Wesley Clark’s campaign manager, Donnie Fowler, announced yesterday that he is leaving the campaign, saying that he’s frustrated over the divisions between DC political professionals and grassroots supporters who helped lead the “Draft Clark” movement.
I have a hunch there’s a little more to this. If Fowler, who was Al Gore’s field director in 2000, wanted local activists to play a larger role in the campaign, he was in a position to help make that happen as Clark’s campaign manager. I’ve heard that the resignation had more to do with Clark asking Fowler to accept a lesser role in the campaign than an ideological dispute over campaign direction.
That being said, Fowler’s resignation is probably not as bad as it sounds. As they say in sports, the Clark team has a “deep bench.” That is, a number of experienced pros have signed on to help the campaign. Fowler did a great job getting the campaign started, but he was not irreplaceable.
When Al Sharpton loses his top political aides, there’s a problem with the campaign. When Gen. Clark loses one guy, it’s a speed bump.
This is certainly not the kind of thing that should cause too much consternation with supporters. In fact, staff shake-ups, especially early stages of the campaign, are pretty common.
Earlier this year, for example, John Edwards lost several of his top strategists. The campaign hired new staffers and moved on. John Kerry, meanwhile, lost one of his top campaign officials, Chris Lehane, last month after weeks of internal squabbles. He was quickly replaced.
Perhaps more on point, Howard Dean’s original campaign manager, Rick Ridder, resigned from the campaign in March, just as the campaign was getting underway.
I’m afraid there’s a bit of a double standard. When Clark’s campaign manager resigns, it’s in all of the major papers, and political observers start hinting that the campaign is in “disarray.” When Dean’s campaign manager resigns, the major dailies don’t run a single story and no one says a word.
The point is, Dean shrugged off the early change in campaign managers and worked his way to the front of the pack. There’s no reason Clark can’t do the same thing.