Conversations with Clark

On Wednesday, January 7th, I traveled from Boston to Peterborough, NH. Peterborough is in South-Central New Hampshire, not far from Keene. It is a typical, picturesque New England town. Wednesday was rather cold, with high temperatures reaching ten degrees or so. I went up to NH with my three-year old daughter. On the way, I told her we'd be seeing Wesley Clark, a general who would be our next President. The trip took longer than I had anticipated, and I arrived at Peterborough at around ten minutes to twelve. In my haste, I forgot my regular glasses in the car, (which was parked about 1/2 mile away). My daughter and I hustled down the hill from our parking spot, and there was quite a large group of people filing into the Hall. A few feet before we reached the Town Hall property stood a somewhat disheveled Dean supporter, replete with Dean insignia, handing out some sort of literature. In front of me walked a well-dressed, elderly gentleman. The Deaniac reached across the sidewalk to shove the literature at the elderly man. Startled, the man moved further out toward the street and lost his footing. This poor old man stumbled for a good six to eight feet before falling, apparently striking some part of his body on the stone wall in front of the Town Hall. It was quite clear that, but for the shoving of literature, this old man would have been able to walk into the Town Hall without a problem. Instead of offering help, an apology or even sympathy, the Dean supporter yelled to no one in particular, "that wasn't my fault." We climbed the stairs to the Town Hall meeting auditorium and staked out a spot in the way back. I grabbed a folding chair for my daughter, who was seated next to a female reporter. My daughter was happy with her Little Mermaid book and "My Little Pony" toy. At one point before the meeting began, a female Clark staffer noticed my daughter and asked her name and age. She then asked if she'd like a pin. She then pinned a "Women for Clark" pin on my daughter, who wore it proudly. A picture or two was snapped. The crowd at the Town Hall meeting has since been estimated at 800 people. It was standing room only. The fire marshal had to shut people out. The meeting was scheduled to begin at 12:00. General Clark took to the stage at about 12:05. Quite prompt, by political standards. There wasn't so much a stage, as there was an "area" in which General Clark stood, surrounded by average New Hampshire voters. General Clark gave a 30-minute stump speech. He outlined his plan and vision for America. He discussed his new tax proposal. He acknowledged and thanked the veterans in the audience. The crowd was receptive, if not downright enthusiastic. He accused the Republicans of using "family values to divide people." Adding, "you can't talk about family values if you're going to wreck our environment." Next, General Clark took questions from anyone in the audience. There were questions about renewable energy, about Clark's alleged support for the Iraq war resolution, and a question from an obvious plant/provocateur, who asked General Clark about his past lobbying. The General was unfazed by any of the question, and handled each of them with aplomb. He was clear, concise, and fast on his feet. He made it quite clear that he wouldn't be the sort of President who only answers questions that have previously been vetted. After the standing ovation, the staffer who had given us the pin earlier returned, inquiring whether we'd like to take a picture with General Clark. I replied that this would be great. She led us all the way round, to where General Clark was surrounded by a bunch of reporters, cameras and even some voters who wanted to ask a couple more questions. As he left, General Clark spent a few moments with my daughter. I then shook his hand and asked him please to come and visit us in Buffalo. General Clark replied that he'd "love to." I didn't take notes, so I can't really report on the substance of the event beyond what's shown above. I know Dean took some hits for the nonsense contained in the literature that almost sent an elderly man to the hospital. I know that the tide is definately turning in New Hampshire. Forget the tracking polls - Clark is the kind of guy that these NH Yankees like. Although I won't be able to go to NH over MLK weekend, I urge any and all of you who have a chance to go to NH to see Clark speak. To see him in person is to truly understand why you supported him and collected signatures in the freezing cold for him in the first place.