Clark vows to strike back if opponents question his patriotism

Clark vows to strike back if opponents question his patriotism
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DERRY, N.H. (AP) -- Moments after praising his opponents in the Democratic presidential race as worthy running mates, Wesley Clark said, in no uncertain terms, how he would respond if they or anyone else criticized his patriotism or military record.

"I'll beat the s--- out of them," Clark told a questioner as he walked through the crowd after a town hall meeting Saturday. "I hope that's not on television," he added.

It was, live, on C-Span.

Clark was responding to a rambling question by a man who referred to then-candidate George Bush attacking Sen. John McCain's commitment to veterans in the 2000 primaries. The man asked Clark if he would take the offensive if Bush or any of the other Democrats questioned his trading military caps with a Bosnian general who now is a war crimes suspect, or cited critical comments about Clark by former Army brass.

His campaign was quick to say Clark was speaking rhetorically, and would come out strongly against anyone who challenges his patriotism or military service.

"General Clark is a military man and a fighter," said the campaign's national spokesman, Bill Buck. "He'll stand up to President Bush or any of the administration's chicken hawks that attack his patriotism, military record or his commitment to veterans, which is one of the reasons why he will beat George Bush."More

his patriotism. I remember what happened to David ASSman on Faux, he got his ass handed to him...

Clark needs to go on the offensive and say the truth; Bush does not support our troops! Use the ARMY TIMES head line “An act of betrayal” as a talking point referring to the Bush administration cutting on base commissaries. Bush also cut 164,000 veterans off their benefits and almost cut combat pay for troops in Iraq. I almost forgot he is cutting VA funding by 14 billion over ten years last time I checked.

Clark can clean house on this issue!

Not just Clark.

But Clark is pure teflon on this issue. The Repugs are terrified of him.

... just not the candidates. I'm sick and tired of being called unpatriotic since I don't support this Bush-Cheney crime cabal and Iraqi business venture. There's a lesson for all of us next time some repub calls one of us unpatriotic.

I prefer to keep a distance from that country. It's loco.

to question Clark on his patriotism. That being said I expect Lieberman or Bush to start a campaign soon, doing just that.

I totally agree with Wesley Clark (and some other Democratic candidates) on this question. Rolling over and playing dead is not an option. There are ways to respond, and the eventual Democratic nominee absolutely should.

I do have concerns as to why Clark unilaterally disarmed, though, in the sense that he'll be subject to spending caps and Bush won't. I'm really concerned that will limit his ability to respond to attacks, as it did with Bob Dole in 1996 against Bill Clinton.

Why did Clark take this course?

I am old enough to remember when it was a goos thing - the dems were fighting in the senate, the GOP-ers were trying to push it from the floor, Dems gathered signatures to put it back ...Got voted. DU cheered! Bush signed it secretly - GOP-ers vowed to kill it in courts. Then you guys showed up - and said everything goes to beat bush. Even becoming him. And promptly used the money to attack...other democrats.

Don't you worry for the General - money and support is pouring in. No democrat can match Bushco's purse - it's kickback from CEOs. That being said, Clark will be competitive in every way in the General's Election.

...No, it can't. That's the problem. When you participate in the matching funds system you have to abide by spending caps. You specifically cannot raise money and spend it beyond the limits. It doesn't matter how much support Clark has -- limits are limits.

And that stinks when you have a candidate, George W. Bush, who has already opted out of the spending limits. Or, in military terms, he's someone that has the bomb and he's going to use it, and candidates operating inside the spending limits don't have a nuclear capacity to deter.

That's got me really concerned.

he will not opt out for the general election? I hadn't heard that.

Both Bush and the Democratic nominee will.

The problem is the period up until the Democratic Party convention in July, 2004. Until that time a candidate participating in the matching funds system, as Wesley Clark is, will be limited to $44.8 million in total spending both for the primaries and for any activities to that date.

Bush will have up to $200 million to spend in that same time. So if it takes Clark (for example) $30 million to win the primary (big if -- it certainly could take the whole $45 million if he can raise it), that's $200 million versus $15 million: over 10 to 1 spending advantage for Bush.

That's an awful spot to be in, particularly if you're not already famous. (About 60% of Americans know of Wesley Clark, and most of them know he's a general and not much more.) Bush gets to define Clark, not the other way around.

Unfortunately the decision has been made, and it is irrevocable. It doesn't matter how much Clark can raise. If he raises the $45 million he's done and he has to stop. You can't spend a dime more than that, even if Bush is pounding you into a pulp with TV ads telling America that you almost started World War III (or some such nonsense).

That's why what Dean (and his supporters) are doing is so revolutionary. For the first time we have a Democratic candidate with the ability to compete financially and to respond to attacks. That has thrown off the Bush reelection formula, and that's pretty exciting.

But it's important for people to understand the facts of this spending cap problem. They are as I've stated them, and there's no going back. It's a done deal. Dean is not handicapped by spending limits, but the other candidates are. (Note that Senator Kerry did opt out, like Dean, but Kerry has spent a lot and is borrowing against his home now to keep his campaign running, so he's got a different problem.)

very worried. I doubt any Dem will be able to match it. However the Dem national committee, Dem leaning organizations, and Unions could fight back during those three months. All of them can accept money over the individual limits.

Maybe Clark can hammer home the favors the rich buy from Bush, inc. Maybe playing up the "Mr. Smith goes to Washington persona" will work. Nonetheless, no Dem will raise as much as Bush.

Unfortunately the independent groups cannot coordinate their messages with the nominee, and that's a serious handicap. (Bob Dole is quite familiar with that problem.)

Collectively Democrats have raised as much money (or more) as Bush, so I disagree somewhat that Democrats aren't capable of raising something approaching the Bush warchest. But my concern is with the Democratic nominee's ability to spend in excess of $45 million before July, 2004. I think that flexibility will be essential.

...it becomes a plot by all those DNC Dems all being mean to my guy who has "class". But no one is supposed to notice that. </cough>

Don

Duyba knows few words that aren't profanity.

Kerry's line in Rolling Stone was funny. Clark is career military. Cussing happens to career military people.

However, if Mr. Torah Menorah starts cussing a blue streak on campaign stops, I'm gonna hit him with a bag of stone draddles.

Even if Clark doesn't get the nomination he has helped the party beyond belief and deserves our gratitude. He has brought up topics that other Democratic contenders were scared of and gave those topics legitimacy. ie. 9/11 and the war in Iraq.

That's funny!

Unless Clark is shorter.

I love to see a partisan Clark supporter get punk'd.

5'10.....how tall is Dean?

just goes to show....you don't have to be "little" to say really stupid things. Just stupid

Frankly, I hadn't seen much of the gratuitous Dean bashing that Dean supporters have complained about. I have seen some gratuitous Clark bashing, but I think both things had more to do with which threads I've been reading (and avoiding), rather than being a valid statistical sample.

In any case, this is gratuitous nonsense. To answer the question, YES, I can EASILY imagine Dean saying something similar, and I don't think how tall either of them is has has anything to do with anything.

And as a Clark supporter (which doesn't mean I'm ANTI any candidate) I regard this as a shameful and embarrassing post and I repudiate it. I'm looking forward to supporting Dean, if he ends up being the nominee. He just doesn't happen to be my personal first choice.

Now this is the attitude we need.


*swoon*

Clark Campaign Strategist Reid Cherlin responded to Tom `Chicken-hawk' Delay's latest cowardly comments, "The closest to real combat that Tom `Chicken-Hawk' Delay has ever come was when he got himself a student deferment from Vietnam and instead suited up in his exterminator outfit and defended the people of Texas against invading cockroaches, marauding red ants and hostile moths. Wes Clark has seen real combat, given his blood for our country, and commanded troops in battle, which is why he believes we need to win the war on terrorism instead of declaring victory when we all know that the terrorists directly responsible for 9/11 are still out there at large. General Clark lives in a world where he believes that America will be stronger, safer and more secure if we are focused on winning the war against the terrorists, getting Osama bin Laden and working with our Allies."

Just to remind people of the Chicken-hawk's views on military service, here is what he has said about his lack of military experience, in an excerpt from the Houston Press:

"He and Quayle, DeLay explained to the assembled media in New Orleans, were victims of an unusual phenomenon back in the days of the undeclared Southeast Asian war. `So many minority youths had volunteered for the well-paying military positions to escape poverty and the ghetto that there was literally no room for patriotic folks like himself.' Satisfied with the pronouncement, which dumbfounded more than a few of his listeners who had lived the sixties, DeLay marched off to the convention." <Houston Press, 1/7/99>

http://campaign.forclark.com/story/2003/12/21/131040/98

DTH

I missed that one--anyone fill me in?

On MTP this morning, Delay went off on every Dem, but singled out Clark (integrity) and Dean (GOP "gleeful" at prospect of running against him).

DTH

http://campaign.forclark.com/story/2003/12/21/131040/98

Clark Campaign Strategist Reid Cherlin responded to Tom `Chicken-hawk' Delay's latest cowardly comments, "The closest to real combat that Tom `Chicken-Hawk' Delay has ever come was when he got himself a student deferment from Vietnam and instead suited up in his exterminator outfit and defended the people of Texas against invading cockroaches, marauding red ants and hostile moths" More...

This is exactly why I like him. We could use a strong arm of the party.

Smears about McCain that knocked him out of the race.
I'm glad he answered so definitively.