Gen. Wesley Clark stumps for Tester

September 28, 2006
By PETER JOHNSON | Great Falls Tribune

Retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark endorsed U.S. Senate candidate Jon Tester in Great Falls Thursday as both Democrats criticized Republican management of the war in Iraq.

About 150 people, including many veterans, gathered among orange- and red-leafed trees in Lion's Park.

The crowd smiled when a gust blew Tester's speech away temporarily and chuckled when he ad-libbed, "And they wonder why we advocate wind generation."

But the talk was more serious.

"America is in trouble today, right now," said Clark, a former NATO commander and 2004 Democratic presidential candidate. "In Iraq 140,000 soldiers are bogged down in a conflict we didn't have to fight and that was mismanaged when we did get in. They did not get the leadership coming out of Washington that they needed."

Clark also charged that President Bush didn't follow up on initial successes fighting terrorists in Afghanistan because he was too eager to invade Iraq, and now U.S. troops are fighting pitched battles there as well.

He called for a change in leadership, and said Tester, a farmer and state Senate president, had the courage "to ask the tough questions, demand straight answers and help get the country back on course."