A Clarksters Meetup

Nine Democrats have been running for months, raising money and building support. None of them is good enough for those who would draft Clark. It's nothing personal; most Clarksters just think the declared candidates can't win in a campaign that will turn on national security. But how about that four-star general? Impeccable bona fides on that, they say. Led the NATO forces trying to put the Balkans back together, believes in America working with its allies, shot four times in Vietnam, Bronze Star, Purple Heart.

There is no speech touting Clark's position on the issues, to the disappointment of a pair of Howard Dean supporters, who wonder how to distinguish him from Clark. "We're trying to figure out what he stands for," Rick Parker says as his wife nods. Told that there are no issues, because there is no candidate, they look bewildered.

Maybe Clark will get in. Maybe he won't. "Please declare already," Hlinko says Monday, flecks of Clark bar on his lip. "I gotta get my life back."