campaign update

General Wesley Clark's endorsement of John Kerry just a few days after he dropped out of the race is something of a surprise. (It's scheduled for Friday.) Though Clark was polling in the teens for the Wisconsin primary, his endorsement probably won't end up adding much more than would have gone to Kerry anyway, likely to be half or more of those numbers. The endorsement comes as Clark is being mentioned more often as a v.p. candidate, and there's a report going around that Kerry isn't real interested in Edwards. On paper, Clark is a strong v.p. choice, just as he was a strong choice to do well in the presidential primaries, on paper. The problem is that he isn't on paper. Out on the campaign trail, on his good days he was great, and on his bad days he was alarming. The Kerry campaign doesn't need a v.p. who is as likely to be a liability as a help. We hope Kerry comes up with a better choice. (The fact that insiders are mentioning him could be a trial balloon, or just to compliment him and keep him motivated, but isn't a serious consideration.) Our bet is that Clark won't be the v.p. If Kerry thinks Edwards hasn't shown enough strength in the south to warrant being on the ticket, why would he pick Clark, who has shown less? It would have to be that Kerry believes Clark has what it takes to be president should that be necessary, which reportedly is a stronger consideration for Kerry than it is for people who like to speculate and don't actually have the responsibility for the choice.

Howard Dean is now running third in Wisconsin polls, and since those polls have come out he's again changed his public position on what he will do after the primary. First he said he would be out if he lost,then he said he would stay in until the end no matter what, but at least one reporter has him saying he will go home to Vermont and think it over. He's gone negative on Kerry and it's not helping. He's apparently angry over some ads in New Hampshire by a third party that he suspects the Kerry people had something to do with, though they've denied it. Angry enough perhaps to quit the race, and endorse John Edwards.