Much has been made of retired Gen. Wesley
Clark’s dipping his toe into the presidential waters,
particularly with the help of his former commander in chief,
Bill Clinton. Already, former Clintonistas (and
Hillary advisers) Harold Ickes and Mark
Fabiani are said to be on the Clark payroll should his
candidacy become formal. And over dinner in Chappaqua, New York,
with some of his wife’s highest profile financial backers, Bill was
touting Clark as the second most interesting national Democratic
figure outside of his own spouse.
Clinton has been pulling Clark’s string for some time, making
sure the man who made him look good in the Balkans makes the
necessary calls to DNC chairman Terry McAuliffe,
and talks to the right campaign finance people. Clinton is also
said to be pressing many of his former staffers to jump on the
Clark bandwagon for at least the early stages of the campaign.
“He’s saying that Clark is going to be a vice presidential
candidate from the minute he enters the race,” says a former
Clinton and Gore campaign staffer, who is mulling joining Clark’s
team. “We’ll have to jump-start his campaign, but from there party
emotions and the election season will carry him through to the
nomination process.”
Already both former Vermont Gov. Howie Dean and
Sen. John Kerry have been sucking up to Clark,
promising him the bottom of their ticket. Dean met with Clark
during a West Coast swing ten days ago. Dean promised to keep the
meeting confidential, then turned around and leaked the meet to the
press. Kerry and Clark have spoken by phone on at least two
occasions, according to the former Clinton/Gore staffer. Kerry has
been touting their simpatico military careers.
Clark remains unsure of how far he wants this political process
to go, according to some insiders. He is interested in running, but
is concerned that his close ties to the Clintons will backfire on
him, as it were.
“There are a lot of old military types who feel they were badly
treated by the Bushies when they came in,” says a Clark insider.
“They hate Rumsfeld, they hate Bush. They feel they were shown the
door at the Pentagon and elsewhere, before they were ready to step
down. There is a lot of animus toward them, and much of it is
feeding into the draft Clark movement.”
Clinton, for his part, has attempted to stay out of Clark’s way.
They have been meeting regularly, whether in person while both men
are on the road, or via phone. “They talk at least once every
couple of days,” says the former Clinton/Gore staffer. “They are
tight, but President Clinton has said nothing can be too obvious,
that he has to be fair with the other candidates.”
Clinton showed up in Iowa on Saturday night for Sen. Tom
Harkin’s steak fry event, ate three steaks (he told Democratic
leaders there he remains on the South Beach Diet), and touted the
Democrats running for president. Then he headed off for meetings in
California with Gov. Gray Davis and state party leaders. Davis’s
campaign is said to have covered some of Clinton’s expenses out to
the coast.
Clinton’s political activity is being engineered, in part, by
DNC chairman McAuliffe, who has been strategizing with Clinton on
how best to use him in the coming months.
“They are going to use him all over the South and the Northeast.
That’s the plan,” says another former Clinton administration
staffer. “They think Clinton can do enough to force the Republicans
to spend more in the South than they want to, especially in
Florida. Clinton’s still popular enough with independents that he
could make a difference.”
