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A mid-day event Wednesday in Marion was billed as a stop for the campaign of New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and, without a doubt, the vast majority of the 40-some people in attendance were Clinton supporters, but there were also those Iowans who came just for the privilege of seeing her surrogate, Gen. Wesley Clark.
Susan Bremer of Marion is not only a supporter of Clinton, but a frequent volunteer for her campaign in Linn County. Coming to see Clark speak on Clinton’s behalf was important, she said, because it adds to her knowledge base of the candidate.
“I want to know as much as I can about the people who are involved with her and her life,” she said. “He’s known her for 24 years. That gives you a good idea of what her personality is if she has friends like that.”
Dale Todd of Cedar Rapids, who signed up early on with the campaign for Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, didn’t come to the event to learn more about Clinton.
“[Clark] is an incredibly neat and gifted public servant,” Todd said after the event. “I worked and volunteered for him. There were a lot of us who were involved in his campaign — or maybe we should say ‘the campaign that could have’ — here in Iowa. We encouraged him to campaign in Iowa and, we think that if he had, the last election would have came out a bit different. We just saw huge support those last few weeks. If he had just came to Iowa, who knows what type of impact that might have had.”
Todd came today, he said, “because Wes is a good friend.”
“I don’t think you’ll find anybody who’s got the depth and the breadth when it comes to foreign policy and the culture of the military,” he said. “He’s a hard worker and just has an incredible work ethic. And, really, he’s just a down to earth guy. While he is outspoken and against the war, he commands a huge respect among the military. He’s a force to be reckoned with — one, of course, we would have loved to have on our side.”
Bremer agrees and says she knows the Clinton campaign is fortunate to have such an important surrogate and supporter.
“He is unbelievable vocal and very charismatic,” she said. “He is a presence. I met him last night at headquarters and while he was just standing there, he exudes professionalism and believability. You can tell he has honesty and integrity.”
Clark spent the bulk of his prepared remarks listing the reasons why he is supporting a Clinton candidacy. The question and answer period, however, turned to foreign policy — Clinton’s vote to label the Iranian Guard as a terrorist organization, former military efforts in Bosnia and the current state of U.S. relations throughout the world.
“It is difficult for him to bring down the war into terms that the general public can understand, but he did very well today,” Bremer said. “He was able to tell us about some of the Iran and Iraq issues that we are having and that they are having. He actually made me feel more comfortable wit the war just in those few minutes. I was looking at him and it is people like him who are commanding procedures over there. I feel confident — especially with Hillary in as president — that we are going to be able to pull out of this war with maybe less casualties that we expected originally.
“But, all that being said, he’s just a super nice man and, of course, he’s supporting Hillary because he’s super intelligent smart,” she added with a wide smile.
Bremer said that, like Clark, she has lots of reasons for her support of Clinton, even if she’s never met the candidate face-to-face.
“I saw her and [former President] Bill [Clinton] at a park in Cedar Rapids on 4th of July,” she said. “I got goosebumps — the hair stood up on me. I’ve never seen anyone so warm and so loving and so kind, but at the same time very articulate about what she wants. She’s going to be a tough candidate and I want her to be tough. We need to clean up this mess we are in now. I have kids and I don’t want to leave the world this way because I was never wanting it the way it is now — with Bush not caring about middle class people, the people that do all the work. They are the crux of the American society, economy and community. Hillary knows that they’ve been overlooked for the past eight years, and she’s going to make sure that this doesn’t continue.”
Her words echo what Clark told the audience at the event.
“She wants the job to do something for the United States of America — for our people — and to use America’s power to help people all over the world,” he said. “I think that’s the right reason and the right character to seek this office.
“So, Hillary Clinton. Smart. Experienced. Great character. Tough minded. She’ll stand up for America. Let’s make her our next president.”
Video of Clark’s prepared remarks is also available.
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