Clark's Army's Web Log
Thursday, December 18, 2003
Monday, December 08, 2003
Tuesday, Dec. 9
5:00 pm EST
MTV
Clark will be on Total Request Live
7:00 pm EST
DNC Debate
General Clark will participate in the DNC sponsored debate.
Tuesday's debate will be broadcast on C-SPAN
Wednesday, Dec. 10
8:00 pm EST
A&E
Biography's "10 to Watch"
Thursday, Dec. 11
11:00 pm EST
Comedy Central
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
LA for Clark presents:
THE HOLLYWOOD HOLIDAY PARTY FOR CLARK
December 11th, 7-10pm
Featuring Wes Clark, Jr. and Steven Weber of 'Wings'
with Music by celebrity DJ Dan Mancini
@ Star Shoes Cocktail Lounge and Vintage Shoe Salon
6364 Hollywood Blvd. (b/w Cahuenga & Ivar)
Suggested Donation of $15 with RSVP or $20 at the door
Hosted by Hollywood Supporters of Clark
Please RSVP to: clark_rsvp@yahoo.com
Also, you can view an advertisement for the party with additional
information at:
http://www.laforclark.com/holidayparty/
Saturday, December 06, 2003
General Clark's Town Hall Meeting at Philips-Execter Academy (NH) is now linked on the Clark's Army Links Page
Tuesday, December 02, 2003
Hello Grassrooters! It's been a long time since I last posted--too long! Here is a letter from Bob Mahoney, recounting the four days he spent volunteering for General Clark in New Hampshire:
Hello fellow Clark supporters:
Lori asked me to share with you my experience of going to New Hampshire to help with the fledgling Clark campaign.
I decided to drive there, although I think that if you want to go, it is wiser to fly. When you add up the mileage, gas, tolls, time and driving risk, you're better off flying directly to Manchester, and then renting a car.
My understanding is that the campaign will put you up in someone's house for the time that you are there. While I was there, they went to the airport to pick up someone that was coming in from LA, so it is possible that you might not even need to rent a car. Don't worry about age. Everybody is treated the same, young and old.
Manchester is a beautiful town, filled with old churches, large parks, an art institute, little store front restaurants. Each day, I went to the same quaint restaurant for a hearty New England breakfast. On the drive in, I went through Vermont on Route 9, a real driving challenge at night. Luckily, I had NPR's "All Things Considered" to get me through some scary twists and turns. What a friend is Public Radio! I arrived in Nashua Monday night, where I stayed at a local hotel.
The folks at the Manchester office welcomed me with open arms and immediately put me to work inputting data into an Access database. Believe me, anyone can do this. Within a half hour, I was shanghaied to the corner of a shopping center hosting an AARP meeting, waving a Clark sign at passing motorists. The Deaniacs were responding to bullhorn slogans that, well, will not win any poetry awards. I was assured by my fellow standard bearer, Kevin Bowe, that most of the Dean supporters were paid staff.
I didn't find out until later that Kevin is field director for the Manchester office. He is a class guy and well worth meeting. He is now putting in 12 to 16 hour days, while commuting up from Massachusetts. He would be glad for your help.
Most of my marching orders came gently from the volunteer coordinator, David Orr. He was pleased that I had brought a web page printout of our own David Orr, of Cook County fame. Over the next few days, I would find out that David, who is a young man, is quite well schooled in the history of politics.
In the early afternoon, we were very fortunate to meet the General's wife, Gert, who stopped by the campaign office. She is all class, and very kind.
Later that day, I was put on phone duty, calling people off a list of prospective voters to ask for their support for General Clark. Please understand that I am the kind of guy that hangs up on telemarketers with great relish, so it was a humbling experience having to make cold calls. I quickly discovered that the best approach was to call the oldest voters on the list. Some folks were short with me, others wanted to tell me about their operations (I listened with infinite patience), but many told me they hadn't made up their minds yet.
The folks in NH take their responsibility as first primary voters very seriously. How refreshing to see Americans talk about voting as a sacred trust. The major point here is that most of the folks I talked to said that they hadn't made up their minds yet. To me, NH is up for grabs. You have probably noticed here in Illinois that a lot of folks just have never heard of General Clark. To the campaign's credit, the week I was there, they started running their first ad.
I knew General Clark would be in NH that day, but I wasn't prepared to convoy up to Plymouth to see him in action at a town hall meeting. What a treat! I had seen him before, in Chicago, at a fundraiser, and had shook his hand, congratulating him in advance for becoming President, but this time around I was determined to ask him a question. At the meeting, I stood in the back, with my Clark button on, and studiously raised my "helium hand" after he answered each question. Realize that General Clark is very charismatic in person. He reminds me of JFK, He is intense, brilliant, never at a loss for words, is fearless, and has a wise and compassionate spirit. At one point in the Q/A, he talked about visiting with the mother of one of the soldiers who died in the Chinook helicopter crash. Let me tell you, there wasn't a dry eye in the house. He worked the "theater in the round" crowd very effectively, and then finally, he pointed at me. He said "No, the guy in the back!" I asked him why Bush wouldn't release the Presidential daily briefing papers the 9/11 commission wanted, in unedited format. He asked me what I thought the reason was. I said that I thought that Bush had something to hide. He agreed, and went on to say that Bush, as Commander in Chief, should actively be conducting a transparent review of what happened before, during and after 9/11. He said that Bush was not doing this.
The room was full, the crowd enthusiastic, and when the meeting broke up, the General stayed until the bitter end, schmoozing with folks young and old. It is clear that he is a people person, that he really likes and respects everyone. I went up again to shake his hand, reminding him that the 9/11 survivors deserve answers, not obfuscation. He shook my hands for a good three seconds. Later, I talked with someone at the door about the meeting. He turned out to be the correspondent for Agence France Press. I told him how I had called a French business colleague at the start of the Iraq war and told him that not all Americans agreed with our President, and how my French colleague responded that not all French people agreed with their President. This correspondent, in typical Gallic resignation, thinks that Bush is unbeatable. It is up to us to prove him wrong, to show that our collective spirit is strong enough to beat back the propaganda that $200 million can buy.
The next day, Kevin, in a moment of inspiration gave me a task that I could actually do well. My job was to "Norton Ghost" a bunch of computers, so that they would have Office on them and look exactly like the Little Rock computers. The vets in back quickly came to me to fix their personal computers as well. I was momentarily indispensable! I even fixed the copier, by slamming the front door vigorously. Later that evening, we went to a union rally to support striking workers at a local TV station. Back at the office, we watched General Clark on 60 Minutes II.
My last day, I was back on data entry, finishing two precincts. I said goodbye to the gang, loaded up my car with signs, bumper stickers and buttons, and headed back to Chicago. I was reluctant to go, because I felt that I was part of something bigger than myself, and that I was making a contribution towards taking my country back from the evil cabal in Washington. I wasn't in front of the TV, swearing at Bush and Cheney, I was doing something real. When I left, I told Kevin that if the numbers were up in January, I would come back. And I mean that.
Bob Mahoney
Clark@Tekvend.com