Clark's bid widely saluted

By Mark Jurkowitz, Globe Staff, 9/21/2003

It may not have equaled the breathless coverage of the Ben and J. Lo breakup, but Wesley K. Clark's entrance into the presidential field was a neatly executed megamedia blockbuster.

The big three network newscasts devoted significant minutes to the retired general's decision on Tuesday night, and he dominated the small screen the next day, appearing on all three cable news networks and hitting the trifecta on the network morning programs. Editorial pages called him a welcome addition to an unwieldy field of Democratic hopefuls. Commentators evoked memories of Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Not everyone was enthusiastic. But the punditocracy was clearly atwitter about a candidacy that eclipsed Senator John Edwards's announcement speech on Tuesday. USA Today's headline said it all: "Edwards upstaged on his big day."

The only bit of bad luck for Clark was Hurricane Isabel, which not only managed to grab headlines, but also shut down Washington, putting a temporary crimp in the Beltway buzz over his fledgling candidacy.

A seasoned TV talking head -- the former NATO commander was embedded with the media during the war in Iraq -- Clark knows about news stagecraft. (ABC's punchy political tip sheet, The Note, referred to him as "Wes Clark D-CNN.") Still, the amount of press attention lavished on a candidate whose political experience is nil and whose policy positions are still largely unknown surprised some observers.

"It's a phenomenon," said Craig Crawford, a columnist for Congressional Quarterly and an MSNBC and CBS analyst. "I can't understand the rush to anoint him almost the front-runner."

"Absurdly positive," said Chuck Todd, editor in chief of the Hotline, a political newsletter. "It sort of feels like [Ross] Perot and Arnold [Schwarzenegger] all wrapped up in one."

Press boredom may be a factor. While it's early in the campaign season, no Democrat has generated much enthusiasm, with the exception of Howard Dean, the little-known former Vermont governor considered by some to be too liberal to win a general election.

Todd's Perot comparison may be cautionary. In 1992, the press corps rushed to embrace the Texas billionaire. Early media accounts called him "a rags-to-riches American folk hero." When NBC's Tim Russert punched holes in Perot's fiscal plan on "Meet the Press" the honeymoon ended.