This is a short little opinion piece on Clark.....

[Bread and Circus]

Disclaimer:

I am pro-Clark
I also like Kerry, Edwards, Kucinich, Sharpton, Braun, Graham, and Gep
Of the top candidates, I like Clark, Edwards, Gep, Kerry
I think Dean is not good for the party or the country

---

here's the link

http://www.memphisflyer.com/onthefly/onthefly_new.asp?ID=2581

It's stated in an even handed manner.
It even says to stick with Kerry or Dean if you
are already involved in their campaigns.
It makes a million times more sense than 90% of what
I have seen on DU lately.

It's a quick read so enjoy yourself.

By the way Clark-supporters, people are
invading Clark's official Blog to "go negative" so go there and
show Wes your support.

Thanks.

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Bread and Circus]

2. Unrelated post

Your post is not related to this thread.

You should post on Judicial Watch thread.
Thank you for correcting this.

[acerbic]

12. It was a comment on people who post wingnut attack pieces of shit

...and then decry the declining content on DU. The truth is being censored! :silly: Maybe I should start a "Is DU for Dean haters only?" thread... :eyes:

[Meshuga]

3. Clark is a Democrat! Maybe the most electable...

" At last week’s debate, Clark addressed the issue of his “Democratic” credentials to my satisfaction when he said, “I am pro-choice. I am pro-affirmative action. I am pro-environment, pro-health. I believe the United States should engage with allies. We should be a good player in the international community. And we should use force only as a last resort.” For me, that’s as solid an anti-Bush platform as I’ve yet heard."

I feel the same way. People (especially Dean supporters) are trying to paint an ugly picture of Clark because they know he is appealing and that he is electable. The more appealing Clark looks and the more electable he looks the closer to the nomination he will get. That scares the Dean supporters who in the past two weeks are repeating the "Clark is a Republican" mantra non-stop!

That's too bad that the Dean supporters are doing this because they are alienating others and making other people dislike Dean who could easily win the nomination and will need everybody's support.

So far what I've heard of Clark looking forward is good and I am happy that he is getting so much attention by the media. Even though I am a Kerry supporter... :-)

May the more electable Democrat win! We all want Bush out, don't we?

[Padraig18]

8. On behalf of the Dean supporters here

I would like to point out that MOST of us Dean supporters are OK with his entry into the race. Sure, we have loudmouths and malcontents who are so personally invested in Howard's candidacy that they have lost anything resembling 'perspective' about ANY candidate who's NOT Howard, but that isn't a majority of us, and I would seriously doubt if it's even a large minority.

I just thought this statement called for some rebuttal, so please don't take this in other than the spirit in which it is offered. I, for one, welcome ANY candidate who is willing to help our party unseat *, and the General has answered the questions regarding his 'Democratic credentials' to my satisfaction.

Cheers! :toast:

*Edited for typos.

[Bread and Circus]

9. That is really upstanding of you Padraig....

I am really impressed with your words here.
In some ways, I regret having "gone negative" on Dean lately.
However, him calling Clark a Republican really makes
me mad.

Again, your statement here is really a model for civility
and I will aspire to that as soon as I get an apology
from Dean or if a majority of Dean people here call Dean out
on the carpet regarding Dean making those statements.

Clark was not a Republican, he was non-partisan until
he became a Democrat. These are Clark's words and I can't
believe Dean is not big enough to accept them. Instead
he seems to want to flame tin-foil hat theories that Clark
is a wolf-in-sheep's-clothing.

Thanks, Padraig, I respect your tasteful support of Dean.

[Bread and Circus]

10. Clark Statement on his 2001 comments

"I generally praised them for being good Republicans in front of a
Republican audience. I hadn't voted for them - I voted for Al Gore -
but I wanted them to succeed for the good of America," he said, "but
a lot's changed since May 2001."

-- Wesley Clark 9/29/2003

[w4rma]

4. You say Clark is most electable because he is a former army general

I say Dean is most electable because he's a former 5 1/2 term governor, former lt. governor, former state senator and medical doctor with the best, most well oiled political organization the Democratic Party has seen since FDR, if ever.

[Meshuga]

5. No, Dean may be the favorite to get the nomination...

but I fear he is not good enough in a battle against Bush. I don't dislike Dean and he has my support against Bush if he wins the nomination but I'm scared that he is going to lose.

Dean is electable in my eyes and your eyes and the eyes of anyone here hoping that the next Democrat going head-to-head against Bush is going to win.

But swing voters may see Dean in a different light than us. Clark is the more appealing to the swing voters than Dean will ever be.

[Bread and Circus]

6. Dean is not electable...

because he has run a negative, angry campaign
which will be easily attacked by Bush and Company.

What might win him the nomination will lose him
the general election.

This also doesn't touch upon the fact that he will
be painted as a NE liberal (even though he is nearly
as centrist as Lieberman).

This also doesn't touch upon the fact that he has flip-flopped
and waffled on many important issues.

This also doesn't touch upon the fact that he has alienated
the support structure of his party just to get nominated.

This also doesn't touch upon the fact he can't handle a tough
TV interview very well without coming across as petulant
and irritable.

Dean can raise all the money he wants but you can't make
a silk purse out of a sow's ear and no matter how much he
raises, Bush and company will raise 1 1/2 times more.

Dean may win the nomination but he is going to lose the
election for us. Mark my words.

[Egnever]

7. OK your words are marked

see you at the voting booth. My vote will have a D in it somewhere.
I am hoping it haS TWO!

[Mz Pip]

14. Excellent summation

I was a Dean supporter early on. I read an article about him back in July of 2002, way before he even hit the radar. I thought he had a lot of promise. I signed up for the Meet Ups as soon as they started. But there was something about him that I couldn't get behind.

It's true that he tapped into so much of the anger that so many of us felt after the 2000 selection. It worked for awhile for me but I realized that he couldn't win a National Election based on a campaign rooted in Bush hatred. It's been pretty much my observation that most folks out there aren't that plugged into politics. They live their lives, play with their kids, try to get by, but don't walk around in a continual state of being pissed off at Bush. Clark has a much better chance of connecting with these people than Dean does.

Dean won't play well with these people. He won't play well with crossover Republicans who view his accusations that Clark was a Republican as insulting. Dean is alienating people.

Clark has been accused of being hot-headed, thin-skinned, arrogant but unless he shows this during the campaign the accusations are pretty meaningless. We shall see how he holds up during the campaign. He seems to be doing fine so far.

Also, Dean supporters seem to think they can win the White House without the support of the "insiders." Like it or not, these "insiders" bring credibility and funding to a candidate. Bush may have as much as 200 million dollars to work with. Dean has grassroots support but that will not translate into that kind of money. Until we have publicly financed elections, the ability to raise money is crucial. So Dean gets 20 million dollars. That will not go far in a long and dirty campaign.

My support of Clark may just refeal another side of Bush hatred. I prefer a more subtle and all inclusive approach to this campaign becuase we will need a broad base support to beat Bush.

MzPip
:dem:

[Skwmom]

11. Good read however, I don't think Dean and Clark are two of a kind.

They are polar opposites.

[sandnsea]

13. Clark blog

You might give the web address, just for us lazy people who don't want to go look up what variation of Clark and 2004 he's using. I'm for Kerry, but if certain Kerry people are there raising trouble, I'd like to give them a swift kick. Clark is a fine candidate and it looks like his record managing his bases and taking care of military families is as good as his international record. My only concern with Clark is still the Kosovo airport thing and I probably will never have the military mind to totally understand what really happened there. But he's still worth a listen and if he simply gets more people to listen to the Democratic message, then that's a huge benefit to all of us.

[wyldwolf]

15. I got a few lines in and found the first lie... so stopped...

Clark voted Gore, not George W. Bush

[sandnsea]

16. Too bad, it's not a bashing piece

It's a very positive piece on Clark. Perhaps the writer made an honest mistake. I'm amazed at people who are supposed to be liberal yet can't keep their minds open long enough to read a few paragraphs. You might want to try again.

[Mz Pip]

17. Maybe a mistake

Clark may have voted for the first Bush. Not sure about that, but he did vote for Clinton twice and for Gore in 2000.

MzPip
:dem:

[Bread and Circus]

18. It seems like a mistake....

Clark Voted Reagan - Bush I - Clinton twice - Gore