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September 9, 2003
CONTACTS:
Maya Israel,
Maya@DraftWesleyClark.com
Josh Margulies,
Josh@DraftWesleyClark.com
John Hlinko,
John@DraftWesleyClark.com
General Wesley Clark Meets
with DraftWesleyClark.com Leaders for First Time; Addresses
Clark MeetUp Supporters across the Nation
Clark to Draft: “I’m approaching a decision
and I will have to make a decision by the end of next week.”
(Washington, DC), DraftWesleyClark.com, the campaign to draft
former General Wesley Clark for President, today announced that
its leaders met with General Wesley Clark for the first time on
Sunday night.
“We reached out to General Clark, and were delighted when he
agreed to meet,” said John Hlinko, co-founder of
DraftWesleyClark.com. “It gave us the opportunity to tell him
first hand about the extraordinary support he has for a
Presidential run.”
The meeting took place in Los Angeles, over an extended dinner.
It gave General Clark the opportunity to learn more about the
movement and what it has accomplished thus far. Draft leaders
attending included Hlinko, Josh Margulies, Maya Israel, and Dr.
Chris Kofinis.
GENERAL CLARK ADDRESSES THE “LAST” DRAFT CLARK MEETUP
The DraftWesleyClark.com leaders also met with General Clark in
a follow-up session on Monday afternoon where he prepared a
short video message to the Draft Clark movement. The video was
emailed to regional draft “Platoon Leaders” and aired that
evening across the nation at local Clark “MeetUp” gatherings.
“I want to welcome each and every one of you to the last Draft
Wesley Clark MeetUp,” said General Clark in the address. “You
all are changing the face of America by participation in these
MeetUps. Through this activity we’re bringing citizen
participation into democracy. It’s a tremendous inspiration to
me, and it’s been the encouragement to me to really give serious
consideration to joining this race.”
Draft supporters across the nation were inspired by the address,
shown at some locations on large screens, and others on small
laptops.
“I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your
dedication, for your faith in each other that’s brought all of
you together and to say that we can do great things for
America,” Clark continued. “Each and every one of us working
together, working on behalf of the causes we believe in and
helping to make this country strong and great and good.”
(see http://www.draftwesleyclark.com/meetup_message.htm for
transcript and video)
DRAFT LEADERS: “STRONG OPTIMISM”
”While we understand first-hand from General Clark that he is
still making his decision, my own feeling at this point is one
of strong optimism,” said Maya Israel, media strategist for the
effort.
“One thing we can say for certain is that General Clark is
committed to continuing to serve his country,” said Josh
Margulies, co-founder of the effort.
“In my opinion, meeting General Clark in person confirmed the
results of our poll – he would undoubtedly be a very strong
contender for the Democratic nomination and the presidency,”
said Dr. Chris Kofinis, political analyst and consultant to the
DraftWesleyClark.com campaign.
ABOUT DRAFTWESLEYCLARK.COM
Launched in April, 2003, DraftWesleyClark.com has collected tens
of thousands of letters urging General Clark to run, raised over
$1.3 Million in pledges, and built a network of volunteer
leaders, ready to serve - if General Clark chooses to lead.
DraftWesleyClark.com has already been featured on Good Morning
America, Meet The Press, CBS Evening News, Crossfire, CNN,
MSNBC, and Fox, as well as in the Los Angeles Times, The New
York Times, Wall Street Journal, Esquire and Newsweek.
DraftWesleyClark.com is the largest effort to draft Wesley Clark
for President. It is headquartered in Washington, DC, one block
from the White House. For more information, please see http://www.DraftWesleyClark.com.
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