Arkansas, Sept 17: Retired Gen. Wesley Clark enters a wide-open presidential race with no experience in elective office and no history on domestic policy. But he offers democrats one thing they crave: new hope of undercutting President George W. Bush's wartime popularity. "The most important issue in America today is our security at home and abroad. And that's what Americans seek," Clark said as he prepared to announce his candidacy at a boys and girls club here today. "I'm the best among any of the prospective candidates in terms of being able to work for America's security."

Clark, 58, will become the 10th candidate in a democratic race that is up for grabs. Former Vermont Gov. Howard dean is the front-runner, but a solid majority of voters remain undecided and some party leaders believe the current field has under-performed. With polls showing bush vulnerable because of a weak economy and violence in Iraq, Clark's late entry offers Democrats a four-star answer to Bush's potential advantage on national security. Clark's resume is made to order -- a Rhodes scholar, first in his 1966 class at West Point, White House fellow and head of the U.S. Southern Command and Nato commander during the 1999 campaign in Kosovo. But the retired general has never held political office, not even a student council election to his credit, and he has never been pressed to produce a domestic agenda. Bureau Report