Wes Clark the Centrist

An interesting thing happened to me today that makes a point I have been stressing on this blog. For several weeks now I have been trying to convince an old Republican friend of mine to support Clark. She listened carefully and agreed with a lot of what I had to say about what Bush has done to this country, but wasn't ready to commit to Clark. To be fair, she may in part have been humoring me; but at least she listened. I just got a call from her about another topic; in our conversation, she mentioned that she had run into one of her old friends from back home in West Virginia, who had been a diehard Republican forever, and who was now working on the Wes Clark campaign. She seemed amazed at this. She now had two close friends, one a longstanding Democrat and the other a lifelong Republican, both working for Clark. Clark is not a typical Democrat, I said, he bridges the divide between the two parties. He’s a moderate on social issues and strong on defense, The perfect combination to appeal to mainstream Americans. Not Republicans or Democrats but Americans.

As I have stressed before Wes Clark can be a healing figure in this country. He can bridge the political divide and appeal to all Americans. No more Blue states vs. Red states. That is not to say that the extremes of both parties won’t continue their warfare. but at least I and other Americans won’t have to take part in it. The majority of Americans want to be as safe as possible from terrorism and still have a moderate, truly compassionate president. That man is Wes Clark. The next six weeks will determine whether this is merely a pipe dream or the Democratic party can embrase someone outside the typical mold. I firmly believe that it is possible, that above all else they want to win and will come to the Clark camp on that basis alone. He clearly has the best shot at beating Bush, but in addition he also has the potential to be a great president and a healing figure for the American people.

Mickey