Clark House Party Update

	Wesley Clark Jr. talks about his father before the guests watch American Son. “The video is great. That really is who he is.”
	House party guests listen in on the conference call. Host Mark Kleiman is the tall guy in the very back.
	Wes and Astrid Clark. The baby is due in a couple of weeks, but no word yet on whether he’ll be Wes 3rd…

CLARK HOUSE PARTY UPDATE….I spent last night in Los Angeles at a house party for Wesley Clark hosted by fellow blogger and UCLA professor Mark Kleiman. The draw was the debut of American Son, a video about Clark made by Linda Bloodworth, the same director who made The Man From Hope for Bill Clinton in 1992. Clark’s son, Wes Clark Jr., a Hollywood screenwriter, was also there, along with his extremely pregnant wife, Astrid, who is expecting their first son in a couple of weeks.

The video was pretty good ? although I’ve never seen The Man From Hope, so I don’t have anything to compare it to. But it was an engaging look at a guy who really does believe in “duty, honor, country,” and Wes Jr. told me beforehand that it’s the real deal. “That really is who he is.”

(You can see the video here. It’s about 18 minutes long, and Quicktime is required.)

Wes Jr. turned out to be an engaging guy who seemed both overwhelmed by his father’s candidacy but also tremendously excited about it. He says he hasn’t been getting much screenwriting done lately (surprise!), but he has been attending Clark events around Los Angeles, and although he says he suffers from stagefright he did just fine in front of this group. He seems like a genuinely nice guy.

A conference call with Clark followed the video. Nothing newsworthy, but there was one pretty funny line. Someone asked what he’d look for in a Secretary of Defense and he answered (among other things) “someone who respects his subordinates.” Heh heh. Take that, Bill Cohen!

(Trivia question: who is Clark’s favorite Secretary of Defense? Answer: William Perry.)

But there was also serious stuff. “George Bush is going to wrap himself in the flag and he’s going to try to take that flag away from our party. We can’t let him do that.” That may be campaign boilerplate, but it’s also exactly right, and I think it’s one of the things that Clark brings to the table.

As you all know, I think Clark is both the best candidate in the Democratic field and also the one most likely to beat George Bush next November. If you feel the same way, click here and contribute to his campaign. If you don’t, watch American Son and see if you change your mind.