Clark Supporters: AWESOME and Inspiring Story From Another Supporter

DoveTurnedHawk

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Tue Sep-23-03 10:02 AM
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Clark Supporters: AWESOME and Inspiring Story From Another Supporter

'Jane in DE' drove to NYC last night to meet Wesley Clark. Check out her inspiring report from the event:

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The event was scheduled to arrive at 8:30, but I had heard that Clark wouldn�t arrive until closer to 9:45. So I thought I was arriving in plenty of time when I got to the home of Gail Furman at 8:30. I was shocked to see people lined up for half a city block to get inside. A few minutes after waiting in line, a gentleman came down the street advising people that if they had not RSVP�d, they would not be admitted due to fire codes. Luckily for me, I was one of the 250 people who had made the list.

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I wish I had had a tape recorder to provide you with a transcript of Clark�s speech to the gathered crowd (I believe they easily exceeded the 250 person maximum; the crowd looked closer to 350 to me; we were literally packed in there shoulder to shoulder like sardines). Suffice to say that he spoke off the cuff for about 25 minutes, was highly engaging, articulate, persuasive, convincing, inspiring. Everything you might imagine that Clark is, he�s actual even more in person. He is the real deal. He has a commanding voice and presence, has eyes that never blink but just look right through you, has a helluva handshake, and works a crowd quite remarkably. And he really seems to be enjoying himself.

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Clark spoke about the importance of teachers and a good education, of wellness minded (eat right, exercise) health plans to proactively fight off illnesses that strike later in life, of the need for social security in order to provide seniors with an opportunity to reinvent themselves and take chances in their lives (he half jokingly cited his own career as a military man turned business man turned politician as an example), of the pride he has for the military but then underscored that the military should only be used as a last resort. On this note, he talked about how important it is for the UN to have a role in foreign relations, especially given that the United States helped to create it. He talked about the rewards of serving your country (at which point he looked around, halted his speech for just a moment, and said like a father giving advice to a child �and by the way, many of you should consider serving in the military�) in the form of armed services, charity, or even teaching (interesting to note that before the Draft began, Clark had considered moving his career towards teaching). He talked about how it feels to contribute to the country, how that changes you, how that affects those around you.

A couple of times during his speech he turned unexpected interruptions into a moment of levity. The hostess� home telephone rang while he spoke, and he paused and said �please tell President Putin that I�ll be right with him.� When a front row supporter asked about his plans for the environment, he said �I have a whole speech on the environment that I won�t give tonight, but did you know that while in the Army I helped to protect the desert turtle?� He went on to explain the true story, but interrupted himself and returned to his speech.

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When it got to be my turn to greet him, he was nice enough to sign my copy of Waging Modern Wars and exchange a pleasantry (admittedly, I froze up, a bit star struck, and couldn�t find the words that I had so diligently practiced in my head before the event). I noticed that as he took the book from me to sign, he stopped, looked square at me, and offered his hand as if to say �yeah, I�ll sign your book but first let�s be civil about this and shake hands.� As we spoke, two tall guys with thick accents rushed over to get his attention and one shouted, �General Clark, we are from Kosovo, from Pristina, and we were prisoners during the war. Now because of you, we are free, living here in America, in New York. We are so grateful to you.� I looked up and saw that the other man from Kosovo was crying. It was a stunning moment, straight from Hollywood. General Clark smiled, shook their hands warmly, walked over and spent several minutes with them.

As General Clark made his way to the door, he said something like �we�re still shaking hands, right?� and turned the corner and started to greet more people rather than exit behind his staff who had already made their way out to the street. I went outside, hoping to get a picture of him as he exited, but after waiting 30 minutes outside it became clear to me that he was going to be inside for a while longer. I don�t know how he managed to campaign in South Carolina all day then fly to NYC for three events and stay past his scheduled appearance time. It looks like he hasn�t lost the physical stamina he developed while in the military. If anything, he seems to become revved up by all the energy around him. You can see that he�s going to gain more and more momentum as he campaigns.

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http://wesleyclarkweblog.com/archives/000398.html#more

DTH