Salon: Clark's down -- but touts new support [View All]

He's had an erratic showing, but some important political -- and Hollywood -- players see him as the only alternative to Dean.

By Josh Benson

Nov. 15, 2003  | By most measures, the candidacy of Gen. Wesley Clark for the Democratic presidential nomination to this point has been something of a disappointment: He has struggled to articulate his positions, his organization remains unsettled and, after an initial surge following his announcement in September, his numbers have declined in many public polls.

And yet somehow Clark has continued to line up institutional support among elected officials, party leaders and top fundraisers. Campaign aides say they're on target to raise more than $6 million this quarter -- with the help of fundraisers in Hollywood and New York -- which would probably top every other candidate except for Howard Dean. (Dean will be aiming to top his previous quarterly total of $15 million.) In addition, they are continuing to announce new endorsements: On Friday, the campaign officially announced support from Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., bringing his total of congressional endorsements to 14, with the prospect of several more in the next several days, according to aides.

How to explain this mystery? Howard Dean. Since Clark's official announcement in September, Clark has fallen from his self-proclaimed role as "frontrunner" to back in the pack with everyone else, struggling to stay competitive with Dean. For many of the Democratic insiders who look with horror upon the prospect of a Dean candidacy, which they think would end in defeat against George Bush, Clark has become their last hope.

Hence the endorsements, which continue to come despite Clark's mediocre reviews in the press and sag in the polls. "Howard Dean, I think, is probably likely at this point to be our nominee, but I am concerned about him on temperament issues, and on how he'll come across in the day-to-day give and take of a general election campaign," said Weiner. "He's going to be very difficult for anyone to beat in the primary, and the feeling in the party has already gone from 'I wonder who the alternative will be' to 'Holy shit -- I think this guy is going to win.'

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2003/11/15/clark/