Wesley Clark from Wiki - verbal fluffs

[tabatha]

This is not smearing. It seems Mr Experience has also had trouble with statements he has made.


Clark returned to SHAPE following the summit and briefed the press on the continued bombing operations. A reporter from the Los Angeles Times asked a question about the effect of bombings on Serbian forces, and Clark noted that merely counting the number of opposing troops did not show Milošević's true losses because he was bringing in reinforcements. Many American news organizations capitalized on the remark in a way Clark said "distorted the comment" with headlines such as "NATO Chief Admits Bombs Fail to Stem Serb Operations" in The New York Times. Clark later defended his remarks, saying this was a "complete misunderstanding of my statement and of the facts," and President Clinton agreed Clark's remarks had been misconstrued. Regardless, Clark received a call the following evening from General Hugh Shelton who said he had been told by Secretary Cohen to deliver a piece of guidance verbatim. "Get your fucking face off the TV. No more briefings, period. That's it."<55><56>

General Hugh Shelton would say of Clark during his 2004 campaign that "the reason he came out of Europe early had to do with integrity and character issues, things that are very near and dear to my heart. I'm not going to say whether I'm a Republican or a Democrat. I'll just say Wes won't get my vote,"<82><83> though Shelton never elaborated further on what these issues were.<84>

Clark's loyalty to the Democratic Party was questioned by some as soon as he entered the race. Senator Joe Lieberman called Clark's party choice a matter of "political convenience, not conviction." Republican Governor Bill Owens of Colorado and University of Denver president Marc Holtzman have claimed Clark once said "I would have been a Republican if Karl Rove had returned my phone calls." Clark later claimed he was simply joking, but both Owens and Holtzman said the remark was delivered "very directly" and "wasn't a joke." Katharine Q. Seelye wrote that many believed Clark had only chosen to be a Democrat in 2004 because it was "the only party that did not have a nominee."<92> On May 11, 2001, Clark also delivered a speech to the Pulaski County Republican Party in Arkansas saying he was "very glad we've got the great team in office, men like Colin Powell, Don Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, Paul O'Neill — people I know very well — our president George W. Bush."<104> U.S. News and World Report ran a story two weeks later claiming Clark might be considered some form of political run as a Republican.<105>

Clark had testified before the House Committee on Armed Services on September 26, 2002<107> that while he supported the Iraq Resolution he believed the country should try other options before the more immediate war President Bush had been calling for at the time, and this testimony was later used during his presidential campaign to portray Clark as pro-war although FactCheck called this a "classic case of ripping quotes out of their full context in order to create a false picture."<108> Clark testified before this committee again in 2005,<109> a hearing Dana Milbank of The Washington Post characterized as having a "different tune" as some of Clark's 2002 testimony that had been portrayed by some committee members as "fuzzy stuff" and "dumb clichés" had proven itself true in the ensuing two and a half years.<110>

Some, such as Clark's biography writer Antonia Felix,<111> have speculated that Clark's inexperience at giving "soundbite" answers hurt him in the media during his primary campaign.<112> The day after he launched his campaign, for example, he was asked if he would have voted for the Iraq War Resolution, which granted President Bush the power to wage the Iraq War, a large issue in the 2004 campaign. Clark said, "At the time, I probably would have voted for it, but I think that's too simple a question," then "I don't know if I would have or not. I've said it both ways because when you get into this, what happens is you have to put yourself in a position — on balance, I probably would have voted for it." Finally, Clark's press secretary clarified his position as "you said you would have voted for the resolution as leverage for a UN-based solution." After this series of responses, although Clark opposed the war, The New York Times ran a story with the headline "Clark Says He Would Have Voted for War".<113> Clark was repeatedly portrayed as unsure on this critical issue by his opponents throughout the primary season, being forced to continue to clarify his position such as at the second primary debate when he said, "I think it's really embarrassing that a group of candidates up here are working on changing the leadership in this country and can't get their own story straight... I would have never voted for war. The war was an unnecessary war, it was an elective war, and it's been a huge strategic mistake for this country."<114>


What Samanatha Power said pales in comparison to Clark's stumbling.
I think the Obama camp should use this in a response.
I think Clark was totally out of line.

[BootinUp]

1. Hell, Obama said in 2004 he didn't know how he would have voted! lol.

Please Obama try to attack Clark.

[tabatha]

2. Actually, Obama will probably be classier than my thoughts.

I doubt he will attack Clark.

But the pot should not be calling the kettle black.