Meeting the Press

I told you yesterday that Clark is in second place in New Hampshire, but I waited until today to tell you about the recent media re-discovery of Clark, now that his campaign is hitting its stride.

Slate's Chris Suellentrop wrote two articles about Clark, one on his tag-along tale of Clark's rhetoric and support in New Hampshire: "As a candidate, Clark has improved his skills dramatically since I watched him speak in September. He's smoother, more coherent, and more concise. He's also willing to give voters at least mildly unpopular answers."

The second is on Dean's dirty tricks flyer that attacks Clark, and the General's glee that he is being attacked.

"On one side, the flyer reads "WESLEY CLARK: PRO-WAR," followed by a list of the general's much-discussed statements in support of the congressional Iraq war resolution. It's the stuff that gave Clark grief when he entered the race in the fall: He advised Rep. Katrina Swett in October 2002 to vote for the resolution, and he told reporters this past September that "on balance, I probably would have voted for it." On the other side, the flyer reads "WESLEY CLARK: REAL DEMOCRAT?" followed by Clark's much-discussed statements in praise of President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, and the Bush Cabinet, plus evidence of his pro-Republican voting record in presidential elections (until 1992)."

Dr. Hypocrisy strikes again. Wasn't it Dean who whined, "Terry, make them stop picking on me!" and said "We Democrats shouldn't attack each other." When he is being attacked? The good doctor is also being muzzled by his staff to ensure that he won't say any more stupid stuff and make the gap between him and Clark narrow nationally and in New Hampshire.

In response to the flyer, Clark told the Times:

"Asked about his voting history by a voter at the forum, General Clark said, 'I never was a Republican.'

He added that many in the military did not belong to a political party but chose candidates who were 'strong on national defense.' [like most Reagan Democrats]

'After the Vietnam War, the Democratic Party and some of the presidential candidates seemed to be wobbling all over the map on being strong for America,' General Clark said. 'So I voted for people who would take care of the country.'

General Clark, who repeatedly refers to himself as 'a leader, not a politician,' said of the critical flier, 'I guess that's what professional politicians do.'"

Dean can't call Clark a "Washington Democrat" this is an outsider vs. outsider race. Clark can even claim he is more of an outsider, since he has never run for an office, unlike Dean's dozen years in the Governor's chair of puny Vermont.

Tried to get a job from this last profiler, but he didn't hire me, and I am not upset, because he does a better job articulating why I like Gen. Clark:

"While many of the Democratic presidential candidates might agree with the tenor of Clark's broad [foreign] policy guidelines, it's not clear that they would be willing to back up the soft side of U.S. power with its harder edge. With Clark, on the other hand, there is little doubt. It was Clark, after all, who during the Bosnian war demanded--to the point of hectoring a furious superior officer--that bombing continue until Milosevic withdrew from Sarajevo. And it was Clark, together with a handful of Clinton officials, who pushed for military intervention in Kosovo when the Pentagon brass and many NATO leaders preferred to do nothing. Clark, unlike his rivals, has actually led wars, not just voted for them."