Are the "Friends of Bill" hoping to become the "Drafters of Clark?"

[burr]

From the AP...
<snip>
Supporters say they've gotten pledges for more than $1 million if Clark enters. But with just four months left before the first primary votes are cast, Clark would be far behind some of the other candidates in organizing his campaign, raising money and building support in the early states.

His earliest allies would be from former President Clinton's Arkansas-based political network.Senior party leaders say Clark or his advisers have contacted several prominent Democrats in the last few days about jobs in the campaign. Among them are Mark Fabiani, who ran Al Gore's communications team in the 2000 campaign.

If he enters the race, Clark would benefit from the support of a legion of Arkansas Democrats who helped Clinton get to the White House, including Skip Rutherford and Bruce Lindsey. Clinton has not taken sides in the nomination fight, but his glowing assessment of Clark in private talks has been noted by his oldest allies.

"There are a lot of people from Arkansas who will back Clark," said Bob Nash, who worked for Clinton in Arkansas and at the White House. "Part of it is he's our homeboy, and because he's an impressive man."

<http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/0903/13clark.html>

[diplomats]

1. Clark also has deep support among Dems in Congress

including respected liberals like Rep. Charlie Rangel of N.Y.

[DJcairo]

2. Go to toughenough.org and read The Beat

It's an article my friend wrote about Clark and the potential of his campaign.
"• If Clark does get in, whom does it hurt the most? Common sense says Kerry, for Clark will split the strong-on-foreign-policy-and-military tack that Kerry has taken so far. Also depending on how you interpret Kerry’s decision to announce in South Carolina, if Kerry is steeling himself for a benign second place finish in New Hampshire, betting on doing well in SC (where Dean is not as strong), Clark may siphon votes there too. Clark is from another southern state, Arkansas.
• On the other hand, Clark’s support is grass roots and Internet-based. Obviously, this is Dean country. And our host maintains that Clark getting in brings military issues, security and terrorism to the forefront even more than they already are, which helps Kerry in the long run, especially if we all agree that the Dems cannot afford to run someone weak on security."

http://toughenough.org/thebeat.html

[diplomats]

4. Interesting

(BTW, that Clark as Dean's VP story was quashed by both Clark and Dean.)

[burr]

10. interesting, have to add this to my favorities...

I was interested in the last part. Will shrub run with Cheney on the ticket, or will they put Frist on next year?

Not that it makes any difference, if they were smart they would put Colin Powell, Pataki, McCain, or Snow on the ticket. Someone who might help them break into a region or voting block that was solidly behind Gore.

But they do the thinking with their asses and the slapping with their heads.

[chaumont58]

3. I like Clark, but I think alot of this stuff is overblown

"There are a lot of people from Arkansas who will back Clark," said Bob Nash, who worked for Clinton in Arkansas and at the White House. "Part of it is he's our homeboy, and because he's an impressive man."

Clark is an impressive man, without a doubt. But, there have been other impressive men who can't translate that into getting voters to choose him over others. Dean has put together a good campaign team. It looks impressive now, but what will it look like in February? Dean has charisma he can project to his followers. It is a feature that winning politicians have. The DLC seems to me to believe THEY are responsible for Clinton's wins in '92 and '96. I think Clinton was. Clinton could have run on a platform of banning rain on Sunday and still won.
Does Clark have that charisma? My guess is for all his impressive traits, he doesn't. He appears to me to be a more a thoughtful man than a driver.
It still boils down to getting the most votes. Financing is, of course, very important, but it can be misleading. Phil Graham have lots of money in 2000, and got nowhere.


I have said it before and I will say it again. No one should get too worked up about day to day events right now. The people most interested right now are the whore press, the campaign staffs, and political junkies like me. I can wait until February for my next fix.

On edit, one thing I wanted to put in, but forgot:

"His earliest allies would be from former President Clinton's Arkansas-based political network.Senior party leaders say Clark or his advisers have contacted several prominent Democrats in the last few days about jobs in the campaign. Among them are Mark Fabiani, who ran Al Gore's communications team in the 2000 campaign."

I don't think the person who ran Al Gore's 2000 campaign brings anything I would want to the table.

[diplomats]

6. I have a lot of respect for Dean

and would vote for him in a heartbeat if he won the nomination. I just fear that he's been pidgeonholed as a Northeastern liberal by the media and won't be able to break out of that box. It's not reality that's the problem, it's the perception created by the press. Believe me, I hope I'm wrong.

[burr]

8. Time is the creation of perception...

what is a pidgeonhole anyway?

I assume it's a place that those snakey yellow rats like Shrub,Lieberman, Edwards, and Zell Miller go to feed on cute little pidgeons like Dean and Kucinich.

[chaumont58]

9. Dean ain't gonna let anybody pigeon hole about anything

He is bypassing most of the whore media by using the internet. He ain't Michael Dukasis. He is a tough, god damn medical doctor.

[cosmicdot]

5. it may be confusing using the term "Friends of Bill"

((unless, of course, you are Juliet ... if so, :hi:

considering there 'is' a Friends of Bill Online

http://members.aol.com/juliet067/index.html

which/who organized one of the first orchestrated protests against Corporate Media with Project Blackout in 2001 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProjectBlackout/

... and, is associated with Citizens Against Bush
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CitizensAgainstBush/
a discussion group which gave birth to many splinter sub-anti-Bush sites ...

[burr]

7. Those are my kinda of friends...

:grouphug: