Appearing at YearlyKos and throwing a party there Thursday night, speaking on the Science Panel there early Friday morning and then firing up the crowd at the Texas State Democratic Convention Friday night...and, by all accounts, wowing them everywhere he went.
Some of my favorite comments, and links to videos, on the flip...
From Neutron, who attended the Thursday night party and was obviously impressed:
"Clark had to stand on a barstool to be seen over the huge crowd, he was damn riveting and all the more impressive in person.....I love that he jumped off of the stool at the end too. the guy just exudes "hero" in every pore of his body.....the crowd was INSANE size wise...and hanging on his every word. That man can speak and is totally down to earth as well....having finally met the dude in person, I will tell you he is as warm and personable as his followers make him out to be.......Clark and Dean are both amazing, and after meeting him last night, I truly do hope that he runs again......I'm still in the Feingold camp... but Clark is great.....And to tell you the truth, Wes looked like he had the balance of a ninja. I'm not sure his age, but he is in pretty damn good shape."
From a Clark supporter on CCN:
"The General had such a big crowd to speak to, extemporaneously-- he decided, in order to see the room and address everyone, he jumped up on stool to talk to the crowd. He was not miked and able to speak out in his booming voice and fired everyone up with that good old town square off the cuff passion he delivers so very well.He talked about our vote. A lot. About who really won the last election (add question mark to sentence) About Kenneth Blackwell and Wes's conversation with the Mayor of Columbus Ohio -- who expressed to Wes his concern for the integrity of the Dem vote there. Telling him 80% of all the newly registered voters were Dems, but Blackwell didn't want to count their votes. He got enormous cheers on all of it."
Lynn Allen from Evergreen Politics was equally impressed:
"I have always been impressed with Clark and supported him for the short time he was a candidate. Seeing him up close is awe-inspiring. In addition to being incredibly smart and personable and funny, he gets the bloggers and the importance of what we do in promoting democracy and in trying to turn this country around. He also challenges us to take it to the grassroots."
" General Wesley Clark speaking at the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas at the yearlyKos 2006 conference Thursday night. Poor lighting (interesting effects with flashes), but he's got a commanding voice that carries well. Definitely nonexclusive, lots of video folks around."***
Then, from the Science Panel Friday AM....
From Northwest Progressive Institute:
"General Clark just finished speaking. I like that he's not only very intelligent, but also very witty. He has a lot of sensible ideas for improving our education system and bringing the federal government's focus back to actual science.UPDATE: Just shook hands with General Clark, who was greeting convention attendees on his way out of the room. A very impressive Democrat. I remember he did a lot of traveling with John Kerry in 2004, joining him on the stump throughout the campaign. There's loyalty for you."
From Chris Mooney's Intersection blog:
"Wow. The Yearly Kos science panel this morning was awesome, really a tour de force. Facing a full room, Wesley Clark got up there and riffed for at least twenty minutes, with impressive eloquence, about the importance of science to the American future. I wish I'd been taking notes. Here's a guy whose past--unbeknownst to me--had a lot of science in it; he's a kid of the Sputnik era, and really grasps how far we've fallen from the days when scientific innovation was at the center of America's image of itself. I was very, very impressed. (And I can't complain that at one point, Clark actually uttered the phrase "Republican War on Science.")"
From DarkSyde here at Kos:
"Gen Clark talked for about 25 minutes, then answered several question at length, and he did it all, as far as I could tell, talking off the top of his head. The only notes I saw in his hand had a short bio of Chris Mooney. Everything else was extemperaneous. Freaking amazing. It took me half an hour to make sure I had three sentences wired."
And from another Kos poster who watched the panel:
"Thanks for the fantastic gift of the science panel this morning. All of your speakers were HOT and I learned so much. Having Clark was a great coup - I never knew of his interest in this and he's looking like a candidate I could believe in.**I will try to introduce myself this evening."
Wes also took time out to be interviewed by The Young Turks....Here's the General Wes Clark interview:
"The Young Turks are broadcasting live from The Yearly Kos convention in Las Vegas. We interviewed General Wesley Clark this morning. He spoke very frankly (must run in the family) about the failures of the Bush administration in Iraq. He also talked about the neo-conservative plan to invade Iraq going back to more than a decade.Finally, he discussed the failures that led up to 9/11, which was refreshing because the neglect the Bush administration showed to addressing Al Qaeda before 9/11 is almost never mentioned.
****** Then on to the Texas Dem Convention.....
Daily Kos blogger anna was impressed:
"dude, i am smitten with clark. after tonight, i can totally see why so many people were inspired by him. i never had the chance to catch him during the 04 race. my main impression: he's presidential. without a doubt."
From The Kendallian Voice:
"General Clark just left the stage after a rousing speech which left us here in the auditorium with sore hands from clapping, and sore leg muscles from standing up and sitting down with ovation after ovation.He was critical of the Bush administration on a very deep level. His distrust--his anger--at how they've misled this country was clear, and was felt by everyone here.
His charge to Texas Democrats was that we've got to take back control of this country, and the time is now. In his speech the recurring theme was Enough is Enough! and the crowd chanted right along with him. It sure made a lot of us wonder if the 2004 election might have gone differently if he had been our nominee."
From a Clark supporter on CCN:
"We've all heard a number of points that Wes brings up in his speeches, but there were still a number of people there who had not heard him before and I was paying particular attention to some of their reactions. Always good to hear comments like 'this guy really should be President' from these people. Towards the end of the speech there was a rising chant of 'run Wes, run' reverberating around the arena and bouncing off the roof (something that sent a chill down my spine)."And, regarding a Meet and Greet Wes held after the Convention speech:
"The Meet and Greet that was to be held before his giving his speech was scheduled for just after his speech. As he left the stage, many in the audience left also, including my husband and I and a few others in our section. We made it down to the caucus room ahead of Wes. What had started out earlier in the day as one small conference room was opened up to include at least three other rooms. By the time Wes got there, it was standing room only within the room and outside in the hallway. We were seated at the back of the room and I could see when Wes came down the hall. He looked like a Pied Piper. He was trailing people!"
Video of the Texas Convention speech here.
Wow! He's had an eventful couple of days....and left a bunch of impressed and smitten people in his wake...
Not surprising....That's my General.
(This is my very first diary here--I don't post here often but I do read--so please be kind. Thanks!)