The General and the Governor
by J. Daniel Janzen

For starters, it's means there's one more face onstage at the already crowded debates. The group photo from last week's show in New York City stirred memories of 1988's Seven Dwarves, when Joe Biden, Paul Tsongas, Paul Simon, Gary Hart and the rest of those guys huddled around the dying embers of the pre-Clinton party in the dark Reagan-Bush night. Dukakis got to take home the booby prize that time, and he's still a laughingstock 15 years later.

Notwithstanding the presence of original dwarf Richard Gephardt, who seems to have been running forever without getting any closer, this year's field has differed from 1988 largely thanks to the presence of Howard Dean. Initially seen as more of a Jerry Brown-style provocateur than a real contender, Dean has taken the lead largely by capitalizing on the dissatisfaction of party members with the other candidates. Behind all his talk of who's a real Democrat and who isn't, Dean's real message is "I'm not one of these other clowns."

Let's take a quick look at the rest of the field. Joe Lieberman is running again, and though he's at the top of the polls in name recognition his conservative-Democrat stylings work directly against the very forces putting Dean on the map. There's Dennis Kucinich, this year's Mikey ("He'll say anything!"), comic relief as long as he lasts. Al Sharpton and Carol Moseley Braun will gain stature with nothing to lose, but lose they will. Bob Graham has a decent platform and comes from a big state, but it happens to be Florida, and that's just bad election luck. John Kerry ... is he the Vietnam Vet who shot all those villagers, or the one who gave back his medals? Who's John Edwards, again? And good old Gephardt rounds out the pack, the standard-bearer for a congressional leadership that has only recently emerged from its Manchurian Candidate-like acquiescence to Bush's worst mistakes.

Before Deanmania reached critical mass, the available options left many party members with that old familiar feeling: "Is this really the best we can do?" Dean has injected much-needed energy into the race, but his greatest asset — his refusal to compromise for the sake of electability — has also given birth to his worst liability: the nagging fear that he just can't get enough people to vote for him.

Clark, on the other hand — now there's an alternative. He's the only candidate capable of claiming the slogan "New American Patriotism" with a straight face; it's a safe bet we won't see George W. in any more flight suits for a while. Better still, he comes blessed by the one guy we all secretly wish could run again, Bubba-san himself. Even if Clark doesn't get the nod, he could bring balance to someone else's ticket. Imagine Dick Cheney's political savvy combined with Admiral Stockdale's military record (not the other way around, fortunately)."

Unfortunately, there are a number of nagging questions about Clark. He's flip-flopped dismayingly on whether he would have voted for war in Iraq. Although he's the highest-ranked officer to run for president since Eisenhower, his record is slightly more MacArthuresque — he's both flirted with insubordination to his superiors and inspired it in those in his command. Although his candidacy has long been a possibility, he somehow managed to get all the way to declaring without assembling even the most rudimentary campaign organization — and this from a guy who had been the top military administrator for NATO. Plus he's a Democrat-come-lately, having voted for Nixon and Reagan.

But Clark's Democratic credentials are no more relevant than Schwarzenegger's Republican ones. At the end of the day, he's the mirror opposite of Dean: All that really matters is that he seems to match up so well against Bush in a general election. As the current administration is dragged ever lower by stalemates in Iraq and the UN, looming fiscal nightmares and talk of leaks and smear campaigns, Clark represents hope for renewed military leadership, repaired international relationships and comfortably centrist domestic policies.

At least that's what his supporters hope. As Clark works to replace the projected wishes of others with actual positions, his prospects will come more clearly into focus. Meanwhile, he's already made the race more interesting. Howard Dean no longer has the maverick slot all to himself; Clark will keep him honest by providing a haven for the disaffected undecided. He's also brought new diversity and buzz to the field as a whole, and that can only be good for the party.