Wesley Clark stumps for Weaver in 2nd

Wesley Clark stumps for Weaver in 2nd Democrat visits E'town, Owensboro Courier-Journal Wednesday, April 5, 2006 By Dylan T. Lovan | Associated Press
Elizabethtown, KY — Kentucky voters should help return Democrats to power in Congress to get the country "back on track," former Democratic presidential candidate Wesley Clark said yesterday.
Clark visited Elizabethtown and Owensboro to campaign for state Rep. Mike Weaver, a retired Army colonel who is running for Congress in the 2nd District. Weaver faces James Rice, a factory worker from Campbellsville, in the May Democratic primary.
The winner will challenge U.S. Rep. Ron Lewis, a Republican who is unopposed in the primary, in the fall. He has held the seat since 1994.
"I just don't think you can have a guy with better values, who better represents the kind of public-spirited service that our country needs today," Clark said of Weaver. The retired Army general and NATO military commander has been campaigning for several Democrats around the country. He ran for president in 2004 but has not said if he plans to run in 2008.
Clark criticized the Bush administration's handling of the war in Iraq.
"We've been going the wrong way for a few years now," Clark said. "We still can't win that war unless we make more friends than enemies."
Clark and Weaver said the country would be in better shape if the Democrats controlled the House.
"We most certainly do need to get the country back on track, and the way we do that is to take back the U.S. House of Representatives," Weaver said. Democrats need to win 15 additional seats in the fall to have a majority in the House.
Weaver said Congress needs members "who can ask the hard questions, and demand the hard answers with authority."
Mike Dodge, Lewis' press secretary, said Lewis wouldn't comment on the race until after the Democratic primary.
Rice, Weaver's opponent in the primary, said his top priority would be to balance the federal budget.
"It's like the 800-pound gorilla in the room," said Rice, who works at the Amazon.com warehouse in Campbellsville. "The theme of my campaign is focused on the next generation."
Rice said the military needs to focus on training Iraqi soldiers so the United States "can exit in the right way."
"We don't want to leave in the wrong way like we did in Vietnam," said Rice, who also ran for the seat in 2004.
Rice and Weaver are scheduled to participate in a debate April 24 on Kentucky Education Television.