Kerry Fires Back At Clark

[bicentennial_baby]

(CBS) Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry responded to a military rank-pulling comment aimed at him by rival Democratic presidential contender Wesley Clark by calling Clark, a retired general, "dismissive of lieutenants."

The retort came in a 60 Minutes interview to be broadcast Sunday, Jan. 25 (7:00-8:00PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

Clark, in a campaign speech, suggested his experience as a four-star general in the Army made him a superior presidential candidate to Kerry, pointing out that Kerry was only a lieutenant in Vietnam.

-snip-

At a rally Friday, South Carolina Sen. Ernest (Fritz) Hollings, a World War II veteran himself, touted his decades of service in the Senate with Kerry and took a veiled swipe at Clark. "We're going to teach that fellow in South Carolina that there are more lieutenants than there are generals," Hollings said.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/23/60minutes/main595431.shtml

[blm]

1. I think this is a media spawned nonstory about Clark's words.

I think they overplayed it and made it sound way worse than Clark meant it.

Dole played dirty on Clark that night.

[JI7]

4. i think he was offended and hurt

it was kind of like he felt dole was taking away from his accomplishments which led to him being a general. becoming a 4 star general is a tough thing so when dole called him by a lower rank he felt he was insulted and very hurt.

[WillyBrandt]

5. You've got to be kidding me

These fuckers have thick skin. Kerry found an opportunity and exploited it. It's very simple.

[JI7]

9. i'm talking about clark

clark was offended by dole.

[WillyBrandt]

15. Oh--that's fine

Clark (and others) can attack Republicans all he wants. I don't care what the motivation is in that case.

[bicentennial_baby]

6. I agree

There aren't words to express how I'm feeling about Bob Dole this week. :mad:

[Cocoa]

8. me too

what Clark said was simply true and obvious, that being a general is way different a kind of experience than being a lieutenant. Duh.

And the Kerry response that I saw was pretty mild. He was standing outside somewhere, he chuckled when the question was asked.

This thing is much less than the way it's being reported.

[wyldwolf]

2. Two highly qualified candidates duking it out! Love it!

http://www.adangio.com/gallery+images/large/movie82.jpg

[WillyBrandt]

3. Clark can beat both Kerry and Bush

And Kerry knows it. He knows how precarious his lead is, and how it fails to have material resonance past New Hampshire.

The train is coming for him

[Jerseycoa]

17. Flat out cynical ploy nt

[maddezmom]

7. anyone know when this was taped?

because I thought they'd both mended fences a day or so after the incident.

[Jerseycoa]

11. Dole and after Dole

Clark delivered a strong defense of Kerry at an American Legion post where Kerry had been dissed in the introduction.

This is the Larry King show with Dole:

http://www.videos4clark.com/vidclips/CNN_LKL_011904.WMV

This is the defense of Kerry clip:

rtsp://video.c-span.org/project/c04/c04012104_clark.rm?start=6:26.0

If there are link problems, they can also be viewed here:

http://www.us4clark.com/mediaclips.html


I hope people view these to see what exactly Clark said and how he followed up.

[maddezmom]

18. thanks for those :)

Kerry really should contact CBS and have them edit this out of the interview.

AS for Fritz, I'm really PO'd about his comments about JJ! What a jerk.

[Strelnikov_]

25. Did I Miss A Statement By Clark . .

.. between the statement made in the Larry King interview Mon. (below) and when Kerry taped the 60 Minutes interview on Wed. that justifies the following statement by Kerry in the interview ("After Rebuke From Kerry, Clark Praises Rival's Record", NY Times 1/25/04).

"That's the first time I have heard a general be so dismissive of lieutenants, who bleed a lot in wars,"


Dole: (commenting on Kerry win in Iowa) But I think just politically you just became a Colonel instead of a General.

Clark: Senator, with all due respect he's a Lieutenant and I'm a General. You've got to get your facts on this. He was a Lieutenant in Vietnam, I’ve done all the big leadership. Now I respect John Kerry and I like him, but what I'm going to say is its up to the voters . .

[1971]

13. Despicable

Kerry is trying to make a mountain out of a mole hill, he's trying to play a "rank" card against Wes Clark. Clark did no such thing to Kerry. He merely defended his rank at Bob Dole's swipe. And when there are 2 military men competing in a political race against each other, why shouldn't it be absolutely fine for the general to highlight his accomplishments compared to the lower ranking officer? Kerry may have more Skull & Bones dirty tricks up his sleeve. On guard, General!

[bigtree]

10. Thing is

Not much of the slung mud has stuck to the general. I think I know why. This is a sincere and decent man - unaccustomed to the backbiting of this arena - but long-lived enough to relate directly to the voters as a caring and capable man. I think he has a great deal to offer the country in this race, as president, or as a citizen. We are lucky to have him on our side.

[Tom Rinaldo]

12. Kerry is attempting to play "gotcha" politics in an inane way.

This is a campaign issue? We are choosing who should be President of the United States, voters have precious few days left to study the issues, and the qualifications of the candidates, and this is what Kerry is trying to fill the air waves with? It would be laughable if it were not so serious. Here are my questions to John Kerry:

What do you think about the relative merits of your taxation proposals compared to Clark's, John? Which is more progressive, and more likely to help average Americans? How should we deal with the continuing threat of Al Quada terrorists? How should we respond to the potential of voter fraud in the 2004 election, or the disenfranchisement of African America voters? How much of a threat to American security is the A.I.D.'s pandemic? How free should free trade be? What benchmarks will you set to judge your Presidency by if you should get elected? Or at the very least, what themes should Democrats stress to beat George Bush in November?

I know you you have answers to these questions, John, I'm not implying that you don't, SO TALK ABOUT THEM. Didn't many of us just get through with turning off our TV's in disgust after the last Fox debate? Don't we constantly say that the media does not want to provide room for the Democrats to really discuss the issues that are actually important to the voters? And then you come out with this empty petty twisted attempt to manipulate voter emotions over whether or not Clark dissed you as a Lieutenant when you know damn well that was never his intent?

Clark was sparring with Bob Dole for Christ's sake, who verbally "demoted" Clark on the air because of your nice showing in Iowa. It was a JOKE. Are you now suddenly claiming that Clark is campaigning to strengthen the military hierarchy to put junior officers in a more subordinate position? What the hell are you claiming, John? Is this what you think is important to America?

[Leilani]

14. I'm not real happy about this

I'll let other Clark people discuss this.

This is not a "positive campaign" from Mr. Kerry.

Be very, very careful who you offend on the way to the top. They might not be happy warriors on your behalf in November, when you will need them.

[Jack_Dawson]

16. Kerry - Clark "feud" is ridiculous

Clark's comments were TOTALLY in jest and have been taken completely out of context. As if Clark would ever disparage anyone's rank - it's utter nonsense.

[in_cog_ni_to]

19. Clark IS superior.

End of subject. Kerry can spin it any way he wants, it won't change the facts. Funny, he says Clark is dismissive of lieutentants, yet says calling Bush a deserter is "over the top?" Whose side is he on here, anyway? I know which side. The Washington Insider...side.

[1971]

20. Clark "represents".

On C-SPAN this morning I watched "Clark at a pancake breakfast" at a new Fire Safety Center in Auburn, NH. You could've heard a pin drop at the end, when he was making his final remarks, it was very moving and inspiring. All of his message he brought home in a personal way that everyone can relate to, and that makes Clark a leader, a leader for all people.

There was his speech and a Q&A afterwards, and there were some great questions. One question from the crowd was "why should I vote for you and not Kerry?" (or something like that). Clark began his response by taking a lot of time to praise Kerry and to honor Kerry's military service. Then he described why he felt he, Clark, was the better choice. No smears, no veiled attacks of Kerry. Just Clark "representing" Clark. And it was good how Clark spoke to the crowd about the leadership path up the ranks in the military, and how Clark has had to "do" the jobs of foreign diplomacy, not just tell someone else to do it... he's done it, and been accountable for it. Made the life and death decisions, had to negotiate with some of the world's worst dictators. Clark stressed his leadership. And he was also able to put it on personal terms, too, that really spoke to the people listening to him.

I would feel so proud to have America represented by Gen. Wesley Clark.

(edit: typos)

[HuckleB]

21. Kerry is arguing with a phantom, not the real Clark.

Clark's statement in no way resembles Kerry's description.

And didn't Kerry start this whole melee by saying something negative about Clark's military career in the first place?

[democratreformed]

22. Could it be a set up

to stem the flow of negative sentiment toward Sen. Kerry's negative campaign tactics. People could then look at him as striking "back" instead of beginning the negative stuff. I smell something really fishy here.

[emulatorloo]

23. When was it taped and what did he say

Soon after clarks comments? Before his apology? Has anyone seen the whole interview? No it hasn't played yet.

The quote doesn't seem all that bad. . . is that all he said?

This seems like a non-story.
---------------------------------------

Clark, in a campaign speech, suggested his experience as a four-star general in the Army made hima superior prsidential candidate to Kerry, pointing out that Kerry was only a lieutenant in Vietnam.

"That's the first time I've heard a general be so dismissive of lieutenants, who bleed a lot in wars," Kerry told Ed Bradley in Sunday's interview. "I think the General is entitled to his feelings and opinions."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/23/60minutes/main595431.shtml

on edit Format

[krkaufman]

24. Kerry's positive campaign?? BEE-ESS..!!

*WHERE* and *WHEN* did Clark "dismiss" lieutenants??

I saw Clark shutting down former Senator and Republican shill BobDole when BobDole tried demoting Clark to colonel after Kerry's victory in Monday night's Iowa caucus. Clark simply corrected Dole's attempt to discount Clark's impressive experience by stating their actual ranks.

And *if* Clark underscores that he was a general and Kerry a lieutenant, so what? It's a perfectly reasonable comparison. Doesn't a general have better military credentials than a lieutenant? Is Kerry dismissing the effort and political skill that it takes to become a 4-star general and NATO supreme allied commander, and the greater executive experience developed, as opposed to a lieutenant?

Who's putting out the story that Kerry's running a clean, positive campaign? It is disengenuous for anyone to imply that General Clark was dismissing the service, sacrifice and dedication of *any* soldier, whatever their rank or branch of service.

If John Kerry wants to run a positive campaign, he needs to simply explain why/how his experiences -- as a Yale graduate and Skull & Bones Society member, as a 4-year active officer in the Navy (6 yrs reserves), prosecutor, an elected official and long-time Senator and member of the Democratic Party and the Senate New Democrat Coalition (along with Joe Lieberman) -- make him the best candidate, how this experience and his record are better or comparable to that of a 38-year military man, 4-star general and one-time NATO supreme allied commander.

A lieutenant does NOT have the same military leadership and executive credentials of a 4-star general, let alone one who served as commander in a war.

With diminished regard for the Kerry Campaign, and their candidate,
Karl

p.s. General Clark, you can thank Sen. Kerry's pettiness for my most recent contribution.

[Loren645]

26. Yup. Kerry's below the fray.

n/t