Clark DROP-KICKED out of Presidential race.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/02/10/elec04.prez.clark/
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/02/10/elec04.prez.clark/
The one-time NATO supreme commander will travel to Arkansas to make the announcement in his home state, they told CNN.
Earlier Tuesday, Clark made his usual stump speech to supporters in Tennessee, but spoke of America's future -- not his own.
Clark needed a strong showing in both states to help fend off Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina. Both campaigned on their Southern roots to appear more electable than Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts.
Kerry won the Virginia and Tennessee primaries Tuesday, with Edwards finishing second in both. Clark finished a distant third in Virginia and a close third in Tennessee.
Clark campaign spokesman Matt Bennett said the presidential hopeful's decision wasn't made until after his speech. An official announcement will be made Wednesday at 2 p.m. (3 p.m. ET).
He was with his family and staff when he decided. Among the factors that led to his leaving the race was Kerry's momentum and a lack of funding, Bennett said.
A Clark fund-raiser scheduled for Wednesday night in Houston, Texas, was canceled following a week in which campaign staffers gave up their paychecks to free up money for TV ads in Tennessee.
During his speech to supporters, Clark repeated the need for better leadership in the White House but never mentioned himself by name and didn't mention Nevada or Wisconsin, which hold the next two primaries.
"We may have lost this battle today, but we are not going to lose the battle for America's future," Clark said to cheers.
He told supporters that he had called Kerry and Edwards to congratulate them. He called them both "good men" and "good patriots."
Clark has been criticized for coming to the Democratic Party only recently. He has acknowledged voting for Republicans Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan for president, but said he voted for Bill Clinton and Al Gore.
On Tuesday, he presented himself as a proud Democrat.
"Our goal remains the same, to change the direction of our country and bring a higher standard of leadership to the White House," Clark said. "And there is no party more committed to that effort and there is no party more committed to the people than this party, my party, the Democratic Party."
Before entering the race, Clark once praised President Bush and his administration. There were no hints of such feelings Tuesday.
"George W. Bush and the Republicans have had three long years to get our country moving in the right direction," he said. "Instead he set us back."
Clark is a newcomer to politics. He claimed his first election victory of any sort in Oklahoma's February 3 primary. He had never run in an election until New Hampshire's primary January 27.
Clark finished third in that race.
Clark, a Rhodes scholar and West Point graduate, works as an investment banker in Little Rock, Arkansas.
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