http://www.moderateindependent.com/v2i4poll.htm"Earlier we had suggested in this article (www.moderateindependent.com/v2i4runningmate.html) that Senator Kerry would only benefit from someone who could solidify his foreign policy gravitas, as, thanks largely to his Vietnam era protesting, that is the only area he is vulnerable to attack which a VP choice could help solidify - ie. two never-foughts (Bush/Cheney) might be able to impugn one decorated soldier, but going after two would make them simply seem to have something against people who fight for their country.
While previously we had suggested that former Georgia Senator Max Cleland might be the most likely pick for Kerry, as he is a war hero, southerner, and a good friend of the Sentaor, events seem to be pointing much more toward former presidential hopeful General Wesley Clark.
When the prisoner abuse scandal broke, again and again it was Clark - not Cleland - who Kerry and the Democrats turned to. Clark delivered the Democrats' Saturday radio address, with the prisoner abuse scandal as the central topic. The next day, Clark was tagged to appear on NBC's Face The Nation to tackle the topic. And just a few days later, Clark and Kerry stood arm in arm in the battleground state of Arkansas, with Clark again playing the heavy in taking the Bush administration to task over the prisoner abuse scandal.
Clark, more than anyone else, represents the American military at its best, and is a man who has shown he knows how to plan things - and execute them - correctly. With Clark as VP, the Kerry ticket will be able to directly contrast the right way and the wrong way to deal with horrible dictators: the successful, effective way Clark dealt with Serbian butcher Slobodan Milosevic vs. the mess President Bush has created with his unilateral approach to dealing with Saddam Hussein.
In addition to this, Clark is a southerner who hails from a winnable battleground state - former President Clinton's home of Arkansas - and who formerly leaned Republican, having voted for Reagan and Bush, Sr in previous elections. While the media is gushing over how a Kerry/McCain ticket could unify the country and would be the Democratic "Dream Team," a Kerry/Clark ticket would bring the upside for the candidate without the downside, bringing in someone who has voted on both sides of the aisle but doesn't bring the anti-abortion and hard core conservative streak McCain does on certain issues. And Clark's military experience is far more relevant to the current situation than McCain's.
Still, if McCain was willing, Kerry might choose him as he is the more seasoned political veteran, and Clark could be included on the team as a potential Secretary of State - truly the role Clark may be most suited to.
But in reality, Clark would do just as much to make a Kerry ticket palatable to formerly Republican-leaning independents as McCain without upsetting the base, and Clark has in fact shown himself to be an adept fundraiser and established a solid grassroots network of supporters.
So while the rest of the media is largely ignoring Clark's existence, a number of factors make it appear that he is the most likely choice to round out Kerry's ticket at the moment. And as for the rest of the media's success in gauging the political winds, remember, they were saying Iraq would be the strong point for the Bush campaign this election and that Howard Dean would run away with the nomination, things we here at M/I discounted early on.
If your stockbroker had such a record, you'd probably fire him, huh?"
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