clinton money people in right away, dazzle everyone by raising $5-10 Million (possible if Clintons give their donors the nod) in the last 10 days of the third quarter, and immediately become the story of the race. Sure, now that's the best case scenerio for Clark. But its a distinct possibility, and if he has the support of the Clintons he can be the story of the race by the end of the month.

In addition to the Clinton people, Clark would peel off anti-war / progressive support from Dean, military support from Kerry, southern support from Edwards and Graham, centrist support from Lieberman, etc. He already leads Bush. He's right where Colin Powell was 8 years ago. Clark is the one man that could change this race dramatically (I would say Clark could knock out Kerry, Edwards, Graham and Lieberman - or at least 3 of them - leaving the race between Dean's Internet army, Gephardt's labor army against General Clark. I personally like Clark, and I'd like to see him run. I'd like to hear more of his positions on issues before I'd consider supporting him, but he's really the perfect profile. He opposed the war in Iraq, but unlike Dean his military / national defense credentials are impeccable. He'd be acceptable to Deaniacs (one wonders why he's everyone's favorite VP for Dean), yet also can appeal to southerners, conservatives and moderate Democrats turned off by Dean (although I'm not suggesting that moderate and conservative Democrats wouldn't eventually support Dean if he were the eventual nominee, but I honestly don't see Dean being very competetive in the south should he be the nominee - although I do think that Dean could beat Bush by winning Gore states plus a few of AZ, CO, FL, OH, WV and NH). Furthermore, Clark would probably be acceptable to the DLC and he could pick off libertarian Republicans, independents, non-voters and more. I love the match up. I think and hope that Clark will run. I think that he'll catch fire. If not, he'll still be a great VP for Dean.