February 13, 2004
Kerry Picks Up Presidential Endorsement From Clark
By JODI WILGOREN

MADISON, Wis., Feb. 13 — Just two days after abandoning his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, Gen. Wesley K. Clark endorsed Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts today.

"Request permission to come aboard, the Army's here," a smiling General Clark said as he and Mr. Kerry appeared at a rally here, four days before the Wisconsin primary.

Mr. Kerry, a Navy lieutenant during the Vietnam War, said, "This is the first time in my life I've ever had the privilege of saying `Welcome aboard' to a four-star general."

After thanking his own supporters, General Clark told Mr. Kerry he would do "everything I can to help you take the White House back for its rightful owners, the American people."

"George Bush has compromised America's leadership around the world," the general said. "President Bush hasn't led America; he's misled America time and again, and we have to put a stop to it."

Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, still battling Mr. Kerry for the nomination, said of today's endorsement: "I think General Clark is a wonderful man and he was a terrific candidate for president. At least in the course of these primaries endorsements just haven't mattered much."

The day after the Tennessee and Virginia primaries Mr. Edwards said he spoke with Mr. Clark by phone to tell him "I'd love to have his support."

General Clark had all but confirmed he would endorse Mr. Kerry on Thursday, when he was interviewed on CNN.

"Whether I'm in this race or not is less important to me than the opportunity to speak out and make a difference in this country," General Clark said. "I'm looking forward to seeing John tomorrow."

Even as General Clark was preparing to endorse Mr. Kerry, the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, Howard Dean made a direct appeal to Clark supporters on Thursday.

"I ask for your help," Dr. Dean, the former governor of Vermont, said here. "Wes Clark and I have one thing in common: We are both not from Washington, D.C."

Dr. Dean also asked supporters of Representative Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio to back him instead, telling hundreds of University of Wisconsin students that "only one of us can beat George Bush."

"If you think Dennis is the right person to vote for, then please vote for him, never settle for the lesser of two evils," he said. "But we are able to raise the money and I have an executive record that allows me to go after George Bush."

Dr. Dean also lumped in the same boat his two main rivals in Wisconsin, Mr. Kerry and Mr. Edwards, saying: "They are good people, but they come from inside Washington. It's another world, it's a world that has forgotten ordinary people."

Minutes earlier, Dr. Dean mischaracterized the two senators' position on financing the reconstruction of Iraq. Saying that $87 billion appropriated for Iraq and Afghanistan could have paid for universal health insurance, Dr. Dean said, "We're paying for it because two of the people I'm running against decided it was O.K. to pay it," adding, "those guys made the wrong choice."

In fact, Senators Edwards and Kerry voted against the $87 billion appropriation, though they had voted in favor of the resolution authorizing the initial invasion of Iraq.

The rally in Madison was part of a day of campaigning focused on health care. Dr. Dean and his wife, Judith Steinberg Dean, who is also a physician, toured two clinics, one on the university's Madison campus and one for uninsured people in Oshkosh.

"Judy still makes house calls, I used to," Dr. Dean said at a forum in Oshkosh. "We are going to make one more house call. It's going to be Jan. 20, 2005."

Dr. Dean told reporters between campaign stops that if he loses the Wisconsin primary on Tuesday, "we will not stop the campaign," but that he had not yet figured out what form it might take. He said he would not go into debt to stay on the trail.

"What I've said is we're not going to have a quixotic campaign that I know I can't win," he said. "We're not going to do that. The definition of that we'll have to leave to later."

Asked about Democrats who fear that his criticism of Mr. Kerry could weaken the party's eventual nominee, Dr. Dean said, "In light of the things that I've gone through, I think that would be laughable."

Mr. Edwards held one event in Wisconsin on Thursday, delivering his standard remarks about the privileged winning out over everybody else at a rally in a community center in Racine. He then flew to Los Angeles for a fund-raiser.

Mr. Edwards took questions from the crowd in Racine, which included dozens of high school students, but his drive to reach voters was apparent. Before he began answering, he whispered to an aide, "Are they old enough to vote?"




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