Ex-General, Michigan Senator Back Clinton

Retired Army Gen. Wesley K. Clark endorsed fellow Arkansan Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) in her presidential bid, one of two declarations of support she received yesterday. The other came from Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.)

Neither endorsement was a surprise. Clark, the four-star general who ran NATO's military operations in Kosovo during Bill Clinton's administration, has known the Clintons since their Arkansas days, while Stabenow and Hillary Clinton have long been good friends and entered the Senate together in 2000, two of three women elected that year.

"The world has reached a critical point, and we need a leader in the White House with the courage, intelligence and humility to navigate through many troubling challenges to our security at home and abroad," Clark said. "I believe Senator Clinton is that leader, and I wholeheartedly endorse her for president of the United States."

Clinton understands the needs of Michigan, Stabenow said, and "has the ability, experience, knowledge and understanding that, from Day One, we need to make changes in Michigan."

-- Anne E. Kornblut