Wesley Clark at the Citadel
Wesley Clark gave a campaign speech at the Citadel yesterday. I don't know much about him, except that he was a Rhodes Scholar and graduated first in his class at West Point. And I don't know whether I'll vote for him in Connecticut's Presidential primary next spring. But Chris Sullentrop's article (Wesley Clark's Patriot Act - The general unveils his campaign message in South Carolina) about his campaign appearances yesterday ends with these paragraphs:
"We need a new spirit, a new kind of, a new American patriotism in this country. … [T]his new spirit of patriotism should be dedicated to the protection of our rights and liberties. … In times of war or peace, democracy requires dialogue, disagreement, and the courage to speak out. And those who do it should not be condemned but be praised."
No other Democratic candidate, not even John Kerry, could stand in front of two 75 mm howitzers on the quad of a nearly all-male military college and defend the antiwar left without looking faintly ridiculous. Wesley Clark is Howard Dean with flags.
I have to say that sounds pretty good.
For the American people, for citizens in a democracy, patriotism's highest calling isn't simply following what the administration says. It's not blind obedience. It's not unquestioned adherence. The highest form of patriotism is asking questions. Because democracies run on dialogue. Democracies run on discussion. No administration has the right to tell Americans that to dissent is disloyal, and to disagree is unpatriotic.
I'll be keeping my eye on Clark more than I expected to.
Update: The Washington Post reports that Wesley Clark is already doing extremely well in the polls:
Retired Army Gen. Wesley K. Clark, who jumped into the presidential race just a week ago, is leading the nine other Democratic candidates and tied with President Bush in a head-to-head matchup, according to a new CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll.
Clark, who has yet to detail the agenda he will run on, bested Bush 49 to 46 percent in the poll, which is within the survey's margin of error. The poll was conducted Sept. 19-21, right after Clark launched his campaign in Little Rock. It is the first major poll showing Bush trailing a Democratic candidate.
...
Among likely Democratic voters, Clark was the favorite: He led the pack with 22 percent, nine points ahead of his nearest rival, former Vermont governor Howard Dean. Sens. John F. Kerry (Mass.) and Joseph I. Lieberman (Conn.) and Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (Mo.) rounded out the top five.
It's far too early to think that this means much, but I find it very surprising.
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