A plea to my fellow Clark Bars.

[Julien Sorel]

As it is now obvious that Clark will enter the race, I'd like to ask something of my fellow Clark supporters.


Please, please do not go completely insanely overboard in your support of General Clark. I think most of you know what I'm talking about, but here are a few guidelines:

Clark is not perfect. When Clark makes a mistake, as he certainly will, we gain nothing by pretending he didn't. The intelligent thing to do is to accept it, acknowledge it even if only internally, learn from it, and move on. I guarantee you that's what Clark does, and it's a good example to follow.

Try to avoid making the snitty comments that some of the supporters of other candidates make. It's fine, even necessary, to point out legitimate shortcomings and concerns, but simply attacking a candidate because you think it will help Clark is outside the bounds, as far as I'm concerned, and I don't think it will help, anyway. What it will do is further lower the level of discourse here, and that hurts us all. I can understand, and will myself employ, retaliation, and everyone will lose their temper on occasion, say something you will regret, but it's not good when such things stop becoming outbursts, and do become a normal part of the posts here -- and we're getting close to that point.

This is difficult, because enthusiasm is a priceless commodity, but going overboard in your praise of Clark will make him look silly. Clark will not raise $600 million on the internet; Clark does not transcend policy or traditional politics; Clark is not running a revolutionary campaign that will change the face of politics forever; every word that comes out of Clark's mouth is not unique and fascinating; the rules do apply to Clark, just as they do to every other candidate -- I think most of you know the kinds of posts, and the attitude, that have turned you off to some other candidates.


I'd like to see us at least try to follow four rules:

1) Don't pretend Clark is perfect

2) Don't fling mud at other candidates without provocation or reason

3) Accept the fact that Clark has to deal with political reality

4) Have fun, and support the General to the absolute limit of reason!

I genuinely believe Clark is the class of the field, and I'd like to see his supporters reflect that!



And....



Have one on me!

[Brian Sweat]

1. Are you implying that Clark Supporters are nutty?

:silly:

[lanlady]

17. sometimes you feel like a nut,

sometimes you don't.

(Oops, wrong candy bar)

[Hippo_Tron]

2. No politician is even close to perfect

So I don't plan to pretend Clark is. After he joins I'm dropping any support I had for Lieberman.

[Brian Sweat]

3. What about Republicans?

[Kahuna]

10. What about them Brian?

Please be more specific. :)

[knight_of_the_star]

20. Let's not get into that shall we?

I could be here all year talking about the GOP's inadequecies and I wouldn't even be close to halfway :). Let's just not go there.

[bluestateguy]

4. Good post

I for one will refrain from attacking the other Democratic candidates, unless they make personal attacks on Clark. Then all bets are off. And yes, I do not agree with Clark on every issue. I would like to see him call for withdrawl of all forces from Iraq (except as the US may be part of a UN force), but Clark's approach is far, FAR more sensible than the current PNAC Administration. I refuse to be a single issue voter. The stakes are just too high for America to let the other side win because we dislike one issue position taken by the Democratic nominee. I hope that all DUers will remember that, even if their preferred candidate does not win the nomination.

[elcondor]

5. I don't pretend any politician is perfect but

these are good ground rules to establish up-front. (Some members do have a fanatic-ness (I don't care if that's not a word) about some candidates.)

Let's all try to support our respective candidates without going overboard! :-)

[robbedvoter]

6. Good point! I was thinking the same reading some nasty posts

telling myself: "I hope I don't become them"
It was easy to stay above the fray while uncomitted - the test of character is now - because I REALLY want this guy to win.
And I hope I can pass it - because I tell you from the receiving end: when you post for a candidate (with his avatar, signature especially) you are somehow representing him/her. So, excessive paranoia/self-righteousness acted like a big turn-off to me - for more than one candidate I was considering. Which is why I promise to try my best to act differently.



--

[Kahuna]

7. Agreed. If Clark contradicts himself from one week to the

next and doesn't acknowledge the contradiction and tries to blame it on someone else, I will not pretend that it is irrelevant.

:7

[mcaverly]

8. Good Guideline, Thanks

For posting them.

[ronnykmarshall]

9. Great post, Billy!

[DoveTurnedHawk]

11. Done

You and I are on the same page, BB!

DTH

[Lefty48197]

12. Good Post

And I agree with your points. I also expect Clark supporters to take the high road at all times, as we will be led by Wesley.

[Kahuna]

15. Yepper. Lying and obfuscating is either in

one's nature or not. I do not expect that lying and obfuscating will be in General Clark's nature. I do expect him to make some mistakes initially on domestic policy statements because he is an inexperienced politician. I'm confidant that he will get better as he goes along.

[knight_of_the_star]

19. A man is best reflected by those he associates with

Good post Billy! Lets make sure that Clark doesn't get smeared because of stuff that we do. It will help him stay on the high road if we stay on the high road too. Oh yeah, I just volunteered to work for his campaign at draftwesleyclark.com!!!

[Rowdyboy]

13. Excellent guidelines...

I'd like to see us set the tone around here. Clark is a class act and I, for one, don't want to be an embarrassment to his candidacy.

on edit: I would like to add that, both here, and in earlier threads concerning Wes Clark, I have seen posters I greatly respect backing him. I think the strength of his support on DU is a great sign.

[graham67]

14. General Suggestion

Keep it real!!

[Skwmom]

16. Good post.

I realize Clark won't be perfect and accept the fact that he will have to maneuver in a political mine field.

I got a little hot today but in my defense that was only after a whole weekend of taking it from the Deanies. Someone trying to disrupt a Clark support thread while slamming the military was the last straw.

While I might have spoken my mind today I would never become a fanatical Clark supporter like some of the Dean and Bush supporters have become (blindly worshipping someone is not for me).

While I have been waiting for Clark to declare I was thinking to myself that I hope the Clark supporters on the board do not go insane like some of Deans followers. I'm glad you posted this thread.

Once Clark declares I plan to be really busy lining up every military and civilian vote that I can for Clark so I won't have much time to spend on the boards.

[Mz Pip]

18. I agree

I've never flung mud at another person's candidate. If Clark doesn't pan out, I may have to vote for that candidate down the line. I hope supporters of other candidates keep that in mind about Clark as well.

The goal is to oust BushCo from the White House.

Now for my first and last (perhaps) bit of insanity:

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO WWWWEEEEESSSSLLLLLLEEEEEEYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

:party:
MzPip
:dem:

[Donna Zen]

21. Great reminder BB

And it is good to point out as you did that Clark believes in taking responsibility, learning from mistakes, and resolving to not make them again.

Today I was wondering if in preparation he would have been studying winning campaigns. (Doing the dishes always leaves me too much mind-time.) Then I remembered Clark's description of evaluating any operation: look for what went wrong and fix it; no excuses. If he has been looking at past presidential runs, he's been looking at the ones that failed. He doesn't want to run the wrong plays.

Anyway, taking his advice to heart, I just had to give an apology in another thread because I snarked out.

I too have been sharp about military bashing. That, I'm not sorry about. This is the "Democratic" Underground. We have military posters, I hope, and many readers. The Democratic Party has gained enough of an anti-military reputation without people who, while they have every right to individually hold their opinions, would do better to keep them out of the GOP line of fire or at least low key. The charges usually end up in the Clark threads and it drives me wild.

Finally, Clark is an honorable and good person who would be the first tell you that he has made mistakes. I would assume he has learned from those mistakes and is prepared to make a good run. If you give no trust; you get no trust.

Thanks again.

[newgreataunt]

22. Very well said, Billy.

I've been thinking along those lines myself. We don't yet know what will happen to Clark during the campaign and he's bound to make mistakes. We have to expect it and not go into this thinking he won't get muddied and bloodied. In fact, as has been so often said, this will most likely be a bitter and vicious fight especially from the Neanderthals who now hold power.