Retired Gen. Wesley K. Clark is being called on by a group called Draft Clark 2004 to run for next year's Democratic presidential nomination. Stumping online for votes has become a standard practice for presidential candidates in recent years. But a grass-roots effort currently underway on the Net may be the first aimed at dragging a reluctant candidate into the fray.
A group calling itself Draft Clark 2004 is hoping to persuade retired Gen. Wesley K. Clark to run for next year's Democratic presidential nomination.
Since April, the loose-knit group has deployed all the tools of guerilla Internet campaigning to convince the 58-year-old Clark, who has never held elected office, to enter the race.
John Hlinko, one of the leaders of the coalition, says the goal is to create a groundswell of support for Clark that would make him feel compelled to run.
"If we had to do it the old-fashioned way, with phone trees and letters, it just wouldn't happen," said Hlinko, a campaign consultant based in Washington, D.C. "The Internet enables us to galvanize people and focus their firepower for very little money."
Along with a handful of websites, Draft Clark organizers have launched several Internet discussion groups, an online petition, a weblog, an online shop with Draft Clark bumper stickers and other merchandise, a Meetup site and a PayPal account for donations.
According to Hlinko, the group has raised "a couple thousand" dollars, most of which it already has plowed back into the campaign. Earlier this month, Draft Clark organizers bought 60-second advertisements that ran on AM radio airwaves around New Hampshire.
Supporters view the politically quirky state, which will hold the 2004 election cycle's first primary next January, as the perfect springboard for an official Clark candidacy. The latest poll data shows that 27 percent of New Hampshire voters remain undecided about who they will back in the state's primary in January 2004.
Susan Putney, a Dover, New Hampshire, resident who's leading the Draft Clark campaign in the state, says she joined the effort after surveying the field of nine Democrats who are officially seeking the presidential nomination.
"I was just looking at the candidates, and there was nothing that appealed to me," said Putney, who works as a marketing executive for a pay-per-view TV firm. "The bottom line is, we need a candidate who can beat Bush. And we don't believe that any of the current candidates can come through. They may get the nomination, but they are ultimately going to lose to George Bush."
When Clark visited the Granite State last month, Putney presented him with a printout of more than 1,000 e-mails gathered by the group's website from people encouraging Clark to run. The retired general graciously accepted the stack, but reiterated that he is not a candidate.
So what is it about Clark that inspires supporters? The group's radio ads tout the Arkansas native's stellar resumé: decorated war veteran; four-star general; Rhodes Scholar; West Point graduate, top in his class; licensed investment banker.
One vague spot in Clark's vita: He hasn't said whether he's a Democrat or a Republican.
When asked recently if a swell of Internet-generated support would convince him to run, Clark was characteristically coy.
"If there are people who are strongly advocating that I run, that certainly would have to weigh a decision that my wife and I would have to make," he said.
But Clark reiterated that his main interest at this point is in fostering a dialog about the future of America.
To publicize his ideas, this month Clark launched his own website, a red-white-and-blue affair called Leadership for America.
His criticism of the Bush administration's foreign policy, especially the war in Iraq, won Clark a lot of fans among Democrats. But he says he's also concerned about a range of domestic issues, from unemployment to civil rights to global warming.
It's a progressive message, often delivered with a military metaphor.
Says Clark: "When I was in the military, we knew that the secret of a great armed forces is top-quality men and women in uniform. It's helping every single person be all they can be. Who's helping every American be all he or she can be?"
Some pundits express doubts that the Draft Clark movement will succeed.
Phil Noble, a political consultant who operates PoliticsOnline, says Internet-based political campaigns in the past have succeeded because they tapped into hot issues or featured a candidate with a clearly defined message. Noble informally advised former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura in his successful 1998 campaign for the governorship of Minnesota.
"I don't see at this moment Wesley Clark either being hot or having an issue that is real compelling," said Noble.
Larry Purpuro, managing director of Rightclick Strategies, says the Draft Clark campaign is doing everything right in its online strategy. But Purpuro says he's skeptical about whether a low-budget, grass-roots effort can be successful in a high-stakes presidential primary.
"The serious challenge for (Draft Clark supporters) is that they don't have the funds that can drive people to their site. And that's compounded by not having a candidate who can essentially wear the URL on his hat," said Purpuro, who led the Republican National Committee's Internet efforts during the 2000 campaign.
Other political observers have questioned whether the stately Clark has the stomach for national politics, and they wonder whether the general will find repulsive the demands placed on a presidential candidate.
But Jason Macintosh, an Oklahoma-based PR consultant and one of the organizers of the Draft Clark campaign, says Clark didn't become NATO's supreme commander in Europe by being half-hearted.
"If he commits, if you look at the way this guy has lived his life, I don't think he's ever done anything halfway," said Macintosh. "And I think that if he announces for president, he'll be in it stronger and harder than anybody else."
For several weeks, the Draft Clark campaign has been running banner advertisements on the websites of a number of New Hampshire newspapers. The ads tout Clark's credentials and claim he is "a leader for America's future."
So far, a possible Clark candidacy has failed to generate much excitement among the state's most influential Democrats. According to the latest tally of 105 Democratic movers and shakers by PoliticsNH.com, just two are officially backing Clark. Meanwhile, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry has 15 of the top Democrats, and Connecticut's Sen. Joe Lieberman counts 12.
The good news, according to Clark supporters: 46 of New Hampshire's leading Democrats have yet to put their weight behind a presidential candidate.
Lawyer George Bruno of Manchester, New Hampshire -- a former Democratic National Committee member and a personal friend of Clark's -- says the Democratic field is still wide open. According to Bruno, a Clark candidacy would resonate with New Hampshire voters.
"New Hampshire is his kind of state. It's a state with both conservative and liberal leanings. I think he would cut across ideological lines and party lines," said Bruno.
Putney says she's working to keep influential state Democrats uncommitted until Clark decides whether he's running. Presidential candidates have until Nov. 21 to get on New Hampshire's primary ballot, but supporters say Clark would need to declare his intentions well in advance to ensure a strong finish.
A crucial test for the campaign to draft Clark will come July 7, when organizers hope a series of planned Meetup gatherings of supporters around the country will hit critical mass. At present, the Draft Clark campaign has signed up approximately 530 people and added them to its national Meetup roster. By contrast, the presidential campaign of Howard Dean, a former Vermont governor, has more than 33,000 Meetup members nationwide and more than 500 in New Hampshire.
Hlinko says Draft Clark organizers want to show the general that he's already got an Internet organization ready to help him hit the ground running in New Hampshire.
"If he decides to run, we want him to see there's already going to be a network in place, with ground troops ready to be called into action, starting day one," said Hlinko.
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