Presidential hopeful Gen. Wesley Clark has his eyes set on Dartmouth, as he is slated to spend an entire day in the Hanover area.
Clark is coming to campus at a time when many Democratic nomination candidates are concentrating their efforts in Iowa for the Jan. 19 caucus. However, Clark made the decision in October to forgo active campaigning in Iowa in order to focus on New Hampshire.
As of recently, it appears that his campaign tactic has paid off.
Clark now stands in second place in an American Research Group poll of likely New Hampshire voters, six points ahead of Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry and 17 points behind front-runner Howard Dean.
The four-star general starts his day in Hanover with a pancake breakfast at Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity.
The event -- sponsored by the Young Democrats, Sig Ep and Kappa Delta Epsilon sorority -- is scheduled to take place at 8:30 a.m.
Clark then visits Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, where he will address an audience on health policy at 11:30 a.m. Clark's Manchester office indicated that this event is primarily designed as a forum for Clark to delineate his health policy.
The candidate will then head to Lebanon, where he will tour and speak at Tally Systems, a high-tech firm, at 2:30 p.m. Clark is expected to explain how high-tech employees will benefit from his recently-unveiled tax plan, decried by his opponents as being too tough on middle-class Americans.
At 6 p.m., Clark makes his final appearance of the day, attending a College-sponsored event at the Top of the Hop.
Clark is forbidden from using the Hopkins Center meeting as a pulpit to promote his candidacy because of Dartmouth's nature as a non-profit organization, said Rockefeller Center program assistant Jill Savage.
"He can't tell people to vote for him, though he can offer his knowledge and discuss issues in general," Savage said.
Clark student supporters Alexandra Rogers '05 and Brian Martin '06 said they were hopeful that Clark's visit to campus will make an impression on College voters.
Rogers said that she expects the day's events to feed off the energy of Clark's recent campaign resurgence.
Martin said that the visit will also sway undecided primary voters to Clark.
"I think that they are going to recognize his commitment to responsible leadership," Martin said.
Both said that they think today's events will leave students feeling that the New Hampshire primary victory is not yet a lock for Democratic frontrunner Howard Dean, as many have speculated.
"The momentum that [Clark's] campaign has right now is very encouraging," Rogers said. "I think we are going to see some incredible things."
