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If you look at his biography you will find that once he makes up his mind to do something he gives it his heart and soul. If he believes in something he will risk his life for it. Clark did not come out of the military chomping at the bit to enter politics. He finally determined that he should enter politics after thinking long and hard on the direction the country is taking. Gert, his wife, was very very reluctant about the Presidential run. If Clark had not felt strongly about the urgency of opposing the policies of the Bush administration, he would not be putting her through this (with her grudging consent).
I didn't see the appearance being discusssed on this thread, so I can't comment specifically about how he came across. Clark is really burning the candle at both ends right now to make up for his late entry, so sometimes I think he seems a little tired.
You know how the Clark TV ad (the bio ad for NH voters) mentions that he speaks 4 languages? Well now he is learning how to talk in sound bites, it really is another language that the long term politicians have had years to proactice. The other thing about Clark, he is the complete opposite to Bush in this regard, he wants to read all the briefing papers, he wants to understand the complexities of a complex issue. That is evident from his educational record (the NY Times spoke a lot about his inquisitive mind in the 5 page piece they did on Clark on Sunday). First in his class at West Point, Rhodes Scholar, you've heard all that. It is also evident in his military record where Clark was brilliant at analysis and was given responsibility for Strategic Planning by the Pentagon.
I suspect it is frustrating for Clark that the nature of a full tilt campaign prevents him from taking the time to master all of the complexities of some of the domestic issues that all candidates must by necessity take a public position on. The general outline of his beliefs; need to preserve the enrironment, pro affirmative action, women's right to choose, need for a progressive tax system, preservaton of civil liberties, enforcement of consumer protection laws, right to unionize, etc. are solid. He owns those positions comfortably. But suddenly Clark is expected to produce detailed positions on a host of policies, proposed legislation, and court cases (not unfairly). The elected politicians in the race have all had large full time staff of politically adept aids for years, who have researched and prepped their guys (Carol is not in elective office now, so it's "guys") on myriad issues and drafted legislation for them. Clark never had 'em. His personal expertise has been in international relations.
For someone like Ronald Reagan or George Bush, it isn't a problem how personally knowledgable they ultimately were in the positions they publically advocated. Those guys are script readers, they want the flash card versions. They specialize in the delivery, not the substance. Clark is the other way around, he really wants to figure out the solutions. He is a problem solver. That's how the military used him. He knows how to lean on staff, much better than Jimmy Carter in that regard, but he is always fully engaged.
I think Clark shows his greatest passion when he is talking about anything he is knowledgable about. Iraq etc. certainly. Civil liberties and the role they play in a constitutional democracy, absolutely. The need for accountability by leadership, bingo. The poison of divisiveness in public and political life, Clark gets that threat, he had to create unity and a sense of shared purpose in the military. Even Clark's feelings about gay and lesbian rights are passionate, since he confronted that personally in the service. Clark is playing catch up on the fine details of domestic policies though. At this stage he isn't fully drawing from his own play book there yet, and he just is not a powerful script reader.
The thing is, Clark will master that too. It is in his nature. It is what he expects of himself if he is to take on the responsibility of leading this nation. One reason why Clark is more sure on the stump now than he was just 6 weeks ago is because he is starting to acquaint himself with the issues more deeply. It is easy to forget that Clark has only been in politics for 2 and 1/2 months.
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