Salon on Clark's bad day

[kang]

The learning curve has begun. It's better that Clark makes the mistakes sooner than later. I don't think Clark's "ignorant" on the issues, but this shows that he will have to bone up on domestic policy and formulate positions. He's a high achiever and I'm sure he'll learn from his mistakes. I didn't like the Second Amendment comment though. Supreme Court's never said that it meant a individual has a right to bear arms. Better to be accused of ducking reporters and telling them that he's still forming his agenda than accidently stake out a position just because you felt the need to answer a question.

http://salon.com/opinion/feature/2003/09/19/clark/index.html

[DemDogs]

1. But why are people supporting him?

He doesn't know where he stands on lots of seminal issues, so they can't know where he stands. Does it matter? And if it does, and I think it should, why are people supporting him?

[southern democrat]

2. We like the guy.

[whirlygigspin]

5. People sometimes confuse

Who they want to sleep with and
who they want to vote for.

My old aunt never cared about anything
when voting, save who was the most handsome.

Come to think of it, I think she owned an Edsel.

[StephNW4Clark]

6. He does know

where he stands. We know that he does because we've researched and heard him talk about it for the past 6 months. If you want more information, go to his website and check out the 100 Year Vision for the country.

http://www.clark04.com/vision.php

It clearly states his positions on the issues.

I don't want to be repetitive but I think the perceived "waffling" has nothing to do with his positions but more to do with the format of questions being asked. Instead of people asking questions a la CNN format when he was an analyst, now they're asking hypotheticals, etc. He's getting used to being a candidate.

[HereSince1628]

7. The answer is that he believes in the 3rd way

They refer to it as political pragmatism

That interprets to: don't commit until you must and at that point make sure you have all the results from focus groups and polls so that you can be on the populist side of the issue.

[StephNW4Clark]

3. Second Amendment

I think he's beginning to understand how to handle intense press scrutiny. He's always said rifles for hunting, etc. are fine but assualt weapons should be banned and available only to those in the armed forces.

Honestly, I do think the perceived "flip-flopping" has less to do with his beliefs and more to do with getting used to campaigning. Look at the debate mix-up. Little Rock and his press secretary had some miscommunication - that's all.

[CRYINGWOLFOWITZ]

4. his campaign is in an embryonic stage now

it is just starting to develop. but it has to do this quickly, there are only 4 months until the first primaries.

[MidwestTransplant]

9. Here's the deal with the "flip flop"

Voting for the resolution and voting for the war are different. Didn't the resoultion just give the Pres. authority to act. In fact, wasn't the resolution passed before the last go around at the UN? So somebody who voted in favor of the resolution wasn't necessarily in favor of the war. Clark talked about giving the President leverage and that's what it did. The problem for him is that in the soundbite world, the media doesn't have time to understand his point. So his only mistake was making a reasoned point rather than flip flopping.

[tsipple]

11. I Totally Reject That Notion

The Iraq Resolution authorized the President to invade Iraq, plain and simple. There was no further presidential obligation (except to let Congress know after the fact what they could see on television anyway).

If that's not a vote for war, I don't know what is.

I'm sorry. If there's any issue a politician can't have both ways, sending young men and women to die in war is it.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

8. "You can't manufacture insperado."

-Tenacious D

[kang]

10. He's got the "It" factor, but he's got to get used to campaigning

Clark does inspire people and get people excited. He will grab people's attention. It's not a particular issue that intrigues people, but who he is. What he needs to work on is maintaining focus and not getting mixed up like he did today. I knew there would be mistakes in the beginning in dealing with the press. He'll catch up and those that underestimate him I think will be surprised later on. He's just formed his team.