Howard Dean, who has been meeting with General Wesley Clark several times over the past few months, has asked the retired general to join his Presidential campaign, possibly as Vice-President, sources say. This is a bold move on Dean's part, but I like it. I think it goes toward answering some of the questions I blogged about yesterday. Clark has a speech to give in Iowa later this month where his intentions will probably be made known.
Democrats seem to get excited by candidates who don't know if they want to run, (see Mario Cuomo), but all Cuomo ever proved to be was a giant pain in the ass. If you want to be president, you've gotta want it, no questions asked. It's a humiliating, exhausting, mind-bogglin experience, and if you have any kind of chance, you can't allow yourself doubts. I'd rather have a candidate who knows what he wants and is willing to get it, then a diva who needs to be assured that his ass will be kissed by everyone he speaks to before he will even consider honoring his country by running for president.
Clark isn't the only candidate who's got supporters out there, despite their unknown (or in this case known) intentions. People want Gore. (Although, Gore may have set this site up himself, I haven't heard what he's been up to lately.)
The Gore website points to a recent Zogby poll indicating that people, by a 52 to 40 margin (8 undecided) think someone new deserves to be reelected. This is a typical polling question at about this point in the election cycle, but the results are a little misleading. Americans are both leary of extended stints in power, and naturally optimistic. As long as the question is status quo versus what might be, Americans tend to lean toward what might be. Until a pollster puts a opponents name in the question. Then, the President's record can be measured against something concrete (his potential opponents record) instead of whoever the respondent has in mind at the time of the question. Also, the other candidates negatives will drive up the Presidetns number. Right now 52% of the respondents think someone deserves to be elected. Replace that with a name (Dean, Kerry, Gephardt...) and that number's going down.
Since today is the 2nd anniversary of 9/11, and I'm such a stickler for flag etiquette, check out these rules.
Tony
