Look, Clark HAS NOT MADE A FORMAL ANNOUNCEMENT

[incapsulated]

Please, stop this. Clark has not announced he is going to run.

It is obvious that he sent signals to his troops at a small gathering of Clark supporters. It is also clear that some people misheard what he said, only hearing the first two words out of his mouth, and got excited with all the noise that erupted.

The WesPAC people are confirming this, saying that no announcement has been made, he opened the door but "did not walk through it".

This sort of thing does not help Clark and isn't fair to him, to misrepresent what was really said: "I am going to have to take your advice about that" plus a call for support should he decide to actually run. That is a signal, but it is not an announcement.

[Adelante]

1. Agreed

Clark has not made a formal announcement.

[efhmc]

2. Huh?

[incapsulated]

4. I would answer your question

If you posed one?

[efhmc]

8. Announcement about what, please?

[incapsulated]

9. What is all over the first page

That he announced he is going to run in 2008.

[efhmc]

12. Been away so was not aware. Thanks.

[tishaLA]

3. Of course he hasn't

but his non-announcement has given lots of Clark-haters the red meat they need. "He's hurting the party!" "He's hurting the chair!" "He's undermining democracy!" "He'll hurt the effort to rebuild the infrastructure!" "He'll cause an increase in the number of genital warts among the Navajo!"

and on and on it goes.

[Trajan]

5. Well ... Ya gotta admit ....

Genital warts ARE bad news ....

[MoonRiver]

18. But maybe they should be remaned "General warts"

:silly:

[incapsulated]

7. Because he was mis-quoted

If the actual quote, and not two words of it, had been posted last night, this would not have happened.

He did not say, in response to "Am I going to run?", "I AM". He said, "I am going to have to take your advice about that" and then went on to describe why he is in a better position to run now than before and wants our support.

If that had been the story, this wouldn't have exploded the way it has.

[Clark2008]

10. I think the excitement stems from the logical jump from

"I am going to have to take your advice about that" to "Well, hell, I know what advice I'd give him! RUN!"

But, yes, I've been calling it the "unofficial, informal, spur-us-on announcement."

:)

[MoonRiver]

19. I for one am officially "spurred"!

Come on General, give your troops their marching orders! :dem:

[Sparkly]

11. I'm confused

Quote from CCN:

Just got back from the WesPAC reception and it's all true! He announced!

Wes Clark is running for President! I heard it with my own ears! Heather heard it too!

Wes said, "People keep asking me if I'm going to run for President. Well, I am." Huge cheers and applause!

http://chat.forclark.com/comments/2005/4/16/191228/849/118#118

Did he say that or not? :shrug:

[Clarkie1]

13. I believe he said:

"Well, I am going to have to take your advice about that."

A roar erupted, and some people only heard the "Well, I am" part.

That seems to be the consensus emerging.

[Sparkly]

14. OH, meaning "well I AM going to take your advice?"

Ohhhh.....

[Clarkie1]

16. Here's a link from the source (of the misquote)

Someone posted this over at CCN:

What I can tell you right now is that that is what I heard - however, at the point he was saying it, the joyful crowd noise was just deafening - it was a very small, very crowded room of people in love with the General - and when he made that statement the roof just about came off.

What I'm thinking is that maybe I heard only that first part of it - and maybe, because of the noise, missed the last part of the sentence. Somebody has posted that he said "I am going to take your advice on that" or somesuch statement and maybe I just heard "I am."

http://chat.forclark.com/story/2005/4/17/83420/3219

[Adelante]

17. An honest mistake

I hope she doesn't feel bad.

I wonder even if we get an audio or video if we'll even be able to hear. It hardly sounds possible.

[Clarkie1]

20. Yes, an honest mistake and quite understandable under the circumstances.

The person has apologized for any misunderstanding this may have caused, and I am sure she was only posting what she believed she had actually heard.

[incapsulated]

24. It was over excitement

I understand completely, and know she didn't mean any harm.

However, I knew a shitstorm would start on DU when it was posted here before anyone was 100% clear on the exact quote, which was being contradicted by the dkos blogger and the WesPAC people.

I just don't want the General mis-quoted and then attacked for it, here, and I don't want rumors spread around the internet as facts.

[Sparkly]

26. I'm glad you guys set it straight

I've had a bottle of champagne in the frig since November's election night. I won't break it out yet, but I'm keepin' it cold! :grouphug:

[FourStarDemocrat]

32. Except for the full two minutes before he said that people were screaming

"Run Wes Run!!". So, *that* was the "advice" he was refering to, at least in my opinion, and I just saw the video of his speech, so I am relatively certain that's what he meant, and that he IS running.

[Clarkie1]

15. This just all started falling into place for me this afternoon.

That people just heard the "I am" part and not the full "I am going to have to take your advice about that."

I was going to post this on its own thread for clarification, but you beat me too it. :-)

Still, I'm more energized and hopeful today for Clark, the Democratic Party, and America today than I was yesterday. :-)

[Clarkie1]

6. Thanks, I think this clarification does deserve its own thread.

Clark is asking us to focus on the present and 06' now. That is where his focus is and it is where all Clark supporters' focus should be as well.

Nothing is certain. He is saying that in the future he is "going to have to take your (our) advice on that."

Clearly this is not an announcement. At the same time, it is a more encouraging statement than "rule nothing out," and will do a lot to energize and expand his base now and for the 06' races.

[Name removed]

21. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[incapsulated]

29. Yeah, sure

*sigh*

[Crunchy Frog]

22. Thank you for the voice of sanity.

It certainly sounds like he's very seriously considering it, and giving some signals to his supporters, but that's a far cry from a formal announcement.

Nevertheless, it's a source of hope for me. I don't want to contribute to the sense of mass hysteria though.

[kerrygoddess]

23. Thanks for the clarification. N/T

[DancingBear]

25. Damn, spend three perfectly horrible days in the hospital

and look at all the s$&t that happens. :) :)

[incapsulated]

27. I'm sorry to hear that

:(

The good news is he is asking for our support, and widening the door a bit. But this needed to be clarified.

I hope you are feeling better.

[Adelante]

30. I'm sorry you've been sick, DancingBear

Take care of yourself :)

[PDX Bara]

28. "Wesley K. Clark, a Biography" by Antonia Felix

On the book jacket, a quote from General Clark: "I'll be doing all I can to contribute to building a new and better America." After reading this book, I believe that is what he will do in whatever way he sees as the best approach. Another general is sometimes described as one our our most popular presidents: Dwight D. Eisenhower (R). It's time for a general from our side.

Book info:

ISBN 1-55704-625-5 by Newmarket Press New York (www.newmarketpress.com)

[Boo Boo]

31. Yup. Absolutely. No "announcement."

I don't think the folks that attended the event are really misunderstanding his intentions, but I don't think Clarkies should think this is a done deal, either. That might cause folks to get complacent whereas I think his intention was clearly the opposite.

As a poster to CCN said this morning, "Rule nothing out" doesn't exactly drive donations. On TV Clark says that he is ruling nothing out, but when he talks to his supporters he's going quite a bit further than that. Obviously (to me at least) he still wants The Job, intends to work towards that, and wants WesPAC supporters to do the same.

Clearly, in the near term, that means helping get other Dems elected in '06, and demonstrating leadership within the Party. So make those donations to WesPAC! Wes' PAC is a vehical for building influence in the Party---that's what PACs are for. The more successful WesPAC is the more likely that we'll be seeing a real announcement in the future.

It's worth noting that there isn't anything new here. Nope. Clark was in D.C. a while back, and The Note reported that he was meeting with supporters and potential-supporters and delivered the same message that he delivered last night.

I agree that the "Clark announced..." meme isn't helpful.