Wesley Clark thrills crowds at Harbor Docks (photos)

The first sign something was up at Harbor Docks was the westbound cars queuing up to turn at the median cut on U.S. 98.

Some of them, instead of heading into the restaurant’s crowded parking lot Tuesday morning, made a U-turn and headed off to find parking nearby. But despite the obstacles, about 200 people showed up at the restaurant to attend Gen. Wesley Clark’s campaign stop for Barack Obama.

“I attend his church in Little Rock,” Arkansas transplant Peggy Goodspeed told The Log. “In a swimsuit, he looks just like a teenager — he swims every day.”

The rally drew a mix of white and black, old and young, veterans and civilians, women in business pantsuits, men in blazers and retirees in sweatshirts and sandals. Some sported Veterans for Obama buttons, while a few wore a Draft Wesley Clark shirt or button from 2004.

“I’m here to see Wes Clark,” David Smith, in one of the Clark shirts, said. “And because of the fact I’m supporting Obama.”

“It’s wonderful,” Shirley Samuel, a black woman in the audience, said of Obama’s candidacy. “It’s a blessing.”

Before and during breakfast, the crowd sipped coffee, nibbled food, discussed campaign tactics and the merits of bumper stickers and enjoyed the pleasure of being among people on the same political side.

“It’s embarrassing sitting on the beach exchanging views,” Goodspeed said. “I sit thinking ‘How can you think like that?’”

One man told Clark that this would be the first year he’d voted for a Democrat since Harry Truman in 1948.

Camille Morgan, the mother of Harbor Docks owner Charles Morgan, said the crowd that morning was a good start to changing local politics: “All those people who are afraid to say they’re for Obama, now they’ll look around and see all these other people (support Obama).”

Charles Morgan and Clark made the same point repeatedly: Talk about your politics, flaunt your political signs and bumper stickers and neighbors and coworkers will become more willing to show they agree.

“I don’t think Okaloosa is the reddest county in Florida any more,” Justin Ford, an Iraq and Kosovo veteran working with the local Obama campaign told the crowd, generating applause in response.

Clark drew plenty of applause, whether he was discussing veterans’ problems, questioning Sarah Palin’s qualifications or criticizing

Bush’s health insurance proposals and his military decisions . The only disagreement from the audience was when Clark said how much he respected John McCain’s war record: “We all like John McCain.”

“No we don’t!” someone yelled back.

Clark said respecting McCain didn’t mean supporting his candidacy: “He’s just not my top pick for president — and in this race, you’re either number one or number bottom.”