FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Former Gen. Wesley Clark, in his first full day as a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, blasted President Bush for a "dogmatic" foreign policy and for putting "strong-arm tactics" on Congress to rush approval for the war in Iraq.
Saying the Bush White House used its executive authority "in ways that cut off debate," Clark said he would likely have voted to authorize the war because "the simple truth is that when the president of the United States lays the power of office" on the line, "the balance of judgment probably goes to the president."
"I was against the war," Clark said. "In retrospect, we should never have gone in there. We could have waited. We could have brought the allies in."
Asked whether he would support the president's $87-billion request for operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, Clark said he would first want to see an accounting of the administration's projected costs and its exit strategy.
He faulted the administration for "arrogance" in slighting Congress and many of the nation's traditional allies. But he added, "Now that we're there, I want the mission to succeed."
In a 75-minute interview en route from his home in Little Rock, Ark., to his first campaign stop in Florida, Clark told reporters he made the decision to run Monday after conferring with his wife, Gertrude. He said a respected friend from the West Coast helped seal the decision, calling to tell him, "You must run."
Clark said he had a few conversations with former President Clinton and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), saying they were "encouraging." While some political activists have been promoting a Hillary Clinton and Clark ticket, the retired general said, "The right person to be the commander in chief is the right person to be commander in chief." Asked if he thought the Clintons would endorse him, Clark said he had not thought about it.
Clark, whose first stop was a kosher-style delicatessen in Hollywood, Fla., said he hopes to attend next week's Democratic debate in New York. He confessed that he has watched none of the Democratic debates nor read a newspaper this week.
At the Deli-Den Restaurant, Clark navigated through a crowd of well-wishers and tables topped with sauerkraut and pickles. Some people bounded through the aisles to shake his hand, pledge their volunteer help and urge him to oust Bush. Several in the audience handed checks to campaign staffers.
