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Once there was a man, a hero by most concerns, who came to the conclusion that his country was headed in the wrong direction. The man looked long and hard at his life: he had a reputation, a comfortable retirement - finally - after 34 years in poorly paid public service, and a wonderful and happy family. But there we were - tens of thousands of us - pleading with him to mimic Cincinnatus, turn to Racilia, leave the fields unsewn, and take on the daunting prospect of righting the terrible wrongs inflicted on his great nation.
He knew that were he to take on this effort it would be nigh-Sisyphusian - an outsider, a political neophyte, running against political machines years in the making. He would face character assassination, intense media scrutiny, and a terrible barrage of lies and mischaracterizations. They would try to tear him down - to make him small - for to his varied opponents there were tremendous stakes.
He volunteered.
We rallied to his side. In houses and meeting halls, in restaurants and chatrooms, hundreds of thousands of volunteers have vowed to do whatever it takes to change this country - and put this great man in the White House.
Now, after so many months, the game is finally afoot. Many of us have seen General Clark speak. We have come to understand that the man's candidacy is not about our movement, or the ego of a politician, or the desire to be part of a victorious effort - rather, it is quite simply a matter of the right thing to do. Wes Clark was one of those people we always complained we never had the opportunity to vote for - a great man selflessly sacrificing for the greater good. This is a man who, unlike any man in our memory, deserves to be the leader of the free world. This is a man who would come to power not for the purpose of self-aggrandizement, but rather, reluctantly and out of the deep personal obligations of Duty, Honor, and Country.
There are other candidates to be sure - with varying degrees of capability. Most of them have the capacity to win the nomination. Some of those have the capacity to beat the embarrassment that currently soils our government's highest office. As our nation continues to face dire circumstances at home and abroad, the vast majority feel anyone attempting to unseat the man must have foreign policy and national defense experience. We know there is one man, above all others, who is truly worthy of the job.
Today is the day we begin to take our country back.
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