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American Morning

Interview With Wesley Clark

Aired February 12, 2004 - 08:03   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: While Democratic presidential front runner took a rare day off from the campaign trail yesterday, the rivals John Edwards and Howard Dean were in Wisconsin, trying to convince voters there that the race is not over. That field has one less candidate after the Retired General Wesley Clark dropped out yesterday.
Wesley Clark is with us this morning live in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Good morning to you.

Nice to have you back on AMERICAN MORNING.

GEN. WESLEY CLARK, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thanks, Bill.

HEMMER: You've had time to think about this.

Why did your candidacy not catch fire?

CLARK: Well, I think it did very, very well. But I think that as we put the candidacy together, we came in late. We took 30 or 60 days to get staff going. And, most importantly, I think, the very thing that brought me into the race has moved this race forward. The Democratic electorate seems to just want to charge ahead. They're really focusing on who's going to beat George Bush. It moved out of Iowa with an incredible steamroller of momentum.

And we just found that that's pretty much what the electorate wants. So I think there was nothing wrong with the candidacy. I think it's, you know, it's a democracy. People vote and people want George Bush out. They want a front runner in there who can do it.

HEMMER: You mentioned Iowa. You were caught on camera on a C- SPAN camera saying, and I want to quote part of it now, "everything would have been different had you campaigned there."

Was that your biggest mistake, do you believe?

CLARK: No, I don't think it was a mistake. I think it was just something we couldn't do. It was just too late getting in and it would have taken 20 or 30 days, $4 million when we didn't have that time and that money. It was just not feasible. And you just never know on these things.

HEMMER: I have consistently heard you say on the stump, just about every time you get in front of a microphone, you're not a politician.

After this experience, do you want to be one?

CLARK: Well, you know, I'll never be a anything different than I am, Bill. I mean I spent my life in public service and I've always tried to speak as straight as I can to people and tell them what I feel and what I believe. And, you know, that's what I mean. And I've never been part of the Washington insiders. I've never had anybody sort of ask me to, you know, change legislation or work for them on that sort of thing.

You know, it's just a different, it's a different mind set. It's a different approach. There's nothing wrong with politics. I mean representative government requires people to do that. I just didn't do it. I didn't come up that way. I came up as a soldier.

HEMMER: And you mentioned your career in the military and as a soldier, the constant issue of Vietnam is coming up in this election in so many different ways, with the White House involved, with John Kerry involved.

Going back 30, 35 years, how relevant do you believe military service is to a man who wants to be either continuing in the White House as president or, in the case of John Kerry, wanting to be the president?

CLARK: Well, I think national security experience is important. And I think that if you've done something in the service, I think it does help you understand what our men and women in combat have to do. There's no single -- the presidency is not about any single qualifying or disqualifying factor. It's the combination. It's the person's character, judgment, the way they approach the issues, their degree of thoughtfulness, their willingness to be reflective, their ability to learn from the past and events.

But I think that being, having experienced that kind of conflict and tension, I think it does stretch a person and it grows a person and I think it's an important addition to a person's character and their library of experiences.

HEMMER: Listen, you're on the outside looking in.

Who are you going to get behind at this point? You have nine months to go before the election?

CLARK: Well, you know, we're going to pull together in the Democratic Party. I mean, this is a -- we're a group of people that want to see change in this country, Bill. And when I got out of the military, of course, I didn't vote for George W. Bush, but when I got out of the military and looked, it wasn't just the fact that his views on national security were poorly shaped, it was the direction and the approach of the Republican Party and how it mismatches America's needs.

HEMMER: I'm trying to find an answer in that. Is it John Kerry or is it not? CLARK: Well, we're considering all the options and we'll be talking about that in days to come.

HEMMER: Nothing today, huh?

CLARK: Well, I'm not going to do anything today. You know, today is the day I've got to thank a bunch of people. I've got 50,000 people that just hounded on me to get into the race. It's, the thing that you all couldn't see was this incredible support behind me as a person that drew me into this race. It was a draft and I was obligated to do it.

HEMMER: Wesley Clark from Little Rock, thanks for talking.

CLARK: Thank you, Bill.

HEMMER: Good luck to you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired February 12, 2004 - 08:03   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: While Democratic presidential front runner took a rare day off from the campaign trail yesterday, the rivals John Edwards and Howard Dean were in Wisconsin, trying to convince voters there that the race is not over. That field has one less candidate after the Retired General Wesley Clark dropped out yesterday.
Wesley Clark is with us this morning live in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Good morning to you.

Nice to have you back on AMERICAN MORNING.

GEN. WESLEY CLARK, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thanks, Bill.

HEMMER: You've had time to think about this.

Why did your candidacy not catch fire?

CLARK: Well, I think it did very, very well. But I think that as we put the candidacy together, we came in late. We took 30 or 60 days to get staff going. And, most importantly, I think, the very thing that brought me into the race has moved this race forward. The Democratic electorate seems to just want to charge ahead. They're really focusing on who's going to beat George Bush. It moved out of Iowa with an incredible steamroller of momentum.

And we just found that that's pretty much what the electorate wants. So I think there was nothing wrong with the candidacy. I think it's, you know, it's a democracy. People vote and people want George Bush out. They want a front runner in there who can do it.

HEMMER: You mentioned Iowa. You were caught on camera on a C- SPAN camera saying, and I want to quote part of it now, "everything would have been different had you campaigned there."

Was that your biggest mistake, do you believe?

CLARK: No, I don't think it was a mistake. I think it was just something we couldn't do. It was just too late getting in and it would have taken 20 or 30 days, $4 million when we didn't have that time and that money. It was just not feasible. And you just never know on these things.

HEMMER: I have consistently heard you say on the stump, just about every time you get in front of a microphone, you're not a politician.

After this experience, do you want to be one?

CLARK: Well, you know, I'll never be a anything different than I am, Bill. I mean I spent my life in public service and I've always tried to speak as straight as I can to people and tell them what I feel and what I believe. And, you know, that's what I mean. And I've never been part of the Washington insiders. I've never had anybody sort of ask me to, you know, change legislation or work for them on that sort of thing.

You know, it's just a different, it's a different mind set. It's a different approach. There's nothing wrong with politics. I mean representative government requires people to do that. I just didn't do it. I didn't come up that way. I came up as a soldier.

HEMMER: And you mentioned your career in the military and as a soldier, the constant issue of Vietnam is coming up in this election in so many different ways, with the White House involved, with John Kerry involved.

Going back 30, 35 years, how relevant do you believe military service is to a man who wants to be either continuing in the White House as president or, in the case of John Kerry, wanting to be the president?

CLARK: Well, I think national security experience is important. And I think that if you've done something in the service, I think it does help you understand what our men and women in combat have to do. There's no single -- the presidency is not about any single qualifying or disqualifying factor. It's the combination. It's the person's character, judgment, the way they approach the issues, their degree of thoughtfulness, their willingness to be reflective, their ability to learn from the past and events.

But I think that being, having experienced that kind of conflict and tension, I think it does stretch a person and it grows a person and I think it's an important addition to a person's character and their library of experiences.

HEMMER: Listen, you're on the outside looking in.

Who are you going to get behind at this point? You have nine months to go before the election?

CLARK: Well, you know, we're going to pull together in the Democratic Party. I mean, this is a -- we're a group of people that want to see change in this country, Bill. And when I got out of the military, of course, I didn't vote for George W. Bush, but when I got out of the military and looked, it wasn't just the fact that his views on national security were poorly shaped, it was the direction and the approach of the Republican Party and how it mismatches America's needs.

HEMMER: I'm trying to find an answer in that. Is it John Kerry or is it not? CLARK: Well, we're considering all the options and we'll be talking about that in days to come.

HEMMER: Nothing today, huh?

CLARK: Well, I'm not going to do anything today. You know, today is the day I've got to thank a bunch of people. I've got 50,000 people that just hounded on me to get into the race. It's, the thing that you all couldn't see was this incredible support behind me as a person that drew me into this race. It was a draft and I was obligated to do it.

HEMMER: Wesley Clark from Little Rock, thanks for talking.

CLARK: Thank you, Bill.

HEMMER: Good luck to you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com