Gen. Clark made an unscheduled, encouraging stop at Obama Headquarters in Fort Collins, Colorado yesterday.

Retired Gen. Wesley Clark rallied the troops one more time Saturday, doing his best to inspire about 100 Barack Obama campaign volunteers who gathered at the presidential candidate's Fort Collins headquarters for the final weekend of neighborhood canvassing.

Clark gave a short stump speech for Obama, emphasizing the importance of electing a president capable of reuniting the country after crises such as the war in Iraq, Hurricane Katrina and the recent economic downturn.

"We need new ideas and a new leader," said Clark, who retired as a four-star general after 38 years in the U.S. Army. "And Obama says we can win this election by bringing people together."

Comparing some voters to baseball fans who wait until the World Series to get excited about the sport, Clark said the final weekend before the election was a crucial time to reach undecided voters.

-snip

One canvasser, Fort Collins resident Judy Barksdale, 55, said she didn't even know Clark was speaking until she showed up. She also said it's not too late to influence some undecided voters.

"If people haven't made up their mind by now, maybe they will be influenced by someone coming up and asking them some questions," Barksdale said.

Like Barksdale, David Shurna and Gina Curler, both Obama supporters, were shocked to find out Clark was in Fort Collins. Clark knocked on the door of their home west of Old Town as their infant daughter, Clara, was finishing her breakfast.

"It was certainly unexpected, and it's great to see him out here in Fort Collins," Shurna said. "When people with experience like Wesley Clark and Colin Powell are supporting Obama, it makes us fell like we made the right choice."

Today he will join Obama supporters in canvassing in Roswell, New Mexico.