Much to the dismay of several hundred local military veterans who showed up to see him, democratic presidential candidate Wesley Clark did not attend an event held in his honor in Albuquerque Sunday.
The veterans did not let that deter their spirit though, as they chanted and waved signs for Gert, Clark's wife, who took his place to rally the troops in what she called "New Mexico's grassroots effort to change the future of the country."
"This country is facing some really big problems," she said. "It's time for someone to stand up and make a plan for our future. My husband is the man for the job."
Clark, a retired four-star General in the Army, is most famous for orchestrating a 19-nation alliance to ouste Slobodan Milosevic, the president of Yugoslavia who was accused of practicing genocide on the neighboring Serbians.
Clark's plan went off without a hitch, and without the loss of a single allied life.
A graduate of West Point, Clark is also the only presidential candidate to be wounded in combat, taking four bullets during the last of his three tours in Vietnam.
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His military loyalty appears to run deep, as he has based his presidential campaign on improving conditions for the nation's servicemen and women.
"It is inconceivable that the young troops who are serving our country have to spend their free time getting food stamps to feed their families," Gert Clark said, noting that one of her husband's highest priorities is improving schools on military bases and ending the pay inequity among the military's ranks.
Luis Vizcaino, Clark's campaign manager in Albuquerque, said the retired general could not attend Sunday's event as he was stuck in New Hampshire.
Vizcaino said Clark wanted to organize Sunday's event to educate the country's veterans on what he called "President Bush's assault on their benefits."
"With the number of conflicts the U.S. has been involved in, the number of wounded veterans in this country has doubled," Vizcaino said, adding that the country's veterans' assistance programs have had their funding cut nearly in half in the past five years.
"If we are going to put these young men and women in harm's way, we need to have the resources to take care of them when they get back."
Clark said her husband's plans include increasing every serviceman and woman's health insurance benefits to mirror those of the Congress members.
According to the Gallup Poll, Clark's attention to detail is paying off. As of Sunday, there was less than a 5 percent difference between Clark and the democratic frontrunner Howard Dean.
Jack Deene, a retired Green Beret and Vietnam veteran who served with Clark, said he is supporting Clark's presidential campaign because he has paid his dues for his country in the form of his blood that was spilled for the American way of life.
"I believe Clark can control the immense power this country has and use it to benefit everyone," Deene said. "At the same time, he has proven that he can use military force when needed."
