General Clark is an Armor Officer who has commanded at every level from Company to Division. Among his military decorations are the Defense Distinguished Service Medal (three awards), Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star, Legion of Merit (four awards), Bronze Star Medal (two awards), Purple Heart, Meritorious Service Medal (two awards), and the Army Commendation Medal (two awards). This would be our first chance at getting the new batch of Democratic presidential hopefuls and it happened to land on a school day. After School, both of us were on our way to the Wes Clark rally in hopes of landing his signature. We kind of had an idea of what it would be like because we did attend some rally's for past presidential elections.
When we arrived, we were immediately attacked with Wes Clark supporters trying to get us to sign up to support the General. Well, we're nice guys, so we took the time to fill out some information and sign autographs (ha ha). We found a cozy spot in the back of the room, but noticed an area where we believed that Mr. Clark was going to enter. Then we decided to walk over to the door and hope that it was a good decision to move here.
Both of us were fine there for about thirty minutes until some of Wes Clark's hooligans told us we had to move. This forced us back into our old spot and sent us a signal that we were being moved because that was indeed Wes Clarks entrance. The entrance was now on the other side of the room, but we were satisfied because we were in the front and we expected Gen. Clark to shake hands to those in the front, near the stage. Let's just say that was not the only upset of the day.
As time slowly passed by there seemed to be no sign that Wes was coming at all. Finally someone made an announcement that General Clark was late and had just arrived at the airport. We got this notice after waiting nearly two hours from the time he was suppose to be there. We enjoyed ourselves with some free drinks and Clark bars to pass the time. If that wasn't enough, to buy more time, they began to play a little Wes Clark biography/ propaganda type of video. It was pretty interesting to learn more about this mans life, but this guy next to us wasn't really happy and made sure Earl knew it.
He would mutter something rude into Earl's ear every few minutes. The man was an interesting fellow and was there only to shake Wes Clark's hand. He told us that he collects handshakes from politicians or something like that. We always like to tell you about the people we come across and he was just one of those interesting chaps. Tick tock, tick tock, said the clock and finally we found Mr. Clark making his way to the stage. He looked pretty exhausted. That might be because he had already visited more then two other states before he got to us. He hit the stage and started to give his speech. He seemed like a pretty nice guy and he really got the crowd going at times, but what would his autograph habits be like?
Well, when his speech was over, the crowd just started to migrate towards the general, but most of the crowd found it difficult because of the barriers. Of course we already had snuck over to the stage and were right up front the entire time just ready to ask the question. We soon realized that it was getting more difficult to ask for that autograph or a handshake in the other mans case. As he made his way through the crowd, we noticed that his people were collecting things from the crowd to get autographed. One guard for Wes took Earl's index card to get signed, but Earl didn't know if he could trust this guy so he looked for a different guard. Earl knew that Sterling hadn't found a guard yet so he gave three index cards to the security to get signed for both of us.
Right as Earl turned around he saw Sterling doing the same, so now Earl had 4 index cards hopefully waiting for a signature. Now that the autograph was hopefully taken care of we tried to get a picture with the General. Both of us surfed the crowd of supporters and managed to position ourselves in a fantastic spot to meet Wes. Earl flagged him down and got a great shot with the man, but Sterling had a more difficult time. Every time Earl snapped a picture General Clark wasn't looking at the camera. Before we could take another one he continued his way down the line.
After he made his way through the mob of people, he ducked away into a small room to sign all the items that we handed to him. After he did so, a Wes Clark representative walked out and placed all the items onto a table. Everything was pretty much up for grabs at this point. Well, both of us got our index cards that got signed before they were swiped. We soon found out that someone else took a very expensive book that didn't belong to them.
Sterling knows very well what it's like to get an item stolen because the same thing happened to him when we were trying for Vice President Al Gore's autograph about three years earlier. Clark emerged from the room and went over to some press for some interviews. Both of us waited for him to finish so that we could get a picture and he promised to come over to us when Sterling asked for a picture.
After another ten-minute wait, we were finally happy with the results because he did indeed stop for a few more photo ops and Sterling got a good photo this time around. Earl on the other hand had a difficult time this time around. Every time either Earl would look at the camera and Clark would look away and vice versa. So we did get some pretty interesting photos. We were both satisfied and went back to school.
What a day this was going to be considering the autograph possiblities of this day. It was the day before the election and entertainers and politicians alike were out in full force to ensure that Senator John Kerry beat President George W. Bush in this election. I had just been able to meet actor Sean Penn and had a good experience there, so my eyes were now fixed on meeting Leonardo DiCaprio. Since that was later in the day what better way to pass the time than trying to meet General Wesley Clark again.
On the last meeting I managed to get plenty of autographs, but I figured I could try and get a better photo-op with him. He was scheduled to speak at the John Kerry headquarters which was great becuase I needed to scope out the place for Leonardo's event later that night. As I was pacing outside the front doors of the headquarters I spotted Wesley Clark and his posse (ha ha) trying to make their way across the street. It was funny because everyone there was waiting for him and didn't even notice this. Wes and the gang went into a side door and I knew the speech was just about to get under way.
Sure enough, a few minutes later Wes Clark to the stage (or in this case a back of a truck) and gave supporters an earful of reaons to vote for Senator John Kerry. When I heard his campaign speech back in January I wasn't that impressed, but this speech changed my mind about him somewhat. He was a lot more interesting this time around and to break up all the political jargon he gave a few witty one liners, which I didn't expect from him.
After the speech he was mobbed for autograph requests from all sides and I had many chances to get one, but didn't feel the need to. Instead I just shook his hand and he continued on his way. He was still taking care of the crowd when I decided to flee the mob and seek some fresh air. Suddenly I looked up and saw Wes coming my way and wasn't surrounded by autograph seekers. I took this oppurtunity to get a picture with him and he was a great guy about it. I'm glad I decided to get it, because it turned out a lot better than the last two I got with him. Now it was time to wait for the big autograph of the year: Leonardo DiCaprio.