The economic crisis took center stage in a speech made Saturday by retired Gen. Wesley Clark, who was a major contender for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. Clark spoke at a rally for local Democratic congressional candidate Dan Maffei.

Clark criticized the country’s current administration for the crisis.

‘People have been warning for the last two to three years that we were over-dependent on debt,’ he said. ‘This is not a surprise. But the administration has been slow to grasp the challenges it faces.’

About 60 people filled the front room of Maffei’s campaign headquarters at 628 S. Main St. in North Syracuse. Among them was Zach Zagger, a member of the Syracuse University College Democrats and staff writer for The Daily Orange.

‘He was talking about the homeowners and the people who are buying homes. More needs to be done for them in this financial crisis,’ said Zagger, a senior history, political science and newspaper journalism major and the coordinating campaign director for Citrus PAC. ‘We need to save the institutions because we need those institutions just to run the economy. But who’s really hurting here are the average people that are just buying the homes, that are working, and they need help too.’

Maffei introduced Clark around 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, about a half hour later than planned. Maffei said Clark was awarded the Silver Star after he was hit with four bullets in the Vietnam War as a commander. Clark also was the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe in the Kosovo War.

In his speech, Clark called the current chaos on Wall Street the fourth major crisis in the past eight years under President George W. Bush. The other three crises, that he said had been mismanaged, were Sept. 11, the War on Terror and Hurricane Katrina. Clark said there had been ‘plenty of warning’ about Sept. 11.

In solving the economic crisis, Clark also said strength at the local level is as important, if not more important than having strong national leadership.

‘One of the things I learned in the Army in my 38 years in uniform is that you can do all you want at the top of the chain of command,’ Clark said. ‘It’s great to have well educated generals and colonels to give fancy briefings and draw lines on a map. But the battles are won at the bottom, by the individual soldier.’

Leslie Irvine was another SU student at the rally, who started interning for the Maffei campaign on Friday.

‘I was incredibly impressed, really impressed with Gen. Clark,’ said Irvine, a senior policy studies and public relations major. ‘He’s a great advocate for Dan.’

Irvine said she followed Maffei’s unsuccessful bid for Congress in 2006, when Clark also came to the Syracuse area to endorse Maffei. She now does press work and research for his campaign.

Zagger echoed Irvine’s sentiments.

‘I thought Gen. Clark’s message really spoke to a lot of people, especially a lot of the veterans that were here,’ he said. ‘His service and his dedication to his country is unparalleled, and the fact that he’s here in Syracuse, in Central New York, supporting Dan Maffei, speaks a lot to what Dan Maffei stands for and that he’s the right candidate for Syracuse.’

Syracuse native Maffei’s major platform is economic change in the Syracuse area, including middle class relief through healthcare reform and new jobs, according to his campaign Web site, which also lists energy independence and ending the Iraq War as priorities.

‘We’re not only going to change Central New York, we’re going to change this region,’ Maffei said. ‘And we’re not only going to change this region, we’re going to change this country.’

Before ending his speech, Clark emphasized the importance of local strength.

‘Look, we need new ideas and new leadership in Washington,’ Clark said. ‘If you believe in this country, you understand the strength of America. It’s not in Washington; it’s out here, in Syracuse. It’s in Buffalo. It’s in New York City. It’s across America with ordinary men and women.’

rsbalton@syr.edu

Published on September 28, 2008 at 12:00 pm