Wes Clark Dismissed by Obama Campaign

Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander and 2004 Democratic presidential candidate Wesley Clark, a Hillary Clinton primary supporter and Veep pick favorite has been told by the Obama campaign that his services were not needed during next week's Democratic party convention.

Clark's son, Wesley Clark, Jr. relayed this information in a diary comment on Daily Kos:

For a long time but we have a very active business that he needs to travel a lot for. He wasn't invited to speak at the convention. I'm sure somebody in his office called the campaign and asked if he was going to be invited to speak because he needs to book meetings for that week if he isn't in Denver. Apparently the answer that came back was no.

It's not a fake out or some secret plan, he isn't going to be VP or probably anything else in an Obama administration, assuming he's elected.

What he is going to do is go out and campaign for Obama and plenty of Democrats in house and senate races this Fall.

I know some you think you can change this by launching VP diaries a couple times a day in hopes that Obama will be swayed by the "netroots." Dude, when has that ever worked with this campaign?

Clark had been considered by some to be a good choice for Obama's VP due to his outspoken support of progressive issues and foreign policy and military experience. There had been some speculation the theme of the convention's third night "Securing America" was a code that Clark would be the Veep choice. "Securing America" is the name of Clark's PAC.

Time Magazine's Swampland has had a running list of potention Dem veep choices striking out those who were due to speak at the convention which helped fuel some spectulation:

Sebelius (speaking)
Clinton (speaking)
Warner (keynote speaker)
Bayh (speaking -- see jump)
Kaine
Biden (speaking -- see jump)
Dodd
Richardson (speaking -- see jump)
Clark
Bloomberg
Reed
Strickland (speaking, took himself out)
Webb (took himself out)
Rendell (speaking*, took himself out, thanks ivb for the link)
John Edwards (took himself out)
Podesta (hosting a brunch)
Napolitano (speaking* and hosting a women governor's event)
Chet Edwards
MacCaskill (speaking)
John Kerry
Nunn

I'll note that I have been a Wes Clark fan since 2004 and personally believe he would have brought a lot to the table. I'm pretty disappointed if this is the case. Out of the potential short-listers not speaking at the convention the only one that seems even viable is Kaine and I think that would be a major mistake. The ONLY reason for picking Kaine would be to help deliver Virginia. I think the idea of delivering states for your candidate is outmoded and risky. Kaine brings next to nothing to the table.

I suppose at this point I can keep hope alive for Clark by assuming this is all a cute smokescreen. Obama needs to pick who's good for him - all personal wishes aside. I'm just not seeing anyone left on this list that adds much to the ticket.

I still anxiously await my text message.