Former 4 star general Clark

[Joe Republic]

I've said this before so I may as well say this again: Wes Clark was my favorite candidate in last year's primaries by far.  It's a shame he didn't have an organized campaign, and yes, he was a tad gaffe prone.  But the last part never stopped George W. Bush.

Although I think he'd make the best candidate, convincing others is not so easy.  He needs some political experience first, so I would recommend he runs for AR governor, and consider a run in 2012 (provided the Dems lose in 2008).

Jfern, The reason he seems so popular on DU I would imagine is because for some reason Michael Moore and a large part of Hollywood supported Clark too.  I always find that surprising, seeing as how Clark is hardly a far leftist.

[Joe Republic]

He's a pretty bad candidate.
On paper, he looks perfect, but did you see the primary debates?  He did pretty badly.
And being a former Republican would hurt him in the primaries.

For the record, Clark was never a Republican - but he supported Nixon and Reagan.  But then so did lots of people who were Democrats then and now.  That's why those presidents did so well.

[Joe Republic]

But the reality is that he is not campaign material. I guess he would be favored in 5-8 states against a good Republican, but that's about it. Ultimately, no one like Clark has ever been elected, or actually even gotten close. Thinking he is electable thus requires higher reasoning than "he could hold the Kerry states," which is fairly laughable particularly because his opponent cannot be George W Bush.

I know it's not exactly a perfect comparison, but I think Eisenhower did quite well twice in a row.

[Joe Republic]

But the reality is that he is not campaign material. I guess he would be favored in 5-8 states against a good Republican, but that's about it. Ultimately, no one like Clark has ever been elected, or actually even gotten close. Thinking he is electable thus requires higher reasoning than "he could hold the Kerry states," which is fairly laughable particularly because his opponent cannot be George W Bush.

I know it's not exactly a perfect comparison, but I think Eisenhower did quite well twice in a row.

Trust me, I know Eisenhower was elected twice. However, comparing them is sort of like saying a 7 year old girl in rec basketball is similar to Lebron James... sure, semantically there is a minor truth there, but the scale is so different as to render it meaningless.

I actually agree.  But in the absence of any recent wars on such a scale as massive as WW2 to define them, somebody like Clark (or Powell for the Reps I guess) is the closest we'll get to having another Former General turned President.