Clark To Drop Out Of Race

An Internet campaign helped draw retired Army general Wesley Clark away from business interests in Little Rock and into the presidential race. Today, aides say Clark will exit the race the old-fashioned way -- with a speech in his hometown. Clark finished third in the Tennessee and Virginia Democratic primaries yesterday. The former NATO commander retired from the Army after leading forces in Kosovo in 1999, returning to his home in Little Rock. A grass-roots movement on the Internet evolved into the "Draft Clark" effort that led Clark into the race. After announcing his campaign, the four-star general topped many polls, but he couldn`t turn that recognition into votes in key primary states. ------ A late entrant, the 59-year-old Clark skipped the Iowa caucuses, saying he couldn`t expect to do well because other Democratic candidates had months to build a network among the farm state`s delegates. He finished in a virtual dead-heat for third place in New Hampshire on January 27th -- behind Massachusetts Senator John Kerry and former Vermont Governor Howard Dean. A narrow victory over North Carolina Senator John Edwards in Oklahoma on February third was Clark`s only primary victory. Clark needed a victory last night in Tennessee, but finished third. He was a more distant third in Virginia. ------ Clark was born at Chicago but moved with his mother to Arkansas after his father died. He attended Hall High School at Little Rock before attending West Point, where he finished first in his class. He also is a Rhodes scholar and served in the Army 34 years -- retiring after serving as supreme commander of NATO and directing the organization`s bombing campaign in Kosovo. After leaving the Army, he was a managing director for Stephens Incorporated, a Little Rock brokerage firm. He was a television commentator for CNN in 2002. Clark acknowledged voting for past Republican presidents but said he was a true Democrat -- though in debates against other Democratic challengers he was often challenged to prove himself.