Draft (politics) - Recent Political Draft Movements

Recent Political Draft Movements

The candidacy of General Wesley Clark resulted from a draft. Clark, who had recently retired from the military and taken a job as a CNN military analyst, had no intention of running until multiple "Draft Clark" sites appeared on the web urging Clark to run. Over about a two month period the draft became a nationwide effort due to TV coverage and the use of the internet. In September 2003, Clark said he would make up his mind on whether to accept the draft or not in the near future. Soon after that statement, Clark announced his candidacy in his hometown of Little Rock, Arkansas, citing that he was pulled in by the people to run for the presidency.

There was a draft campaign for former Vice President Al Gore prior to the 2008 election. Al Gore, who had won the Nobel Prize while out of office, repeatedly ruled out running for president in the 2008 election. Gore eventually endorsed Senator Barack Obama after he became the presumptive nominee.

Also worthy of notation are the unsuccessful draft campaigns of Gary Hart (former Colorado Senator) and Steve Jobs (Founder & CEO of Apple Computer), and in 1995 there was a notable attempt to draft retired four-star general (and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) Colin Powell for the Republican presidential nomination in 1996.

Prior to the 2008 election, a group of citizens tried to draft Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for president. The group went so far as to buy television and radio time in Iowa, New Hampshire, North Dakota, and Florida, and even roadside billboards. Though Rice had publicly declined to run, the groundswell of support for this cause continued to gain notoriety in national and international media. The most prominent "Draft Rice" group, called Americans for Rice, claimed more than 4000 active members in the U.S. and abroad, and showed up at major events, organizing local cell groups, and made the preparations to put Rice's name on the ballot in 2008. Another group, The United States Students Committee, or TUSSC, has set their ambitions on gaining support among college and high school students for the same cause. Rice eventually did not run in 2008.

In the fall of 2008, the Washington Times and the Boston Herald reported on a campaign to draft Joe Wurzelbacher to run against Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio's 9th congressional district. The draft campaign began with the website, joewurzelbacher2010, created by Trevor Lair, presently the chairman of the Massachusetts College Republicans. Since the draft campaign began, Wurzelbacher has stated that he is interested in running in the 2010 election for Ohio’s 9th congressional district. Laura Ingraham asked Wurzelbacher, on October 24, 2008, if he would run against Rep. Marcy Kaptur. Wurzelbacher responded that he had considered the run and would be “up for it.”