“What's with all the Clarkies?”
Random User
Many have wondered about the steady following that Wes Clark inspires. Others have been dumbfounded, annoyed, jealous, resentful, exasperated, and even hostile. Switching to bashing Clarkies when arguments against Clark fail on logic is a common tactic. I won't go into those retreads, just look for your nearest flame-fest, but I would like to address the support that Clark gets on DU [Democratic Underground blog], and perhaps make it more understandable to some.
Why exactly is Wes Clark so popular with the grassroots? His grassroot supporters drafted him when he had no intention of entering elective politics, scrutinize his every interview or article, stuck with him when he left the race, and pine for him to run again. Why are his followers so committed to him? The thing about loyalty is that you must give loyalty in order to receive it.
Loyalty begets loyalty. The reason we are loyal to Clark is because he has always been unfailingly loyal to us. He stood up for us when all others refused. Not because of self interest or political calculations, but because it's the right thing to do. As a matter of fact, it's often been against the prevailing political winds, and against his own personal interests. But he stood up for us anyway, because it was the right thing to do.
When the nation was gungho about going to war in Iraq, and Michael Moore condemned Bush at the Oscars, everyone ridiculed Moore and castigated him for being unpatriotic. Being anti-war was not only considered "unpatriotic" but also unpopular. The media was drooling over the ratings they would get and giddy over their "embeds." The politicians who had signed the IWR [Iraqi War Resolution] were all trying to prove how "patriotic" they were with little American flag lapel pins. But, even against this backdrop, when the popular thing to do would have been to agree with condemnations of Moore or to remain neutral, Wes Clark defended Moore. He stood up for Moore even when he didn't have to, and when no one expected him to. He did it because it was the right thing to do. He stood up for us.
When everyone was running away from the label of "liberal" as if it were political suicide, including Howard Dean, Bill Maher asked Clark on national TV if he would dare touch the label. Wes Clark embraced the label and then proceeded to defend "liberalism" on national TV, at a time when almost everyone else was trying to move to the center and considered "liberal" to be anathema. He stood up for us.
When Howard Dean's Chairmanship of the DNC [Democratic National Committee] was under assault for supposed verbal gaffes, so-called Democratic leaders were claiming Dean "didn't speak for them." Leading Democrats went on TV and tried to distance themselves from Dean and his chairmanship. These Democrats claiming "Dean didn't speak for them" ended up weakening not just Dean and the position of DNC Chair, but -- more importantly -- party unity and solidarity in the face of Republican attacks on our party and our Chair. When the media was having a field day with Dean's supposed gaffes, and the political pressure was to disavow association with Dean's Chairmanship ("Dean doesn't speak for me"!), Wes Clark stepped up and said he was proud of Dean and the job he was doing. Clark could have just sat the storm out and not commented. But, instead of caving to political pressure to disavow Dean, Clark defended Dean. He defended Dean, Dean's Chairmanship, and our party. He stood up for us.
A couple of weeks later, when the media excoriated Durbin for his comparison of Bush to Nazis, pundits and politicians fell over each other asserting Durbin was out of line. The media pressure -- and even peer pressure from other Democrats -- would eventual force Durbin to issue a tearful apology, where none was due. Prevailing political pressure was to denounce Durbin, batter him until he apologized, score political pundit points by saying, "See? I'm reasonable and politically correct, unlike that Durbin fella." But Clark refused to condemn Durbin as being out of line, and supported and defended Durbin all the way until the end of the fiasco. Clark kept faith with his own words, "The American people will trust the Democratic Party to defend America when they believe that Democrats will defend other Democrats!" Clark defended Durbin because Durbin was a Democrat, and because it was the right thing to do. He stood up for us.
When the Wall Street Journal published an attack on Democrats, claiming the Democratic Party had no plans for Iraq and only went around whining about surrender, Clark responded. When pundits and even a few weak-kneed Democrats were nodding their heads, acquiescing to Republican talking points, Clark refused to buy the lie. He wrote and got published a Letter-to-the-Editors of the Wall Street Journal countering their assertions and defending the Democratic Party. And when the Wall Street Journal later refused to publish his plan, he would not let them stifle him and went to the Washington Post. No one was going to get away with smearing Democrats as whiny negative people, weak on defense with no constructive criticisms or ideas of their own -- not on Clark's watch. He stood up for us.
I may not always agree with Wes Clark on everything, and we do differ on some issues, but I know I can always trust him to stand up for what he believes is right, not what is most popular or politically expedient. He will always stand up for us. He has stood up for us when everyone else refused to. Even as we speak, he is running himself ragged trying to help Democrats win back this country in 2006. We "Clarkies" are loyal to Clark because Clark is loyal to us. Loyalty begets loyalty.
He will always stand up for us, stand up for what is right, stand up for Democrats and all those who repudiate the radical extremists who have hijacked the Republican party. So when the critics come calling, or when political operatives sneak around to smear him, or complain about how Clark supporters are fanatics (or "a cult of personality" as one critic of Clark claimed recently on DU), they should remember this fact about Clark's grassroots: we fight for Clark because Clark fights for us. Clark has proven himself and continues to every time he stands up for us.
I stand with Wes Clark.
