In his half-hour speech, Clark, a former supreme allied commander of NATO and four-star-general, invoked his campaign slogan of "new American patriotism," representing himself as a tough national security advocate who would be the Democratic Party's standard-bearer against a Republican Party that is trying to claim patriotism for itself.
At one point in his speech, Clark grabbed an American flag on a staff nearby and said, "This flag belongs to the American people, and we have every right to this flag, and I'm going to claim it for the American people."
The campaign stop at Sun City's Pinckney Hall was one of many Clark, 58, has made in the Palmetto State, which holds its Democratic primary on Feb. 3. About 150 people attended the $50 dinner, including many past and present members of Beaufort County's political establishment. The proceeds from the dinner, sponsored by the Beaufort County Democratic Party, will help pay for the state Democratic presidential primary and the county party's campaign efforts for all Democratic candidates on the November 2004 ballot.
One of nine candidates currently vying for the Democratic nomination for the 2004 presidential election, Clark entered the presidential race mid-September. A recent poll of 400 likely voters in South Carolina had Clark in fourth place, with 10 percent, trailing North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, the Rev. Al Sharpton and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean.
A third of likely voters were undecided, according to the poll, performed by the Feldman Group of Washington for Greenville Magazine. The results contrast sharply with an earlier poll by the American Research Group, which showed Clark leading the state with 17 percent to Edward's 10 percent.
But Saturday night's speech made no direct reference to the other hopefuls from the Democratic Party, reserving its criticism of the commander-in-chief from the opposing party.
Touting his military background, Clark sharply criticized the Iraq war, calling it an "occupation" without any clear justification.
"It was a bait-and-switch operation. It would have made an American retailer proud," he said. "We didn't get Osama Bin Laden. We didn't get Sadaam Hussein. A $150-billion mess is what we got," he said.
He called the Medicare bill that passed last week "another one of those Trojan horse bills," saying it would destroy Medicare. In practically the same breath, he said that the No Child Left Behind Act would destroy the public school system.
Speaking before Clark, Clyburn, a Democrat from South Carolina's Sixth District, said he stood before the crowd as a former member of AARP, which had endorsed the Medicare bill. He said the bill would make those who could least afford their prescriptions pay more.