Wesley Clark on the Campaign Trail

ByABC News
October 19, 2003, 6:14 PM

— -- ABCNEWS' Deborah Apton is on the trail with retired Gen. Wesley Clark as he runs for president. For the latest report, scroll down.

It's All In The Family

Nov. 14

For the past two and a half weeks there's been a new face on the road traveling with the Clark campaign. It's a member of General Clark's family and it's not his wife or his son. Gene Caulfield is The General's brother-in-law, the "Senior Brother-in-Law" of the Clark '04 campaign.

Caulfield is married to Gert Clark's eldest sister. The General's wife, Gert, is the second oldest, followed by three more sisters and a brother. A Brooklyn and New Jersey native, Caulfield worked for the American Stock Exchange on the trading floor, later moving to Reuters, from where he retired in December, 2002. Following his retirement, he took up consulting on Wall Street again until he got a phone call from Little Rock a month or so ago asking him to help out on his brother-in-law's fledgling campaign.

I'm "the family relative that is indeed working with Wes both at the organizational headquarters and also on the road." And he can literally choose where and when he wants to work. "I will be on the road with him," he explains, "and then all of a sudden I'll decide to go home and rake leaves."

So why leave a career behind to work pro bono in the early days of the campaign? Caulfield joked, because, "I'm the best brother-in-law!" He then went on to explain his bond with Wes Clark. "He has no brother and sisters and I have no brothers and sisters. In effect, I've probably known him longer than anyone else. I've known him since he was a cadet at West Point." In fact, the non-political extended family is all very close gathering once a year for a reunion with family members coming from as far as Hawaii and New York.

On the road, Caulfield offers some advice, usually about the tie Clark's wearing rather than advice on policy. "I always give him a lot of advice, but usually he's a man of his own conviction."

So after time on the road, the proud brother-in-law made a positive assessment of presidential candidate Wesley Clark "he's doing amazingly well. He likes getting out, dealing with the people, listening to the people."

And, as for the one moment on the trail that sticks out, Caulfield recalls a moment in New Hampshire when "somebody came up to him and literally started holding his hand and started talking about her problems that she had and wondering if he could correct them at all, almost to the point where he was so emotional, there were tears in his eyes. Like, that's how dedicated his passion is .and that really impressed me. Impressed me, but didn't surprise me."

Caulfield will continue to come on and drop off the campaign here and there. But his "Senior Brother-in-Law" campaign staff title sticks. As he says, "I've always had that [title] he just picked up candidate, I've always been that!"

Clark endorses Adams Sam Adams

Nov. 12

It was an unusual sight on the campaign trail: General Clark buying a round of beers for fellow veterans. And not just any beer

When General Clark arrived at the VFW Post 1698 in Franklin, New Hampshire on a Veteran's Day campaign stop, he was greeted by the Color Guard and posed with them for a photo. One gentleman asked, "Can I buy you a drink, General?"

"I'd love a drink," Clark said. "Actually, a Sam Adams, that's what I drink." But the Color Guard folks were setting him up.

"Got your coin on ya?" they asked Clark. Every American military service member has a coin they carry around with them at all times a tradition explained by one veteran as a practice that started after World War II when an Army Air Force pilot was "shot down and the only thing he had was a coin that separated him from the enemy. And everyone who saw it knew that he was American."

From that point on, it became a tradition to carry the coin "at all times." Seems General Clark forgot that tradition or perhaps he just forgot his coin. Either way, as the custom goes, if challenged to show your coin and you are without it, you buy a round of drinks.

Sam Adams for all Clark dished out $30 for 10 beers and passed them around. One veteran made the toast: "To the best beer in America, to the best General in the world."

But The General made his own toast: "What I learned from the Russians was the third toast is always the special toast. They always toast to their fallen comrades and I'd like to propose that toast, to our fallen comrades." Klink.

And while Clark seemed to endorse Sam Adams (the beer, not the patriot) he was also careful to amend his statement about it being his favorite: "I also like Corona."

GEPHARDT

From ABC News' Gephardt campaign reporter Sally Hawkins:

Congressman Gephardt campaign is broadening his punching bag horizons, adding Senator Kerry to the attack list. Those rumors that the Gephardt and Kerry camps were joining forces to attack Dean may now be squashed forever. Gephardt campaign manager Steve Murphy took jabs at the Dean and Kerry camps on Tuesday when he spoke to ABC News about the new playing field since Kerry's behind-the-scenes turmoil became public.

On a cable program, Murphy declared that Kerry would be the next candidate to drop out of the race. Not Moseley Braun, not Kucinich, or perhaps Sharpton, but Kerry? Later he told ABC News, "the Clark campaign, the Lieberman campaign, and the Edwards campaign are not working, but they all have some sort of plausible scenario for February 3. We totally disagree with that strategy since nobody's ever been able to wait that long and win. History is prologue here."

"John Kerry is an example of this. Dean is way ahead in New Hampshire, Dick has a significant lead in Iowa, but Kerry is way behind in both states. Kerry's put a lot of money and staff in those early states, but there's no support base. Kerry is far from the support among labor households and support of African American voters that we have. His message, or lack thereof, isn't working better in any of those states. He's got no February 3rd backup plan."

On Howard Dean, Murphy drew a similar conclusion that Dean could also be a one trick pony. "Howard Dean is a candidate who is demonstratively ahead in one early state. That February 3rd lineup in states like Oklahoma, Missouri, North Dakota, Missouri, and South Carolina is a bad lineup for Dean. He runs the risk of winning in New Hampshire and having nowhere to go."

And while we're talking about February 3rd, the Gephardt office announced today the opening of their offices in Oklahoma, one of which is housed in their friends, the Teamsters', office. They also received their fourth endorsement from a local trade council today, getting the nod from the 10,000 member Oklahoma Building and Construction Trades Council.

Clark strategizes military experience

Nov. 11 How will Clark's military experience shape his campaign? That's a question that is "probably too soon to answer," Clark told reporters Friday. The only retired four-star general in the race, Clark's 34 years in military service have defined his campaign from its early days. At almost every campaign event, General Clark will stop, sometimes with jarring awkwardness in the midst of talking about Iraq, to ask the audience if any veterans are present and for them to please raise their hands so they can be recognized.

The General is in New Hampshire today through Friday with scheduled stops in honor of Veteran's Day. Clark Communications Director Matt Bennett told ABC News that Clark "feels like there's just not enough deference placed to people who served their country" and he "hopes to provide them with respect."

One staffer spoke about the strategy behind setting up the Veteran's Day stops: "We do things that put this guy in places where he can be passionate," and "he feels really passionate about veteran's affairs." Other campaign staffers pointed out that Clark is "the only Democratic candidate campaigning on Veteran's Day who's won a war" and anything related distinguishes The General from the candidates who "chose not to serve [in the military] for whatever reason."

Clark was recently asked if a military background is important to have as a candidate. "I think first-hand, practical leadership experience is important for the commander in chief," Clark answered. "And I think if you have that experience in foreign affairs, then it's even better. So I've been lucky, I have a lot of high-level, first-hand experience in foreign affairs."

Clark, however, is not being honored as of late by some other high-profile generals. What does he think about comments by Generals Shelton and Schwarzkopf that he would not make a good President? Clark said Friday: "I think it doesn't matter if you're generals or not, I think if you're going to speak about another person, you have an obligation to know something about the situation." He added that he didn't believe Shelton's comments have, or will, weigh heavily on his campaign.