Farewell to the General

And then there were three. As someone who supported the Draft Clark movement I cannot say that I was pleased with the campaign he ran. It meandered from running solely on the resume to pandering to lurching left. I think that we are all somewhat disappointed with General Clark because we had placed such high hopes in his ability to win back the White House.

Somewhere along the way, the voters threw a wrench into these plans. Clark was poised to be the anti-Dean firewall in New Hampshire, but Iowa voters decided to dance with Dean, but take Kerry home. All at once Clark's raison d'etre had vanished in a cold Iowa evening. And with Edwards surging, Clark could not reasonably present himself as the anti-Kerry, ready to pounce once buyer's remorse had set in.

And although this site has become an Edwards endorser, it was with some tinge of sadness that I read tonight's news. It is a sadness driven by an acknowldegement that pretty soon my choices will be narrowed down to either Howard Dean or John Kerry, neither of whom I believe are particularly good general election candidates. If only Clark had dropped out sooner, Edwards may have been able to overtake Kerry in VA and/or TN and thus position himself to be the absolute anti-Kerry.

But with Howard Dean now pledging to remain in the race forever and with Edwards having a bit more sense than that, we will be faced with a Hobbesian choice between the Boston Brahmin and Doctor Strangelove.