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I recieved these a while ago and I thought about keeping it to myself. But that's not right. So here they are. These are 2 emails I recieved. Enjoy
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FYI. The following is an email from Josh Margulies. The post mortem is just starting. Jason was with DraftClark2004 (my group) and Josh was with DraftWesleyClark. Although I think Josh, maya and John Hlinko were responsible for alot of the problems, it is interesting that Josh is openly attacking Eli, and Sklar.
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From josh margulies:
Franklin said, in planning for the revolution, something to the
effect of: "We must indeed all hang together, or, most assuredly, we
shall all hang seperately."
I quote Franklin because, as General Clark made us aware in a
private conversation just before he announced (It's a *great* story,
too long to tell here, but possibly coming to a book near you...),
our movement has a great deal in common with the American
Revolution; by some accounts, ours was the first true "draft" since
the Committees of Correspondence of 1773.
Ok, enough blather. Srry. The point is this: The fractiousness and
divisiveness among members of the Draftroots, even when it comes
only from frustration, and even when it is constructive criticism,
serves no good purpose.
I had a front-row seat at this whole show. I did NOT work harder
than anyone else and I did NOT contribute more, but I probably had
one of the better vantage points since last April, so I can tell
everyone two things, for certain:
1. Jason McIntosh worked his butt off. There are lots of people
committed to a Bush defeat, but none more than Jason. There were
lots of us who gave to the Clark effort, but none more than Jason.
Anyone who monitored the original Yahoo board last summer knows that
Jason and I were -- well, let's just say that we were "not friends"
back then! But when you spend a few 18-20 hour days with someone,
you get past the pettiness pretty quickly, and you see what's
underneath the veneer, for good or for bad. In the case of Jason,
it's pretty incredible, pretty motivating stuff. Which brings me
to...
2. While respecting Brent's wise exhortation to refrain from finger-
pointing, I must say that the "true" enemy to our cause, and the
most clear reason for the fact that we're all now carping from the
sidelines (as opposed to celebrating on our road to the White House)
can be summed up under the general label of "opposition to the
Draftroots." What a fantastic job they did of "divide-and-conquer"!
From Dick Sklar to Matt Bennett to Eli Segal (with very special
thanks to Eli, possibly the most overrated blowhard ever to grace
the stage of Presidential politics, and I say that with the full
knowledge of the fact that Mark Fabiani and Chris Lehane are
breathing down his neck for the honor of holding that mantle), there
was a concerted and concentrated effort to split us up. There were
efforts to pit one "Draft" group against another; there were efforts
to pit members of individual Draft groups against each other. We
were asked where our expertise lay, and then we were deliberately
assigned to jobs and tasks in which we had none, just so that we
could fail! People with similar skill sets and similar experiences
were given different pay grades, just to foment dissatisfaction.
And, in most cases, as Jason once so aptly put it to me, we were
given "responsibility without authority," which is the most direct
recipe for failure.
We (When I say "we," here, I mean all of us -- anyone who is reading
this, and anyone else who was involved in this historic movement.)
had built a wonderful relationship with the press, during the Draft -
- and, then, the idiots at the campaign *shoved* press members away
from our candidate, banished the press from our headquarters and
otherwise vitiated the goodwill we'd established.
We had built a huge donor database and, in the first 10 days, turned
over $2 million to the campaign -- but we were then kept from the
loop of future fundraising, and, as a result, the fruit died on the
vine.
We had been in the press, every day, every day, every day. Clark was
on the move and the nation knew it, but when the campaign started,
the media ended. Remember last summer? We had press releases -- with
*real* news -- all the time, and that was without a candidate! But
once September 17 came about and Eli Segal took the reigns, the
press releases stopped, and those which continued weren't even
proofread. (Evidence: On January 27, a release touted our success in
the early morning voting of "Dicksville Notch, NH." The town is
spelled "Dixville." The release had not even been proofread. And if
it hadn't shown before, it should have been clear then that the
only "Dicksville" to exist was in an 800 square foot section of an
office in Little Rock.
Brent, I know that, just a few minutes ago, I said I'd try to
refrain from finger-pointing, but there was a crew who drove this
campaign off the cliff as if they were reenacting the final scene
from "Thelma and Louise," and the Draftroots deserve to know who it
was. It was Segal. It was Sklar. It was Bennett. It was Lehane.
It was *not* any member of this group. Gabrielle, I understand your
frustration; do you think any of us don't? I shut down my law
practice for this movement, and missed most of my wife's pregnancy --
and by no stretch of the imagination do I think that I am alone in
having made substantial sacrifices, nor, at all, that mine were the
biggest.
There's a *reason* that Segal doesn't post to this site. Or Sklar.
Or Bennett. Or Lehane. It's simple: THEY DO NOT CARE.
But we do. We all do. We have made so many mistakes during the past
ten months (I have made more than anyone I know, and I genuinely and
humbly ask for forgiveness for them.); there are plenty of things on
which we could have improved, but there is one area in which we all,
to a person, excelled (and continue to): We care.
We actually care about this country, more than we care about our
own "lives and sacred fortunes."
We did something new in American politics, and we can't allow the
naysayers to have posthumous pleasure by watching us rip each other
to pieces in the aftermath.
If we do, then surely the terrorists will have won...OK, I know that
that doesn't make any sense, but it doesn't make any sense when Bush
or Ashcroft says it, either :)
_______________________________________________________________________
Here is the other:
_______________________________________________________________________
Below is a post from Mike Webber. He relates a conversation he had with Wesley Clark this past week. I am sure we will receive word shortly as to the accuracy of the remarks attributed to General Clark. I do not have any reason to disbelieve Mike.
-----------------Original Message-------
From: ClarkSupportersForKerry2004@yahoogroups.com
Date: 02/22/04 08:45:54
To: ClarkSupportersForKerry2004@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: PLEASE READ--I met with General Clark on Friday, February 21, 2004
....oh, what might have been!
--- In ClarkSupportersForKerry2004@yahoogroups.com, egmacrae
<egmacrae@y...> wrote:
> My friend and neighbor Michael Webber asked me to
> share the following with you. Please pass it along to
> any Clark supporters or groups you know, other than
> the following, where it is already being posted:
> Clark's Army, Clark Action Team and the yahoogroups-
> UnitedForClark, wesleyclark2004, 15pointsdaily,
> ClarkDemocrat, wesleyclark2008, and
> ClarkSupportersForKerry.
>
> Thanks Everyone!
> Emily MacRae
>
>
>
> Saturday, February 21, 2004
>
> Hello, everyone.
>
> General Clark has been in the Los Angeles area for a
> few days staying at a seaside house in Malibu,
> relaxing, spending time with his family, and getting
> ready for the next steps. On Friday my wife and I
> spent a little over an hour with him and Gert in
> Malibu candidly discussing a wide range of topics,
> including the campaign, modern journalism, economics,
> world history, and the road ahead. I'm not sure
> whether any other grassroots leaders have had a chance
> to meet with him since he stopped actively
> campaigning, so I want to share with everyone some of
> the pertinent parts of our conversation.
>
> The General and Gert were both remarkably genuine and
> honest with their analysis of the campaign. And,
> though they were clearly disappointed, they didn't
> seem sad or down at all, rather they seemed resolute
> and a little tired. Their assessments are really not
> that different than what we've all concluded on the
> newsgroups and blogs. Basically, they felt they had
> terriffic and widespread support nationwide, but had
> remarkable difficulty getting their message
> articulated in the mass media. Also, the General
> himself took blame for starting late and not knowing
> exactly what kind of team would be required for a
> compressed-schedule primary season. In other words,
> he lived up to his own principles and was holding
> himself accountable.
>
> It's also very clear that his primary motivation for
> entering the race was to defeat George Bush. He's not
> interested in glory, a big house, or any of the
> trappings of being President. He genuinely feels that
> he gives us the best chance to beat George Bush, and
> he considers that another 4 years of Bush would be
> grave.
>
> I came away from our meeting convinced more than ever
> that he would be a fantastic President. His knowledge
> of manufacturing processes, U.S. economic history, the
> military, and every other topic we discussed was
> extensive. His tone, demeanor and positive
> attitude--despite the setback in his campaign--were
> inspiring. In all, this man might have been the best
> candidate we've seen in a LONG time (since Lincoln?).
> And Gert? Well, she's just awesome. I don't know how
> else to say it. I keep imagining her as First Lady.
>
> Wes Clark has many policy nuances and details in his
> head, but the two themes that he repeated several
> times yesterday were that we really need to get back
> to 1) an effective multilateralist foreign policy, and
> 2) sound domestic fiscal policies. Why are these the
> two most important near-term agenda items in his
> opinion? Because their ill-effects can devastate a
> country in just a few years. Once we get these two
> sectors in order, then we can deal with health care,
> education, the environment and so forth.
>
> I told the General a little bit about the
> conversations on the blogs and newsgroups and the
> overwhelming desire by our various regional groups to
> stay intact in some form or another. I think he was
> encouraged that his supporters aren't going anywhere,
> and I'm sure he would be pleased to see us carry on
> and remain a national force.
>
> I asked if there is anything we can do to help him
> out, and he said plainly that he would love it if
> everyone can give $10 towards the $150,000 remaining
> campaign debt, which otherwise will come from his own
> pockets.
>
> I asked him about his future, and he genuinely doesn't
> know what's next. He remains committed to getting
> George W. Bush defeated in November, and so he plans
> on doing whatever he can to help that cause. As to
> whether he expects to be V.P. or a cabinet member, he
> said he doesn't know, and that it depends on too many
> other factors to guess right now where he can
> contribute best to the cause. In other words, my take
> away message is that this man remains dedicated to the
> country, and he will do whatever is necessary to make
> the country stronger and economically sound.
>
> He is an amazing man. It's hard to believe that
> someone this honest tried to run for President, and
> it's frustrating to see that the American political
> process doesn't reward such honesty.
>
> After yesterday's intimate discussions, I feel more
> determined than ever to carry his legacy forward.
> Here's what I think we *ALL* need to do:
>
> 1) form a single national group umbrella organization
> dedicated to furthering his principles (effective
> multilateralist foreign policy, fiscally-sound
> domestic economic policies, reformed health care,
> investments in education, protecting the environment,
> accountable/transparent leadership, and so forth)
>
> 2) all of us grassrooters would then form local
> chapters of this single national organization
>
> 3) activities could include monthly community service,
> Voter registration/GOTV, and
> networking/spread-the-word events (house parties?),
> and so forth
>
> 4) local chapters could also form democratic clubs for
> endorsing candidates and electing like-minded people
> into office
>
> I think we have an obligation to build this
> organization, which could then be an intellectual
> platform for Wes Clark. He's responded to our call to
> duty before, so I feel VERY CONFIDENT that if we build
> this organization and ask him to lead it, then he
> will. At the least, I'm sure he would be willing to
> join us for a monthly conference call. We can become
> the mouthpiece through which his ideas are heard and
> the vehicle by which his principles take hold.
>
> We need to figure out our specific form (a 501c(3),
> 527, or PAC?) and our name ASAP, and then get this
> thing rolling officially sometime in the next few
> weeks.
>
> I know that my participation has generally been silent
> on these newsgroups, so many of you have no idea who I
> am, but I assure you that a single national
> organization with local chapters is simply our best
> route to success.
>
> And, because L.A. has such a stronghold of Clark
> support (5500+ local grassroots Clark supporters built
> from the ground up!), we would be happy to volunteer
> ourselves take on the tedious
> organizational/administrative burden for this
> organization. And, I think we can count on the
> support of Wes Clark, Jr., who lives in Los Angeles,
> as the organization's first Chairman--he's basically
> admitted as much to me.
>
> Here are our tasks:
>
> Action Item #1: Figure out our name (Wes Clark
> Society, 4 Star Alliance, Wes Clark Democrats,
> Principled Leadership Coalition, etc.)
>
> Action Item #2: Write our mission statement
>
> Action Item #3: Figure out our legal form (PAC, 527,
> 501c(3),...)
>
> Action Item #4: have a kick-off event and conference
> call with the General in the second half of March!
>
> We need to act NOW, before we lose our energy and
> organizational structures.
>
> After having spent so much time with Wes Clark
> yesterday, I feel that we owe him an organization like
> this. He answered our request to become a candidate,
> and so now we owe him the favor of keeping his
> national impact permanent.
>
> Should we have another conference call on this topic
> this week? NOT a conference call where we complain
> about what went wrong with the campaign, but instead a
> call where we focus purely on the road ahead.
>
> With great enthusiasm for the future,
>
> Michael Webber
>
> Michael E. Webber, Ph.D.
> Greater LA Area Grassroots Organizer, Clark 2004
>
> Wesley Clark for President! All Patriot, No Act.
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