Gen. Wesley Clark spoke at an economy forum hosted by Gov. Jim Doyle in Racine Sunday, answering local residents’ questions about his stance on the issues and why he is the best choice for the democratic nomination.
Clark, a four-star general and former leader of NATO, touted his experience in the military and foreign relations as reason why he, rather than President Bush, should be commander-in-chief for the next four years.
“I know more about national security than George Bush will ever learn,” Clark said as a roomful of his supporters cheered.
Clark said his experience growing up with little money and his time as a businessman gives him the know-how to bring Americans jobs.
“The greatest American export is American jobs,” Clark said. “I know how to bring jobs to Racine, to Wisconsin and to America.”
At the meeting’s conclusion, Gov. Doyle emphasized the importance of Wisconsin in shaping the election this coming year.
“One of the great things about the Wisconsin primary is that it is an open primary,” Doyle said, lauding the fact that both Republicans and Democrats can vote in the state’s democratic primary. “It’s an open primary in a state that is very much up for grabs in the fall.”
Although Gov. Doyle made it clear he would not endorse any candidate, he praised Clark as a man with “broad political experience” who would make a good president. Doyle’s Lieutenant Governor Barbara Lawton is Chair of Clark’s Wisconsin campaign and has recently been criticized by state Republicans for allegedly campaigning on state time.
Clark was not the only candidate to make rounds here recently. Both Sen. John Edwards (NC) and former Vermont Governor Howard Dean campaigned in Milwaukee over the weekend.
Wisconsin is set to be one of the key contests in this year’s primary due to its place as the last race leading up to Super Tuesday contests March 2.
Dean said in an e-mail to supporters last week he would pull out of the race if he does not capture a Wisconsin win. Clark and Edwards also find themselves in a precarious position, trying to catch the expanding lead Sen. John Kerry (Mass.) has created after his easy wins in Washington, Michigan and Maine over the weekend, raising his tally to 10 victories out of 12 contests. Primaries in Virginia and Tennessee this Tuesday promise to be hotly contested as Kerry continues to ride on momentum into states that southerners Edwards and Clark, who have each won one contest each, need to win.
At the forum Sunday, Clark jokingly urged his supporters to call their relatives in Tennessee and Virginia and urge them to vote for him in those primaries. Although behind in the polls in the two states, Clark said, “I don’t put too much stock in polls,” because they are driven by the media’s sense of momentum.
Clark mused that although he is the most electable candidate because he can appeal to swing voters, he worries that the rapid pace of this year’s primary may sabotage voters’ ability to choose the right person for the democratic nomination.
“[This election] is flashing past so fast that Americans can’t even tell the difference between candidates,” Clark said.
