Kerry team (Clark & Beers) take the offense!

Conference Call Today: Wesley Clark and Kerry Advisor Rand Beers Respond to Bush in Florida
8/10/2004 4:12:00 PM

News Advisory:

Today at 4:30 p.m. ET, General Wesley Clark and Kerry National Security Advisor Rand Beers will hold a conference call with reporters to respond to remarks the President made during a campaign swing through Florida. They will call on the President to stop asking questions and to start giving the American people some answers.

Conference call: Tuesday, August 10 at 4:30 p.m. ET / 3:30 p.m. CT
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=145-08102004

Whoohoo!
If anyone hears or reads some news report(s) resulting from this, please let us know.

(edited to add link to the press release)

to say 'if he has so many questions why don't we get together for a televised debate this weekend'. Bushie* would wet his pants.

he oughta do that EVERY time dumbo says something insulting


which is every time he opens up his anus to speak

and thanks for this. a nice change from all the henny penny "kerry doesn't know what he's doing!!!!" hysteria threads.

character assaults. I think this is part of what Clinton was speaking about on The Daily Show last night: you have to respond to insults and attacks, and you have to see it as an opportunity to present your vision, not just act defensively.

I love Wes Clark (and Beers!) for the fight he's willing to take on for Kerry!

Hardball on Friday and Blitzer's Late Edition on Sunday, appear to also be a direct response to the swift-boat ad, altho other subjects were discussed too.

on the Bush Administration's mismanagement of the War on Terror. Clark takes a complex issue and makes it simple, and makes it clear that Bush has been, is now, and forever will be WRONG as the Guardian of our Nation's security. After a lifetime in the Military most Americans intrinsically trust that Clark knows what he is talking about.

OK, here is the pitch. Consider making a donation now to Clark's PAC, www.wespac2004.com Among other things, it is how he covers expenses traveling around the country defending Kerry and fighting for a Democratic majority in Congress. We can't donate to Kerry or Edwards directly anymore, but we still can to Clark so he can keep personally attacking Bush and defending Kerry.

are working their hinies (sp?) off. Gep needs to be working the unions. Sharpton gave a riveting Convention speech -- is he getting black voters motivated? Is Carol Mosley-Braun? Kucinich? Even Lieberman -- is he in Florida? We need all hands on deck here!

Thanks for the tip.

Rand Beers makes me nervous. He says things that don't always seem to be in step with the rest of the campaign. Hope that Clark answers most of the questions, he does a much better job.

"stop asking questions and start giving the Am. people answers"! ABOUT TIME!!! GO CLARK AND BEERS!!!!

Google only has the news release and then nothing. Any one hear something?

Saw a number of news reports today that included remarks, almost all by Clark. In fact, the RW Washinton Post is the only one that even mentioned Beers. But almost all were limited to one paragraph in larger articles about Bush, or Bush and McCain.

Some of these examples did appear in multiple sources:

"The American people are tired of political war games and they are looking for leadership," said retired Gen. Wesley Clark, a former Democratic presidential candidate who supports Kerry. "The president ought to stop trying to distort John Kerry's position and start giving the answers to the American people."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0408110192aug11,1,3231899.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed

"The Bush line of questioning... Kerry's vote on Iraq and distorting his answer, reflects a line of desperation," said former Gen. Wesley Clark, who spoke on behalf of the Kerry campaign.
http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?Category=23&ID=176662&r=0&external=&newCookie=yes&userID=137722

Retired Gen. Wesley Clark, speaking for the Kerry campaign,
responded that "Senator Kerry always believed we should hold Saddam
Hussein accountable," but that Bush botched it by launching the war
prematurely, without global support and with no firm plan for
restoring peace.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/elections/orl-asecbush11081104aug11,0,5546534.story?coll=orl-home-headlines

There was, as you would expect, a rather snotty account in the WA Times which I won't bother to reproduce here.
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20040811-121653-6678r.htm

Also in an article mostly about Bush, altho it gives Kerry's arguments a little more attention, also quoting Biden.

***********************************
Rand Beers, a former National Security Council official in the Clinton and Bush administrations before he left to help Mr. Kerry formulate his foreign policy positions, said in an interview on Wednesday: "We have said we think there are four elements" in Mr. Bush's approach to the war that are clearly different from how Mr. Kerry would have handled the confrontation with Mr. Hussein.

"Rushing to war is one, doing it without enough allies is two, doing it without equipping our troops adequately is three, and doing it without an adequate plan to win the peace is a fourth," Mr. Beers said. "If you want to add a fifth, it's going to war without examining the quality of your intelligence."
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/12/politics/campaign/12memo.html?ei=5006&en=eb7afee5adb68857&ex=1092974400&partner=ALTAVISTA1&pagewanted=print&position=

I hope Wes gets Sec.of State nod!

WE need more of this!

Sort of on a related note, the article excerpted below ran in the NYT yesterday. I can't think of two better Democrats, with the backbone and brains to take on the Repubs.

Let's see if the media gives 'em half the time they gave jerks like Gillespie and Reed at OUR convention. If fact, it might be a good idea to write the media ratbastards, esp Blitzer and Matthews, and remind them that they owe us some air-time.

*********************
Parties Plan to Capitalize on New York as Symbol, Depending on Their Point of View
By MICHAEL SLACKMAN
Published: August 11, 2004

When the Republicans chose New York City as the site of their national nominating convention, the symbolism seemed to play to the president's strength. But Democrats are hoping to turn the convention's location to their advantage.

The Democratic National Committee announced yesterday that it was sending a team to Manhattan to try to be a counterpoint during the convention, hoping to highlight what the party is calling President Bush's failures in New York.

"New York City is emblematic of Bush's failed leadership and broken promises around the country," said Jay Carson, spokesman for the new Democratic operation.

The Democratic operation will seek to draw on high-profile names - like retired Gen. Wesley K. Clark, the former presidential candidate, and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton - to be surrogates for Senator John Kerry, the Democratic nominee. While none of the specifics have been completed, people working with the operation said the goal is to enlist national leaders and city officials.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/11/nyregion/11attack.html

I voted for Wes in the DE primary. I would love to see him as Secretary of State!

Go, Wes, go! :bounce:

...of Kerry announcing that he intends to appoint Clark as his Secretary of State? Good idea or premature and sign of too much overconfidence?

Doing anything premaurely would surely backfire.

But it certainly looks good when Kerry is seen hanging around sharp people (Clark, Robert Rubin, etc.).

That's what I'm talking about! Way to go team Kerry!

This is verbatim from a Kerry campaign press release, so I don't think there's a copyright issue. I think I saw one from Beers too, but didn't save the link.

Clark Statement in Response to Cheney's Attacks on Kerry
Thu Aug 12, 4:21 PM ET
To: National Desk
Contact: Chad Clanton or Phil Singer, 202-464-2800, both of Kerry-Edwards 2004

WASHINGTON, Aug. 12 /U.S. Newswire/ -- General Wesley Clark (news - web sites), USA (ret) released the following statement today in response to Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites)'s attacks on John Kerry (news - web sites):

"I spent almost all of my adult life in uniform serving this great nation in the United States Army. I have led American soldiers into battle and led an international coalition in the Balkans where diplomacy, backed by force, was the winning formula.

"George W. Bush failed to learn the lessons from his predecessor or history. His ideologues who control American foreign policy have squandered much of our credibility with our allies and failed to achieve victory in the campaigns in Iraq (news - web sites) and Afghanistan (news - web sites). They gambled with a go it alone policy and our soldiers are paying with their lives.

"Today we Americans are shouldering the overwhelming costs of rebuilding Iraq without sufficient help from our allies. The administration's incompetence in protecting our security effectively is rightfully a key issue in this campaign.

"Today, Dick Cheney took the lowest road in politics -- it was a cheap shot unworthy of the office of Vice President.

"The truth is that this administration has over-relied on the military in the war against terror - if we are to win, we must use all the means at our disposal - diplomacy, international law, economic development, law enforcement, and only as a last resort, military force.

"But then, maybe that's to be expected. Neither George Bush nor Dick Cheney has ever heard a shot fired in anger. Never worried whether he'd ever see his family again or seen the destruction caused by the weapons he's wielded. The losses of war are permanent. The consequences are unpredictable. That's why John Kerry has always said force should be a last resort.

"John Kerry understands the risk and sacrifice that American soldiers undertake every day, in a personal way that neither George Bush nor Dick Cheney ever will. John Kerry has the physical courage, tested in combat, to hunt down and kill our enemies. He also has the moral courage and humility to avoid the arrogance, which has doomed this administration. John Kerry will make us safer at home and restore our credibility around the world."
---
Paid for by Kerry-Edwards 2004, Inc.
http://www.usnewswire.com/

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/usnw/20040812/pl_usnw/clark_statement_in_response_to_cheney_s_attacks_on_kerry165_xml

Let's start with making sure CNN --oops-- I mean reports on this! (yes, I can read. Just get excited some times. ;) )