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"Yesterday I was in Arkansas, the home of Wesley Clark, and today I was in Missouri, the home of Rep. Dick Gephardt.
This year’s election is going to be close no matter who the Democrats pick as their nominee. One thing all the candidates have in common - they do not provide a positive vision for our country. They want to take us backwards, not forwards. They claim to be consistent in their positions, but they are not. They claim to have new ideas, but do not.
I told people in Arkansas that Wesley Clark claims to have always been against the war, but testimony he gave to the U.S. House Armed Services Committee two weeks before Congress passed the Iraq Congressional Resolution proves otherwise. Also, don’t forget that only three years ago in Little Rock, the General praised Ronald Reagan's Cold War actions and former President George Bush's foreign policy at a Republican fundraiser! He voted for Presidents Nixon, Reagan and Bush. Remember also that in January 2002, he told Newsweek Magazine that he would have been a Republican “if Karl Rove had only returned my phone calls." You know, some people run for president because they hear a call. Apparently, Wesley Clark is running because he didn’t.
Dick Gephardt on the other hand claims he wants to take the country in new directions. He said, “In tax reform, in trade, in Social Security, in health care … I have always stood for new directions in change.” That quote, however, comes from 1988.
The arguments he makes today -- the same ones he made this month - he made 16 years ago.
What Mr. Gephardt doesn’t understand is that the tax relief he voted against stimulates economic growth, and the massive tax increases he promises if elected would be an anchor on the economy -- his solutions take us back in time.
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