Reply #45: How Backing Wes Clark has Changed Me

[Tom Rinaldo]

I find that many of the most committed Clark supporters started out being interested in Wes Clark for very pragmatic political reasons but ended up loyal for life to him for deeply idealistic reasons. As a group you will find many recovering cynics among us, pragmatic cynics who realized that we could not afford to stand back any longer while a hard right Republican junta stole America away from us. We were looking for someone with the right stuff to beat Bush, someone we thought average Americans would respond to. I would never have considered supporting a General if it weren't for that reason, and that is how I started out viewing Clark, as a General who seemed sensible and intelligent enough that people could feel secure voting Bush out of office during a time of war.

So I understand it when people don't "get" Clark right away. I didn't either. Because I viewed electoral politics as a cynical endeavor I wasn't looking for a candidate to fall in love with, just someone who could win who I thought I could at least tolerate. The last time I actually felt idealistic about Presidential politics was when Bobby Kennedy ran for President. That was a long time ago.

Probably if I had been less cynical about politics I never would have considered Clark. I would have gone looking for a man with a life story I could more easily relate to, someone who frequently opposed the military probably, someone who had cast some courageous votes on issues that mattered to me perhaps. Certainly not someone who recently retired from 34 years in the Army. But I wasn't being idealistic, I was being pragmatic, I badly wanted to win. So I looked into this General, Wesley K. Clark. I thought it would be hard to get excited about Clark. I thought I might be embarrassed admitting to my typically radical friends that I was backing a General for President. I was never so wrong in my life.

The first real clue came when I went to the Draft Clark web site and started reading hundreds of letters that were being sent to Wes Clark from all across the country begging him to run. I found myself crying at times while reading some. I couldn't type cast the type people who were writing to Clark. There seemed to be nothing that they had in common except their sincerity and fears, fears for our future, fears for their children. But the fear weren't about terrorists, the fears were over the actions of our own government. And it wasn't just Democrats writing. Time and time again I read, "I'm a Republican but I would be honored to support you".

Yet it wasn't just moderates and conservatives writing either. There were a whole lot of Liberals, Radicals, environmentalists and peace and justice activists begging Clark to run also, and they weren't sounding cynical and pragmatic, they were sounding honest and passionate about their reasons for wanting Wes to run. They were sounding the way I started sounding a few weeks later. They just happened to discover Wes Clark a little sooner than I did, and they already had a grasp of who he really was.

A piece like this is hard to write because it does come from my heart and it does flow from my ideals, but you don't know me, we haven't met. I was fortunate enough to meet Wesley Clark soon after I decided to support him. Clark was speaking at a relatively small fund raiser in New York City that I went to. I stood near him and there is something special about being able to do that of course, with anyone who commands attention, but it was so easy with Clark to sense his candor, to hear his honesty, and to see the sincerity in both his comments and his smile. So what, I could have said, there are a lot of good people in the world. In a way I did say exactly that to myself, and that was my cynicism falling. I saw Wes Clark as a good man, not just a General who frightened Americans might vote for.

The more you are exposed to Wesley Clark, the clearer that becomes. He is a good man. He is an honest man. He is an honorable man. He is also unbelievably brilliant, and thoughtful also, and the two are not always combined. There is no arrogance in Wesley Clark, though there is a strong sense of purpose and deeply held convictions. All of that quickly becomes clear if you spend any time around him, or even if you take the time to read much of what he has written. His warmth though really comes across in person. He loved being with us on the campaign trail.

When it was over, after Clark withdrew from the Presidential race, many of his supporters, especially those of us who worked to draft Clark, had pangs of guilt. What had we dragged this good man through who had already devoted his entire life to his country? It got ugly at times as we all know, and in Clark's case the Republican attack dogs were on him from day one, because they feared him. They went right at his character, at his honor, at his accomplishments. These are all things that mattered greatly to Clark, and they tried to tear them down, they and their media jackals. I can't tell you how often Clark supporters wondered were we wrong to call him out of retirement to put him through this. Honestly, our guilt clouded our vision of the warrior in Clark, the fighter for whom service was a higher calling than comfort. Clark's reaction to the entire experience was to thank all of us for allowing him a rare opportunity to have his voice heard in the debate on the issues he deeply cares about. So much for guilt, he didn't miss a beat. Within days Clark was back on the trail fighting just as hard against George Bush and his failed policies on behalf of John Kerry as he had for himself.

Clark is a four star General. He is not intimidated by his enemies and he was not intimidated by Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld AShcroft and PNAC rolled together. He directly called them out, time and time again, and that type of boldness, that type of focus, is inspirational once you tap into it. By now we who are his close supporters will follow Wes Clark anywhere. We trust him with our eyes wide open. He is a true leader, and yes he is a true hero. Clark's life story is one of triumph against challenges, of perseverance against obstacles, and of courage under fire. It is worth looking into.

You notice I have not said a single word about any of Wesley Clark's positions and policies. Sure I studied them. I studied them when I first looked into supporting Clark, and I studied them again when it came time to explain and defend them. I was amazed at how much I strongly agree with them, to tell you the truth. I suppose that's a hangover from my initial knee jerk reaction to backing a career military officer. But you know that simplistic prejudice, because now I see that it indeed is what it was, has mostly dissolved now, and I thank Wesley Clark for that also. So yes I like where Wes Clark stands on the issues, but I love how Wes Clark stands for what he believes is right. And almost always I agree with him on that, but even if I don't I never doubt that Clark is saying what he really believes when he explains his position, and knowing that is a real liberation, freeing me from another shred of my cynicism.

But here is the greatest gift my involvement in Wes Clark's campaign has given me. I have my idealism back. I have pride in my country again. Not blind pride, I still see the stains on our past and the sins of our present. But I believe there is a revolutionary, multi cultural spirit in America that we can draw on, that we can build on to correct some wrongs and promote some good. And we can do that under an American flag because the Republicans don't own it. Clark is very clear on that. This is our country too, we can love it and we can embrace the aspects of it that we seek to strengthen and are proud of, and work to change the rest. It took a patriot like Wes Clark to help me understand that I am a patriot also. Our nation was founded by radical patriots, and there is much work left to do.