Confusion spins around Clark's party Affiliation

[joefree1]

CONFUSION SPINS AROUND CLARK’S PARTY AFFILIATION
By J. Grant Swank, Jr.
Jan 2, 2004, 17:00
According to Republican National Committee Research, "Clark claims he was Clinton convert to Democrat Party."
Quoting New York Times’ Adam Nagorney, the RNC states: "Moving to fill in the blanks of his candidacy a day after he announced for president, General Clark also said that he had been a Republican who had turned Democratic after listening to the early campaign appeals of a fellow Arkansan, Bill Clinton."That leaves the RNC site with this headline: "CLARK KICK-OFF LEAVES BIG QUESTION."
Edit ...

‘I would have been a Republican,’ Clark told them, ‘if Karl Rove had returned my phone calls.’ (Howard Fineman, ‘Campaign 2004: Clark’s Charge,’ Newsweek, 9/22/03)"
More: "September 2003: Clark Insists Comment Was ‘Humorous Tweak,’ But Witnesses Say He ‘Wasn’t Joking.’"
RNC records: "Messaging NEWSWEEK by BlackBerry, Clark late last week insisted the remark was a ‘humorous tweak.’ The two others said it was anything but. ‘He went into detail about his grievances,’ Holtzman said. ‘Clark wasn’t joking. We were really shocked.’ (Howard Fineman, ‘Campaign 2004: Clark’s Charge,’ Newsweek, 9/22/03)"
Edit ...
"’It's hard to imagine how a longtime Republican can win the Democratic nomination. You can't beat a real Republican, Bush, with a recently lapsed Republican, Clark," said Jeff Cohen, spokesman for Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio.
More ...
http://michnews.com/artman/publish/article_2180.shtml

I do have some insincerity about Wesley Clarks recent conversion to the Democratic Party but I am more concerned about his lack of political experience. And Clark like Dean are going to get a lot more of the above.

Keepin' it real. :evilgrin:

[arewethereyet]

1. well he is a military guy, wheres the shock ?

they're generally apolitical as they have to work with both parties. It was some time before Colin Powell made his intentions known.

He was ready to run and there was no room on the other side of the fence so he came left. There was little to nothing to pin him as being left or right up to this point (well the speeches were a mistake but generally delivered from a military point of view).

Pretty simple. Its convenient.

[bowens43]

58. Exactly.

An opportunist with a record of supporting the most vile administrations this nation has ever seen and yet many Democrats , because of their fear of bush, want to claim him as their own.

[FrenchieCat]

2. Here are other works by Swank......

http://michnews.com/artman/publish/cat_index_8.shtml

He's a Bush ass licker.....in case you didn't know.

Thank you for doing the RW's job. Of course he also received 2,600 letters thanking him for pointing "independents" in the right directions....as indys are tired of all of the partisanship that Presidents have shown....instead of being President of all of the people. That's was just one of our little project! We write letters for Clark. Currently 3,000 and growing strong!

Again, thanks for your "sincere" interest in promoting Democratic causes and the Democratic Presidential candidates!

"When you can do good, you should".......Wes Clark

OBJECTS ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR!

[NV1962]

13. Nooooooooooo

Bushistas cross-dressed as "Dean supporters"? Last time they tried something like that was waaaay back, before November 2000 even! Naw... No way. Elephants have bad memory.

Anyway...

[joefree1]

15. Actually I quite like Clark

I do have a problem with his recent conversion to the Democratic Party. I also do not believe that success in the military mean's he is a good politician.

I am presenting a sincere critique of Wesley Clark. I will gladly support him though if he wins.

I hope you will also thank those who do the RW's job by criticizing Dean. :toast:

[Clark Can WIN]

54. I question your sincerity

If you "quite liked Clark" you would understand that his ideological heart has been in the Dem camp even longer than the decade plus his votes have, and you would not spread the "recent conversion" lie.

[joefree1]

30. "thanks for your "sincere" interest in promoting Democratic causes"

>>Frenchie4Clark
Here some Polipundit insight on our Democratic primary

http://polipundit.com/

For those who don't know, Polipundit.com is a RW site who have been encouraging it 25,000+ readers to donate to various Democratic Candidates, in particular to the Howard Dean campaign....<<

Ahem, thank you I guess. However, I do think Clark and Dean need to be able to defend themselves against this type of stuff.

And I think they will do quite well.

[FrenchieCat]

38. Donating money....

to a candidate and spreading smears are not the same thing....

sorry, apples v. oranges!

[joefree1]

39. Huh? Frenchie your thread got locked

Because it had a RW smear without an opinion.

Nevermind, nice pic of Clark though.

[robbedvoter]

3. Choice: bring back the Reagan democrats and WIN - or lose

and pride yourselves in the numerous wings the obsolete democratic party has developed as of late (the cockroach wing, the demagogue wing etc).
Like Clark, I was an independent becoming Democrat. But, if the party of Zell Miller, James Trafficant, Ed Koch and Joe Lieberman deems itself too good for Wesley Clark - I don't think I want to be a member of this club either. :shrug:

[Brian_Expat]

9. What a shame. . .

It's such a shame that some Clark supporters feel so smug about their fellow Democrats. "Obsolete cockroach demagogues" like me, on the other hand, think there's plenty of room in our party for those who subscribe to Democratic principles and policies -- even former Reagan/Bush Republicans like Wesley Clark.

[JNelson6563]

40. does this mean your support of the Democratic party

ceases if Clark does not win the nomination?

Julie

[Scott Lee]

46. Ah, fantastic - so you support Howard Dean, who.....

is drawing the greatest interest and converts from the moderate repubs. This is a nice turn of events.

[bowens43]

59. Bye.

[roguevalley]

4. since when do we get our information from these hacks?

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[lancdem]

6. Mr. Swank is a Bush supporter, to put it mildly

Someone posted one of his columns (barf!) yesterday. I'm not exactly sure why DUers feel the need to give this guy publicity. He doesn't like any of our candidates, Dean included.

[robbedvoter]

52. winner of the MWO whore of the year award?

I am impressed! Black is white! Up is down. Canpaign finance is evil OBL is innocent - no, wait, he's outrageous! he needs to die - what W said...

[Clark Can WIN]

55. robbedvoter I love your sig

priceless

[Turkw]

7. OH Please, please when are the attacks against Dean going to stop

When you guys stop this kind of crap.

Some of the Dean supporters, especially the biggest whiners when Dean gets questioned, post the dirtiest anti-other candidate threads useing the worst of the Republican hacks. Real pure!

[Dookus]

8. Nope... no confusion.

he's now a democrat.

a very liberal one. Good for him.

[incapsulated]

10. "According to Republican National Committee Research"

Sad. Where will you be trolling for flame material next?

[FrenchieCat]

12. Hey,

Love the Clark Bottle......now that's creative!:bounce:

[incapsulated]

16. Thanks..

Giving the Cheerleader a rest for now, I *do* have other's waiting in the wings. :) Wait, she's offended...

[joefree1]

34. Sorry, did she see my asses? :-D

[stickdog]

53. Me, too. I'm impressed with the Clark bottle.

The irony is too delicious.

[KittyWampus]

11. Clark- A Natural Born Problem Solver

goes beyond the partisan strife to get things done.

[eileen_d]

14. "Confusion spins" -- yes, it certainly does

Do you realize you are now disqualified from playing the "GOP talking points" card when Dean is criticized? I am making a note of it on my pad. </bubbles>

[joefree1]

19. Never played that

I actually use these forums to sharpen my Dem talking points for Dean. Bring on all the criticism you want.

However I am a little surprised at the indignation of Clark supporters in this thread. You are all against the attacks on Dean then? My apologies to you at least. I'll be joining your ranks if Clark wins. I hope you'll join our ranks if Dean wins. :toast:

[eileen_d]

24. Spreading shit in response to spreading shit

is still spreading shit. I expect Dean supporters to defend Dean, and Clark supporters to defend Clark. Don't know why that surprises you. :shrug:

[joefree1]

35. No surprise

So I won't find any criticism on Dean from you? :shrug:

[eileen_d]

37. There is a difference between criticism and spreading shit.

I know it's a tough one when a person's candidate inspires "us-vs-them" thinking.

I try to do the former (criticize), sometimes do the latter (spread shit). I have even been known to defend Dean on occasion. In any case, I don't complain when people step up to defend their candidate of choice.

So I still don't understand why you are confused that Clark supporters are defending Clark. I understand why Dean supporters defend Dean (even though I may not agree with their reasons for doing so).

[joefree1]

42. "Spreading" er, that stuff

I have no problems when Clark supporters defend Clark. But look at the threads and tell me there's not a huge amount of anti-Dean out there. I'm not crying about it. We'll need a candidate forged in fire.

And the article was not shit, just very slanted. Please refute the facts. I want to know.

And I loved it when you post Snopes.com about that Dean/anti-Israel e-mail.

[NV1962]

28. Why, of course...

I hope you'll join our ranks if Dean wins.

I think it's safe to count on that.

Not on that nomination thingie though! :evilgrin:

[pinkpops]

17. I think it is funny

that this guy and George Will and William Safire feel like they need to help the Demos out by telling them who to select. As for Clark's party affiliation, I don't think he has had a need for one up till now. I prefer to listen to candidate's positions relative to my own, not expecting an exact match. The subtext of questions about Clark's affiliation is this: Is he for real? Is being honest when he states his positions given that he has not been in the Demo camp all these years.

[imhotep]

18. The scary part is

that Clark is even more of a hawk than Bush.

[pinkpops]

20. wha?

[LiberalBushFan]

22. do you support any candidate?

I've seen dozens of one line anti-Clark hit and runs from you since even before he joined the race, and that's all I ever see of you.

[incapsulated]

23. I find...

Your post's scarier by far.

Hey, weren't you going to tell us how you personally knew General Clark as a "co-worker"?

Oh, right, you just do drive-by's...

[Dookus]

25. well....

in 3 short years, Bush has started two full-fledged wars. Clark has started exactly zero in his entire life. But nice try.

[lurk_no_more]

26. No...the scary part is.....

You actually believe someone will believe you and care.


” JAFO”

[Clark Can WIN]

56. GIve me a fucking break, you know you not only disserve your candidate

but imhotep as well who was a brilliant leader centuries ahead of his time.

Clark is a bigger hawk then bush? Back that shit up since CLARK WAS THE FIRST CANDIDATE TO PUBLICLY RAISE THE WARNING FLAG ABOUT PNAC.

[bowens43]

60. Of course he is

he has been trained for of his adult life to seek military solutions to political problems. The military 'option' will always be at the top of the list with this guy.

[BootinUp]

21. Looks like another Fair and Balanced news source - NOT

This is a nice smear job.

[Melinda]

27. You know, I can hear the humor when I read Gen Clark's remark on Rove

I'm afraid it will take much more to convince me Wes Clark wasn't kidding... the line sounds like a joke, it's the kind that's easily spun, and he's far from a stupid man.

Who are these two "witnesses" and what's known of them? Notice it all begins with one allegation? Sorry, but this particular episode is classic Rovian crap AFAIC.

[Tom Rinaldo]

29. Melinda, you do Dean proud. Thanks. n/t

[Melinda]

32. Tom, you just make me smile. :-)

And you certainly do the same for General Clark - so right backatcha. :hi:

[Mz Pip]

31. Yawn

When are you folks gonna get some new material? This crap is getting moldy.

MzPip
:dem:

[Name removed]

33. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

36. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Clark Can WIN]

57. Just to clarify

Are you calling Clark supporters stupid?

[molly]

41. A LOT of Confusion spins around Dean's stance on issues

Clark - his lack of political experience? OMG he was in the military - take a look at his record. It is public, BTW - not sealed away from inquiring eyes and minds.

[John_H]

43. Whoo Hooo! More from the Topsey Turvey media world of Dr. Dean!

There are two new former media whores cum journalists-to-be-trusted in the down is up World According to Dean Supporters--former MWO Whore of the Year and (formerly?) Chimp Cheerleader Grant Swank! Along with the newly credible Tweety, Lunz, New York Post, and CiCi, Howard the ex-duck has earned the Dean supporter stamp of approval. Congratulations on the sea change, Howard!

And thank you Dr. Dean for turning these ex-shameless Bush shills into objective members of the fourth estate!

Shut up, cynical mediawatchers!! There is no possible way these people could be up to their same ol'reselct Chimp antics. No possible way.

[Melinda]

45. You really should qualify your statement on "Dean supporters"

Speaking for myself, I'm one Dean supporter who doesn't deserve to be painted with your broad brush of malevolence.

You couldn't be more wrong.

[John_H]

49. Have you looked at the threads on the first three pages?

I hope I'm wrong, but this forum is loaded with Dean supporters backing citing quotes by Bill Schneider, Howard Fineman, Don Lambro, and Chris Mathews as proof of various Dean victory scenarios.

In the recent past, these cites have also included Candy, Ci Ci, Paula, and even Bob Novack!

I have no malevolence to Dean or most of his supporters--I do have intense malevolence to the dimwittedness of suddenly believing "writers" who have, for more than four years, been continually exposed as Bush administration shills.

Could it be that these folks defend/support/ Dean for another reason besides Journalistic objectivity?

[Melinda]

50. You'll find some supporters of both camps doing the same thing

That hardly makes us all guilty.

[robbedvoter]

51. The thought occured to me when I saw this:

[Jerseycoa]

44. A couple of points

1-I come across scandalous shit about Dean pushed by RW sources now and then. I have never once lowered myself to post it. Should I begin?

2-Perhaps you can explain to me why so many Dean supporters have "Republican" Clark as VP choice, a breath away from the oval office and all that.

[BobbyJay]

47. My question is why hasn't this thread been LOCKED?

It features rightwing propoganda as its basis.

[robbedvoter]

48. Right wing propaganda is OK - as long as nicknames aren't used

We are civilized debaters of Rove points.

[bowens43]

61. The truth becomes propoganda.

How sad.

[in_cog_ni_to]

62. The only confusion

spinning around Clark's political affiliation seems to be coming from the republicans and the Dean supporters. I'm not confused. He voted for Clinton TWICE and voted for Gore in 2000. WHERE'S THE CONFUSION in that? :eyes:

[TexasSissy]

63. I don't care if he was a Republican. Why should anyone care?

What matters is what he can do for the country now, and his stands on the various issues.

He is strongly pro-environment (as opposed to pollution-filled Vermont from a "pro-environment" gov), and he recognizes the horror of war, having been there himself, while knowing the necessity of it at times. He understands global economics, having an advanced degree in economics. He understands diplomacy, having dealt with that on a global level with he was Supreme Commander of NATO.

He's great. I love 'im. I'm gonna vote for 'im. Go, Wes!