Obit for a worthy campaign

Wesley Clark is out of the race. That was the logical thing to do after finishing third twice in Southern states today.

Clark made some bad plays and hit some tough breaks. (Howard Dean’s collapse came just a week too early; otherwise, we might be writing today about how Clark’s brilliant strategy of skipping Iowa and letting Dean finish off Gephardt and Kerry had paid off.)

But he contributed to raising questions about Mr. Bush as a wartime leader and, more importantly, to the slow process of rescuing the Democratic Party from the instinctive and unreflective dovishness that has plagued it since Vietnam. I’m sorry that he didn’t win, but I don’t regret the time, the money, or the emotional commitment I invested, and encouraged other people to invest, in his campaign.

There’s no telling what the next chapter of this extraordinary life will be, but I predict that it will be good for the country, and will leave those of us who supported him feeling proud.

Author: Mark Kleiman

Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out. Books: Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken) When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993) Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989) UCLA Homepage Curriculum Vitae Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com

8 thoughts on “Obit for a worthy campaign”

  1. John Kerry for president

    It looks like Kerry is the nominee. A big part of me is disappointed that we didn't get a good second look at Edwards (or even Clark), but I've been more and more impressed with Kerry in the past couple…

  3. John Kerry for president

    It looks like Kerry is the nominee. A big part of me is disappointed that we didn’t get a good second look at Edwards (or even Clark), but I’ve been more and more impressed with Kerry in the past couple…

  4. John Kerry for president

    It looks like Kerry is the nominee. A big part of me is disappointed that we didn’t get a good second look at Edwards (or even Clark), but I’ve been more and more impressed with Kerry in the past couple…

  5. Will the Kerry bubble pop?

    As Josh Chafetz pointed out, an awful lot of centrist media pundity (Jonathan Chait, Will Saletan, Mickey Kaus, Noam Scheiber) predicted earlier this week that the Democratic primary this year resembles a speculative bubble — a candidate retains their…

  6. Will the Kerry bubble pop?

    As Josh Chafetz pointed out, an awful lot of centrist media pundity (Jonathan Chait, Will Saletan, Mickey Kaus, Noam Scheiber) predicted earlier this week that the Democratic primary this year resembles a speculative bubble — a candidate retains their…

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