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WASHINGTON (AP) – If eBay is any accurate gauge of worth, then Wesley Clark has expensive tastes.

The presidential candidate’s argyle sweater, panned by commentators for its homeliness after he wore it to a New Hampshire campaign event, went up on the online auction site Saturday with a starting bid of $50. By 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Clark’s threads were worth more than $12,000.

The campaign donated the sweater to Liberty House, a transitional shelter for homeless veterans in Manchester, N.H., which is auctioning it to raise money.

Described as “gray in color, with an attractive argyle pattern in tan, dark green and dark red,” the sweater earned Clark some raised eyebrows from campaign observers who objected to the former general’s fashion sense.

But eBay’s description has Clark claiming that what the sweater lacked in style, it made up for in warmth on New Hampshire’s frigid campaign trail.



Seabiscuit, the undersized racehorse whose Depression-era victories lifted the nation’s spirits, caught the imagination of those running in another sort of horse race.

An AP survey of the Democratic presidential hopefuls’ favorite movies of the past year found “Seabiscuit” getting top honors from both Rep. Dennis Kucinich and ex-candidate Rep. Dick Gephardt, who quit the race this week.

Clark opted for fantasy, singling out the epic good-vs.-evil trilogy “The Lord of the Rings.” Sen. John Kerry went with “Old School,” a comedy about three disenchanted men trying to recapture their college days.

Al Sharpton liked “Antwone Fisher,” a drama based on the true story of a troubled sailor who finds new hope after psychiatric treatment helps uncover a painful past. Sen. Joe Lieberman also went for a drama, “Mystic River,” a brooding story of murder and revenge.

Two other candidates will have to wait to cast their votes. Howard Dean and Sen. John Edwards say they’ve been so busy campaigning they haven’t seen a movie in the past year.



The president of the National Congress of American Indians pledged Wednesday to mobilize 1 million Indian voters in eight states this fall.

“These are key states, these are key races,” Tex Hall said in his second annual “State of Indian Nations” address in Washington.

He said the Indian turnout in Arizona, South Dakota, New Mexico, Alaska, Minnesota, Michigan, Oklahoma and California will be “critical to our success in reclaiming other important rights – the right to adequate health care, quality education, the right to fully govern our lands, to protect our citizenry and the right to see our nation’s commitments to tribes fulfilled.”



BY THE NUMBERS:

10 – Automobiles in the United States in 1896, when William Jennings Bryan, accompanied by his wife, became the first presidential candidate to ride in one. (Source: “Facts About the Presidents”)



PRIMARY DAY FORECAST FOR CONCORD, N.H.:

Mostly cloudy with a chance of freezing rain, snow or sleet. Highs in the mid 20s; lows around 13 degrees Fahrenheit. (National Weather Service)



VOTER’S VOICES:

“I think he’s a wonderful representative of the Carolinas. I think he would be a good choice, but I’m going to vote for Bush.” – Greenville, S.C., resident Pam Englert, 52, who said she is Republican who respects Edwards for his intelligence and honesty.



THIS DATE FOUR YEARS AGO:

Bill Bradley said his recent episodes of irregular heartbeats were irrelevant to his Democratic presidential campaign. Bradley, who has suffered from the ailment since 1998, said the heartbeats were possibly caused by drinking too much caffeine in cream sodas.

In a new television ad, John McCain said it was “bound to happen” that rival George W. Bush would break a promise to not run negative ads during the campaign. Bush shot back, saying it was McCain, not he, who was being negative in campaign ads.



WEDNESDAY’S ROUNDUP:

Kerry appeared to have successfully translated his Iowa victory into support in New Hampshire, where he was shown inching to a statistical tie with Dean in the latest tracking polls. Clark was running third.

Six days before the primary, candidates campaigned in every corner of the Granite State. Speaking in Nashua, Kerry said he favors importing cheaper prescription drugs from Canada. In Manchester, Dean said he wants to put additional limits on campaign contributions and increase taxpayers’ share of paying for presidential campaigns. Meeting with fellow veterans in Portsmouth, Clark continued to trumpet his resume, saying he represented the Democratic field’s best mix of military, foreign policy and administrative skills.

Edwards left New Hampshire – where remains in single digits in the polls – to campaign in South Carolina. That state holds the South’s first primary on Feb. 3 and Edwards is counting on winning it.

The day after his State of the Union address, President Bush began an overnight trip to Ohio, Arizona and New Mexico – three states important to his re-election strategy – to highlight the economy and the war on terrorism.



THURSDAY’S TRAIL:

Democrats campaign in New Hampshire and meet at St. Anselm’s College in New Hampshire for a nationally televised, two-hour debate.



Associated Press writers Jack Sullivan, Elizabeth Wolfe and Calvin Woodward contributed to this report.

AP-ES-01-21-04 1837EST


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