CLARK CAN’T REMEMBER
 |
James Joyner | Wednesday, September 17, 2003 |
Steven Taylor reports the first of what will likely be several quibbles on the part of Wesley Clark as he makes the conversion from tabula rasa to political candidate:
Asked whether he had voted for Republicans along the way, Mr. Clark said, “I don’t even remember.” Had he voted for a Republican for president? “I imagine that I voted for Reagan at one time or another,” he said.
Clark is, if nothing else, a bright man. He’s also a highly political animal. That he can’t remember whether he voted for Reagan is absurd.
I’m not sure what’s to be gained by this approach, to be honest. I’d think he’d win a lot more points with, “Yes, I voted for Reagan, twice. Hell, I’ve always voted for the Republicans. Here’s why I’m now a Democrat. . . .”
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia.
Follow James on FriendFeed | Twitter | Digg
- None Found
- Caption Contest Winners
- The Political Economy of the U.S. Mortgage Default Crisis
- The Democrats and the Shock Doctrine
- Obama and Europe
- Supreme Court to Decide on Obama Citizenship
- International Implications of the Drop in Oil Prices (Updated)
- Obama’s Bipartisan Cabinet
- More Votes Found - Franken Hurt
- Caption Contest
- OTB Latenight - Paul Simon
Exactly. It would have garnered him much positive feedback. Waffling makes you look like you are trying to hide something.
It's interesting that in today's WaPo article about him, almost none of his peers would go on record with their opinions about him--and that almost all of them found significant flaws in his leadership style (though none questioned his intellect). These opinions are consistent with what I've heard from mid-grade officers who worked with/for him (yes, they had individual contact with him and were not just observers from afar)--very smart, a real politico, and with a real streak of weirdness in his decisions.
It's especially amusing to read the comments about his "war" being successful. Most of the reasoned commentary I've heard/read concludes the effort was successful DESPITE Gen. Clark, not because of him. One of his great successes was to strike up a nice, friendly discussion with (and have a picture taken of himself wearing the hat of) noted war criminal Ratko Mladic...Mladic hadn't been indicted yet, but was already a well-known figure. It's the equivalent of having Marshall shown wearing Himmler's hat in 1938.
---
Comments are Closed
