New Year's Greetings!
Hope you all have been enjoying a wonderful holiday season. Our soldier son
was home this year, which made things extra special. There is uncertainty
about what will happen when he returns to duty after the holidays, and that
is my personal dark cloud that follows me around.
While the media talking heads chirp about charisma, star power, eye candy,
and war chests, I'm forever mindful of the seriousness of the President's
responsibilities, and how little media attention (and by extension, voter
attention) is paid to factors like a candidate's track record of making life
and death decisions, and his or her depth of knowledge about world affairs.
This giddy horse race mentality that folks get sucked into, when actual
lives are hanging in the balance, worries me. I pray that Wes Clark soon
confirms for us that he is indeed running, because he is the ONLY one I
would trust with my son's life.
And I only have one son.
I'm very comfortable with Wes Clark's qualifications for the nation's
highest office. That is why I find myself in the position of state
coordinator. It is not a paid staff position. I stepped up to volunteer
because of my strong commitment to the vision and principles that General
Clark embodies and my soul deep belief that this is the right thing right
now for my children and the future of our country.
It is not my intention to go negative on other Democrats. We have some fine
people who are doing good work and making valuable contributions to the
national debate. Their time will come. But at this particular juncture, when
the next President will be faced with the daunting challenge of repairing
our badly damaged international alliances-- in order to successfully counter
the global terror threat, the nuclear proliferation problem, global climate
change and our economy's dependence on middle eastern oil--we need a proven
leader with the skills and experience to hit the ground running. That leader
is Wes Clark, who has given a lifetime of executive-level service to a
country he loves. He has personally worked with and earned the respect of
the NATO heads of state. He understands the need in today's world for
international institutions (which have been sadly neglected) and he has
established a successful track record on the international stage. He is
regarded as a hero by 1.5 million MUSLIM Albanian Kosovars-- this could well
be a trump card that he holds for defusing the Islamic terror threat. He is
so highly regarded in "friendly" Arab states that he was invited as a
featured speaker at the recent Arab Strategy Forum in Dubai. These are
qualifications that no other candidate has.
Needless to say, we've been on pins and needles here as the 2008 candidates
begin to announce their intentions, signaling the offficial start of the
silly season. The media pundits are already busy trying to choose our
American Idol President for us. (No offense intended to serious
journalists.) To put those early poll numbers in perspective, check out
this piece by Tom Rinaldo, who blogs at both Dailykos and the Clark
Community Network:
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/10238For those who think it's all about the money, and that other candidates
might already have a lock on available funds, let me make this clear: IT'S
UP TO US. While some of us on this list may be "major donors," or funders,
MOST of us are not. And we need to start weighing in and making our impact
felt. Not all are going to be able to give the maximum contribution of
$2100 per election cycle. But if ALL OF US work together to give as much as
each of us can--even if it means emptying pocket change into a jar every
night or giving up those triple mochas--we will be heard. Each one of us is
every bit as important as the big contributors and special interests, and it
is time for us to stand up and be counted too.
Let me throw out some simple math just to give you an idea. This is a big
country--300 million people. Say we find just ONE million folks willing to
donate $100 each to the campaign. We're talking war chest. Some of us won't
have even $100 to give. Some of us will have more than $100. It will balance
out. We can do this. Start putting your change in that jar now. Once an
exploratory committee is formed, we'll be able to make contributions. Money
given to WesPAC cannot be transferred to a Presidential campaign, so hold on
to your wallets until that committee is in place.
If you're on board for Clark in 2008, want to volunteer, and you've not yet
contacted me about it, please do. We have coordinators in place in a number
of counties already, but are looking for more. We'll be holding meetups in
Cleveland and some of the other cities soon. Stay tuned for events in your
area. If anyone is planning to attend RootsCamp, drop me a line.
https://rootscamp.pbwiki.com/RootsCampOHHere's wishing us all a VERY Happy New Year!
Susan Meara
WesPAC Ohio Coordinator
P.S. I've been working to update this database and keep it current,
including removing addresses of people who have opted out. But glitches
occur, and I apologize if you are receiving this in error.
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