What will the RW eventual smear campaign against Wes Clark consist of?

[brentspeak]

Poll question: What will the RW eventual smear campaign against Wes Clark consist of?

[Aussie_expat]

1. Clark will have to get by the ................

left wing smear campaign first........ unfortunately.

It's a shame because he seems to be a great candidate.

[acmejack]

8. ?

[Aussie_expat]

10. Primaries..... n/t

.

[Auntie Bush]

9. They'll say he almost started WW III and is a DINO war monger...

and is responsible for the deaths of many civilians. We've heard a lot of it here already.

[annabanana]

2. just like they did to Kerry.....

and Cleland.... and McCain...

(It's their only option with a military man..)

[AX10]

3. They'll try to get Tommy Franks and Schwartzkopf to attack...

him first (most generals are not conservative so all they have are those two/Richard Meyers does not have that kind of influence.)

Next, they'll get some of his former subordinates to smear him with a 'Swiftie Book' campaign. If that fails, Rove-approved talking points will be sent to the Broadcast "news" mob.

[Texas_Kat]

21. Swartzkopf backed off a 'smear by innuendo' in 2004.

Wes calls Richard Meyers, "Dickie' Meyers.... They must have been well acquainted. probably with Dickie as a junior officer to Wes...

Trotting Tommy out ... they'll have to explain the relationship between Tommy and Laura...:smoke:

[bluestateguy]

4. reply

They'll leave his service in Vietnam alone, but instead go after his record as a General. Bank on it.

[leveymg]

6. What's in that record to attack?

Really, I don't know. It's an interesting question you raised, though.

[bluestateguy]

7. Probably not much. So they'll make stuff up.

Find a few embittered angry old men and start the echo chamber effect, etc.

[stellanoir]

5. Just as they did during the primaries

they'll bring up the issue of the airport incident in Kosovo, which was in actuality sort of a Keysstone cops moment, when the Russians took the airport, he allegedly wanted to retaliate, and some Brit said, "I will not start WWIII for you commander." Probably a gross exageration but they will call him a war criminal, which of course is total bull compared to what this misadminitration has done since.

[JHBowden]

11. Clark almost started WW3; Clark likes Team Bush

It would be a two-pronged attack. The Clark-WW3 commercials would have testimonials from many in the military claiming how crazy Clark supposedly is. The Clark-likes-team-Bush stuff (y'know, him voting for Republicans, good things to say about Rummy & co.) will be used to pump up the Nadir vote.

Of course, the Republicans will smear anyone we put up. We have to be the bigger dick next time. Without being ruthless and vicious, it doesn't matter what our message is.

[FrenchieCat]

12. I'm on the case!

Whatever it will be, we'll be fucking ready for them.

Like they say on the islands.....No problem!

[Auntie Bush]

14. Thank God for you Frenchie!

You gotta be Rove's worst nightmare! I know we can depend on you!

[Clark2008]

20. And, like Wes Clark Jr. told one of the left-wing conspiracy

theorists on Kos's board today:

"Go fuck yourself!"

:rofl:

That's what we need to do: just point out that Hack loved him, Powell loved him - they ALL loved him - and pull his miliatry recommendations to prove it. He's opened 'em all, so it shouldn't be too difficult. And, if they still want to persist in that silliness, then, like Wes Clark Jr., we just tell 'em to go fuck themselves!

[brentspeak]

23. I think this time around, we need to make the Smearers an issue

I have some ideas, tentative at best:

Post the names and photos of known agents of the Smear Machine.

Bug the mass media to cover stories concerning the Smear Machine.

Stage protests outside the homes of Smear Machine agents.

Billboards with huge photographs of Smear Machine agents.

Basically, the goal is to humiliate and ruin those who would smear candidates.

[Clark2008]

25. We could freeway blog them, as well

Put their faces up, like Wanted Posters, in grocery stores and post offices.

Make the Smear Machine the fall guy - I like that idea.

[Last Lemming]

13. Easy--

he was fired. . .

British troops at the airport in Kosova. Commander there issued order to push past Ruskies. Lower level types refused (!) Question went up the chain of command where cooler heads prevailed.

[chieftain]

15. Among other lies, they will say he is a war criminal

for his actions in Kosovo.I was appalled to read that key Kerry advisors were stunned at the egregious falsehoods of the swift boat liars. Whoever the Democratic nominee is in 2008, they should assume that the only lies that these thugs won't throw at her/him are libels that just had not occurred to them . They will say anything to win.DUers understand this. Here is hoping that the "professionals"
finally get it.

[Crunchy Frog]

16. More likely to go after him in the primaries IMO.

I see them using alot of left wing proxies to make sure that he never makes it to the nomination in the first place.

[brentspeak]

18. I think you're right

I have seen some anti-Clark articles posted on antiwar websites (usually authored by Serbian-Americans who restrict their antiwar views to the U.S' Kosovo actions only).

[CarolNYC]

19. agreed n/t

[AntiCoup2K4]

17. "Not a real Christian"??

Well he was born Jewish, right? I thought I read that somewhere.

Of course in the Jerome Corsi version, he'll go from Judaism to Catholicism to Protestantism to Buddhism to Atheism to Satanism.

And that will all be within the same month as he's planning gay weddings in the mess tent and wondering how to perform abortions in a combat zone.

Yeah it sounds completely crazy, but this is the Swift Boat Liars we're talking about. These guys are the most imaginative fiction writers the right wing ever produced.

[karynnj]

24. I totally agree - They will put together a huge set of lies

That cover various phases of his life. They will claim that they are supported by 200+ military men who served with him - yeah, so they were not in the same country - it was the same service. You'll then have bits and pieces of them propagated through the echo chamber. As you answer the first 10 charges indicating that they are not remotely likely and laboriously finding key people who were there to dispute them - then they will find anything, a minor misstatement a spelling error and trumpet it as proof that he is indeed an evil person.

Kerry tried disputing the individual charges and dealing with it on a more global level (arguing that the navy records for 35 years have not disputed his medals or the quality of his service), neither mode worked though the latter was better than the former because it became like Kerry disproved 100 things, but here are 50 more. (The media never really said if you lie 100 times we don't want to hear from you.)

My guess is that, thanks to Kerry's experience, Clark will be more prepared. No one before was ever asked to sign a blanket release for the type of documents Kerry just OKed. In Kerry's case it was even harder to understand because an impartial observer in 2003, would have said that as far as service was concerned Kerry's was well regarded and Bush 's was questionable. He had every reason to think the 140 pages of records would suffice - after all even in the antiwar years he was always described as a highly decorated veteran. The RW spin as much as anything put him on the defensive for what should have been an asset.

[Clark2008]

26. His father was Jewish and his mother was Christian

So, since his father died when he wasn't even 4 years old, yet, it goes without saying that his mother raised him in her religion.

But, your point is well-taken. Those nutjobs will stop at nothing to slime a man of good character so their fundie weirdo will look better by comparison.

[PassingFair]

22. My problem with him during the primaries was that he didn't become...

a democrat until, what was it, 6 weeks before the primary? 12 weeks? Whatever.
Now that he'll have 4 years fighting the good fight for the good side under his belt, you're damn straight I'll vote I'd vote for him over any handpicked DLC candidate you can name.

[Donna Zen]

27. It will difficult

for them to pull a Swifty on a man who was endorsed by both the Dean of West Point and Annopolis. Oh...and received glowing reviews from Colin Powell. BTW, Powell is free to come out and shut them the fuck up about Wes Clark's military record--and I think he will.
McCafferty, currently work ing for the bushes, called Clark "a national treasure."

No...Bay Buchanan tried inferring that Clark was gay. Woodruff and Brazile sat silently by.

If they ever...ever... questioned his marriage...Gert Clark would make sure they...well, let's just say that Gert would never stand for their shit. She's the General's general.

Novak said that Wes didn't deserve his fourth star... Begala sat silently by.

The worst will come from the tools of right-->the left. Maybe the "Nation" is up for another hit job.

[Larry in KC]

28. They'll have to be a good deal more aggressive earlier on...

...this time because he's becoming ever more known and respected. Last time, along with smears they could use media and popular ignorance in a way that will be much harder this time around. So, I'd expect them to hit from every direction during the primaries, that "death by a thousand cuts" thing, so disinterested voters say something like, "well, I don't know much about him, but I've heard so many negative things that I guess there's something wrong with him".

Because, of course, the more you know about the General, the more you respect and admire him, almost entirely regardless of your political persuasion. That's the other reason I expect them to jump in with both feet during the primaries, because if he's our nominee, he gets the full attention of the media (and, I think, the enthusiastic support of a much broader spectrum of Democrats than our last several candidates), letting those disinterested types learn the truth about him, at which point his chances of becoming president skyrocket.

Not to mention that he'll "beat the shit out of 'em".