Clark considered dropping out Tuesday

[ringmastery]

Two officials close to Clark, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the retired Army general considered dropping out of the race Tuesday night after scoring a single victory, a nail-biter in Oklahoma. They said his wife, Gert, helped talk him into staying in the race against the advice of some backers.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040204/ap_on_el_pr/democrats_142

[jenk]

well, they're in desperation mode now

with the pay cuts and all, and the dumb attacks on Edwards in Tennessee, things look grim for Clark if he considered dropping out AFTER a razor thin victory.

who is going to be the first to blame the media on this?

[jenk]

1. well, they're in desperation mode now

with the pay cuts and all, and the dumb attacks on Edwards in Tennessee, things look grim for Clark if he considered dropping out AFTER a razor thin victory.

who is going to be the first to blame the media on this?

[mohc]

6. jenk

I am an avid Edwards supporter. I have enjoyed reading many of your insightful posts over the last few months. But I respectfully request that you try to emulate our candidate a little more. I am well aware that there has been a lot of negativity thrown around here on DU at all the candidates from just about every camp. Lets just try and keep up the positive message. I apologize in advance if you in any way find this post offensive, as it was not intended to be.

[mlawson]

8. I second that. Please, enough.

[surfermaw]

19. That right support the cream that rises to the top..to defeat Bush

[D G]

2. My God, what an obnoxious article

AP, but it's so negative about all of the Democrats I thought it might be a Drudge link.

Let this be a motivation for everyone to donate to their candidate of choice! I pick Clark!

[PROGRESSIVE1]

3. Was Drudge the source???

:puke:

Clark 04'

[jenk]

23. it might end up there eventually

since he doesn't miss much on anybody

[jmaier]

4. Well

It does look like he'll stay around long enough to drub Edwards in TN. Kerry will take VA and perhaps TN, with Clark 2nd. What is the argument for Edwards at that point? He'll probably be considering the same issue next Wednesday.

[jenk]

7. the argument is

after picking up more delegates than Clark, after winning SC and after coming back from a 10 points deficit in Oklahoma (and from single digits weeks ago) edwards is in the best position to take TN and Virginia.

[Renew Deal]

9. Clark had one win and 4 seconds. Edwards had 1 win 2 seconds

and then a bunch of 2-5s. Clark is polling ahead of Edwards in TN and VA. We'll see how it plays out. Also, Edwards picked up about 20 more delegates. I wouldn't consider it ground shaking.

[tameszu]

17. Clark had 3 seconds, but Edwards only picked up about 10 more delegates

The difference is of course the media coverage. The media was all, "we were SO surprised that Edwards did that strongly in OK, even though we did nothing but cover Kerry-Edwards (with some Dean flameout stories) all week."

In terms of delegates, Clark did almost as well as Edwards, and he did better in more states:
C--1,2,2,2,4,4,5 vs. E--1,2,2,4,4,4,4

But to the media, Edwards has "momentum" (i.e. the media like him and how he's been doing, because momentum means nothing else), and Clark doesn't. THAT'S the entire story.

[Renew Deal]

26. Clark moved up in Deleware

and ended up with 4 seconds.

[PurityOfEssence]

28. Clark was 5th in Delaware, Lieberman 2nd with 26 more votes than Edwards

Edwards lost second place in Delaware by 26 votes. The margin of error in New Hampshire was less than 2/5ths of a percent (839 votes) and in Oklahoma, it was also under a half of a percent. He is doing much better than the calls of placement suggest, and he's getting unfair treatment in the press and some very unfortunate calls on the field. Yep, a second is a second is a second, but considering how Clark was once either the front-runner or a very highly touted one of the top two or three, Edwards' momentum of late is hard to dismiss.

Statistics are interesting things. Clark did better in North Dakota, but look at the numbers of people who live there, and look at the relevance in both delegates and the electoral college.

[arewethereyet]

27. 59 delegates Edwards, 43 Clark

a little over the 10 you suggest.

[BeyondGeography]

10. Do we need that photo three times in the same thread?

And who's the guy with the beard? Didn't I go to Morrocco with him once?

[DancingBear]

13. No, that was me

He was the guy in the market with the hookah and the copy of the I Ching. :)

[Quixote1818]

11. Winning your home state is not much of an accomplishment. Ask Mondale

After he won Minesota and lost 49 other states. Edwards came in a distant 4th place in all the far Western states. That shows Edwards can ONLY compete in the SE! Clark even beat Edwards in New Hampshire.

[Casablanca]

5. Hang in there, General!

If he does leave the race, Dean supporters would be happy to carry on Clark's grassroots message. But I hope he stays in. Dems need fighters, not compromised insiders.

[1971]

12. That was probably related to this:

That was probably related to this:


Tue, Feb 03, 2004
Politics
Clark's Son Blasts Media for Campaign Coverage
By Arthur Spiegelman

OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - Retired general Wesley Clark (news - web sites)'s only son blasted the media for its coverage of his father's bid for the Democratic nomination Tuesday and said he would like to see his father withdraw from the race if he does not win the Oklahoma primary.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040203/pl_nm/campaign_clark_son_dc_2

[Nashyra]

14. The people in OK responded to Barry Switzer

the football coach, they would do anything for that guy. After he made a recording for Edwards and they used it on their phone banks his numbers increased dramatically. Switzer was used for the Govenors race also.

[krkaufman]

15. Kudos to the Edwards campaign...

... for playing the Switzer card. Not sure if his endorsement was up for grabs or not, but it was *obviously* a huge factor. If other campaigns had the opportunity and just didn't think of it, then they'll have to kick themselves.

Nice political maneuvering.

(Still don't view Edwards as sufficiently experienced, at this time, to be President, but he sure would make an excellent lawyer.)

[Jerseycoa]

20. All that robo calling

Seems there's been a lot of it this season. Iowa, NH...

[maggrwaggr]

16. once the media's chewed up Kerry, Clark will be in 1st

My take on it is this: People are assuming Kerry will be the nominee with Edwards as the running mate.

But I see Clark coming up as the dark horse. Dean, I hate to say it, probably isn't going anywhere. (don't flame me, I'm a Dean supporter from WAY back).

I really think Clark can come up from behind and be the contender, and with the media assassination that is starting today, against Kerry, I think Clark really has a shot.

[tishaLA]

18. Fill me in re: media assassination about Kerry

I honestly haven't seen it. Maybe I haven't been looing. (I don't doubt you, however)

[jenk]

24. Kerry has had shots taken at him, but he fights back better than anybody

the Iraq War vote, the botox, mortgaging the house, the whole ketchup thing, alleged medal throwing. he's overcome alot

[tishaLA]

25. The post said the beating he has taken TODAY

not throughout his career. The "today" part was my question.

[progressivebydesign]

21. I hope he hangs in there!

I hate to see anyone drop out... it's painful for the supporters and friends. But Clark has a lot of promise, so I hope he can stay around and see what happens. As Howard Dean will remind us, only 10% of the voting has happened so far. It's early yet to think of leaving for someone that has such a devoted base.

[xultar]

22. *crickets chirping*

[Mobius]

29. the 256k is just the midnight $$$$ update

Ill bet it's 400k in the morning:)