DUBYA'S WORST NIGHTMARE

As leaders in most national polls Kerry has been snidely compared to tall and dull Al Gore while Lieberman tries to explain why he changed so many of his positions when he ran as Gore's vice president.

The only woman running, Moseley-Braun is hardly ever mentioned and then only to bring up her problems when she was a senator. Kucinich appears so far out that he doesn't rate many media comments. He just gets one line at http://www.rnc.org/Newsroom/DemsInDepth/

Gephardt, Graham and Edwards have the Bush-lite label and are running hard to dislodge it. Their quandary is that they supported the Bush post 9/11 agenda and now wish they hadn't.

The real leader in the quick and funny comments is Sharpton. However his past is so full of problem incidences that few take his candidacy or him seriously.

The spark plug of the lot is Dean. Unfortunately the sparks he is causing are between him and the other eight candidates. On the plus side, his diatribes have captured the interest of the media so the Democratic candidates get more ink whenever there is another Dean-foot-in-mouth eruption.

But a dark horse is moving up on the outside. He may derail all nine of them and make the Bush worst nightmare come true. The name that causes Karl and Dubya to shudder and pull the covers over their heads is Retired General Wesley Clark.

That is because Bush has made WAR, America's answer to everything. Since voters are leery of changing leaders in times of crisis, he has kept Americans on edge with alarums of both overt and covert war.

With the economy dicey, Dubya is banking on his military credentials which, when exposed to the light of day, are nil. They consist mostly of photo ops in a pilot's uniform and media cooperation in not exposing his military record.

General Clark in contrast has spent a lifetime in the military and risen in the ranks to General. His military record is there for all to see. Dubya, plain and simply ducked out of service by getting admitted to the National Guard. Then he deserted his post for a year.

Because General Clark has been such a threat-in-waiting, the Bush election machine with its massive media support has been compiling mud to sling on him if and when he becomes a candidate. Until then, they are keeping mum, fearing to awaken a sleeping giant or calling him to the voters' attention.

Clark, first in his West Point class and a former Rhodes scholar, would be a formidable challenge to Bush. Tall and ruggedly handsome, he speaks succinctly and knowledgeably without notes. He is well informed and has tons of experience in foreign affairs as well as well honed administrative abilities.

The military would see Clark as a kindred soul. That would undercut Bush's constituency. Clark is firmly against preemptive strikes and adamant for cooperation with other nations. To him, war should be a last resort. Those beliefs would endear him to women and older voters while not turning off all men.

The General makes it clear that international cooperation is paramount in his thinking. He was the Supreme Commander of NATO before his retirement. He stresses that military options should be the last resort because of consequences that cannot be seen, but he is not a dove.

"Not a single European election hinges on the success of the war on terrorism," Clark wrote in the September Washington Monthly.

Clark even went so far as to employ a classic Vietnam metaphor to describe Bush's policies: "Because the Bush administration has thus far refused to engage our allies through NATO, we are fighting the war on terrorism with one hand tied behind our back." http://slate.msn.com/id/2076528/

Certainly he could ably direct a strong national security program with the experience he would bring to the office of president. Already there are backers urging him to run and he has not closed that door. http://www.draftwesleyclark.com/ and http://www.draftclark2004.com/

Right now as he ponders his future national service, he is Dubya's worst nightmare.

twanda@sover.net

2003-025

Copyright 2003 Renee T. Louise and Ruth M. Sprague, Ph.D. These articles may be republished for noncommercial use only, provided that they are copied intact, and that this copyright notice is attached. Address all queries to: twanda@sover.net.