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Posted on 01/20/2004 10:57:01 AM PST by NormsRevenge
MANCHESTER, N.H. -
Democratic presidential candidate Wesley Clark (news - web sites) wasted no time in going after former supporters of Dick Gephardt (news - web sites) on Tuesday, a day after Gephardt's distant fourth-place finish in the Iowa caucuses pushed him toward abandoning the race.
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Gaining in recent New Hampshire polls, Clark scrambled to maintain that momentum after John Kerry (news - web sites)'s big win in Iowa and John Edwards (news - web sites)' strong second-place showing there Monday. Clark had bypassed Iowa to focus on New Hampshire's Jan. 27 primary and beyond.
The latest New Hampshire survey showed Howard Dean (news - web sites) leading, with Clark and Kerry tied for second.
Among his first moves, Clark reached out to some of Gephardt's congressional backers, who not only would add Washington stature to the candidate who has never held elected office but would provide all-important delegates to the Democratic National Convention.
"General Clark called me this morning. I was very impressed with his campaign. I had a nice discussion with him and told him I'd like to talk to him at some future time," Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the No. 2 Democratic leader in the House, told reporters in Washington.
Clark also attended a rally with supporters at his campaign headquarters here, and when asked at a news conference how he could distinguish himself from either Kerry or Edwards, the retired general said, "I'm the only candidate who's done high-level work in foreign policy, foreign affairs and national security."
Kerry of Massachusetts is a four-term senator, member of the Foreign Relations Committee and decorated Vietnam War veteran. North Carolina's Edwards, in his first term in the Senate, is a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Gephardt, the former House Democratic leader, returned to St. Louis Tuesday for the expected announcement that he was bowing out of the Democratic presidential race after the Missouri congressman's poor showing in the must-win state.
Hoyer told reporters, "I was for Dick Gephardt because Dick Gephardt is my friend... I think he'd be a good president." He said he hadn't yet decided which way to throw his support.
Even so, Hoyer said, "I was impressed that Clark called so quickly this morning. ...There was no doubt in my mind why he was calling me."
At his campaign headquarters here, Clark was asked why he'd be a better candidate in the South than Edwards.
"I'm a product of the South," said Clark, who was born in Chicago but grew up in Arkansas. "I've represented the values of the South: patriotism, service to country, faith, family and inclusive leadership. I've been there and done it."
He declined to specifically contrast his military record to that of Kerry, a decorated Navy officer in Vietnam who later became an outspoken war critic, but Clark stressed that he stayed in the military after Vietnam.
"I was a patriot. I believed in serving my country. I stayed with the military all the way through," he said.
On Monday night, after Kerry's victory in Iowa was announced, Clark told campaign workers here that Kerry had a military background "but nobody in this race has got the kind of background I've got."
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Associated Press Writers Holly Ramer in Manchester, N.H., and Jim Abrams in Washington contributed to this report.
U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean (news - web sites) walks past a news clipping of President Bush (news - web sites) petting and appearing to be pecked by a turkey during Dean's visit to the Federal Tobacconist smoke shop in Portsmouth, New Hampshire January 20, 2004. Dean, who has continued to lead the other Democratic candidates in recent polls of likely New Hampshire voters, hopes to rebound from his third place finish in the Iowa caucuses with a strong showing in the January 27 New Hampshire primary. REUTERS/Jim Bourg
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