Another journalist stumps for Wesley Clark

For all you Wesley Clark fans out there — you know who you are — New Republic writer Franklin Foer had an interesting item in the Washington Post over the weekend on the former general.

Foer notes that the public, for reasons that escape me, continues to trust Republicans on national security and defense issues by wide margins over Dems. Foer believes the “ideal solution” to fix this problem “has landed in the Democrats’ laps: Wesley Clark.”

“Clark’s shot at beating Bush is exponentially better than those of any of the other contenders,” Foer said. “Nobody could possibly take Clark, the former NATO supreme commander, for a McGovernite pacifist — even when he makes his critique of Operation Iraqi Freedom. When the press refers to him, his first name will always be ‘General.’ Without being the least bit exploitative, his ads will feature him with stars across his shoulders.”

Foer also drew an interesting parallel. While many — including me — have compared Clark to Eisenhower, Foer sees Clark’s flirtation with the 2004 race to be analogous to Colin Powell’s considered candidacy in 1996, and suggests Dems shouldn’t repeat the Republicans’ mistake.

“In 1995 Colin Powell toyed with the idea of a second career, in presidential politics,” Foer explained. “It seemed an ideal opportunity for Republicans…. [E]ven if he flamed out, he would have permanently altered perceptions of the party. But when presented with this amazing opportunity, the Republican establishment behaved like, well, an establishment and declined to give Powell substantial enough assurances of support. Twelve months before the election, they sealed their own defeat.”

All Clark has to do now is announce if he wants the job.