Where Clark Went Wrong
Filed under: John McCain, Military Affairs — Michael Merritt on July 1, 2008 @ 3:42 am CEST
General Wesley Clark has received a lot of flack today for what he said about John McCain’s military experience yesterday during an interview with Bob Schieffer. Andrew Sullivan is disgusted, as is Barack Obama, who made a point about it during his patriotism speech today. Yet, what’s really bad about what Clark said is not what he said, but how he said it.
Unsurprisingly, the MSM and by and large, the blogosphere, is focusing on his “I don’t think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification for President.” Yet, in the same interview, he also explained that although McCain was a squadron commander, it wasn’t during war time, and so he didn’t have to order the dropping of bombs or plan out a war.
Taken at face value, both these explanations are correct. Getting shot down and held for five years without giving up information definitely makes him a hero, and Clark notes that in the interview. Clark is also right in that a sqaudron commander is unlikely to be responsible for an overall war strategy, and at his level, he didn’t have to command troops during war time. And, despite what Republicans might say, McCain is making his military experience a large part of his campaign. While it’s certainly not the only thing he’s running on, as how some Democrats would portray him, it is a prominent part of his campaign.
I don’t think analyzing McCain’s experience in terms for readiness for being Commander-in-Chief is bad. It’s certiainly fair game, as it is for Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, or John Kerry. No, where Clark went wrong is the arrogance he displayed when he made the now well known quote. I think he could have said it a lot better. Perhaps he should have started at his next bit, where he talks about how Obama isn’t running on that experience, as well as reiterating what he just said.
I do have to say though, there is one man who’s getting off the hook here: Bob Schieffer. If you listen to the entire interview, Clark had just gone on this minute long spiel about McCain’s squadron commander position during peace time not making him ready for CiC, and Schieffer interrupts him to mention getting shot down in the fighter plane!
It’s little wonder to me that Clark’s response sounds arrogant and angry. It is true that he did mention Obama’s military inexperience in the same sentence, but he could have ended it there. Then Clark would definitely have started the “not running on that” rhetoric and we wouldn’t be even talking about this today. It does make me wonder how much Bob Schieffer was listening in the previous minute.
So, yes, Wesley Clark was wrong to say what he did, or at the very least, how he said it. Yet, I don’t think he’s entirely to blame. I also think he was provoked by Schieffer’s seeming inattentiveness after spending a minute making his argument. In the end, though, Clark should have said something different.
1 Interested
July 1, 2008 @ 5:10 am CESTClark owns Clark’s comments and nobody else. He said what he said to attempt to lessen McCain’s military experience, something that no Democrat in the running could begin to match.
Which to begin with, Clark’s record isn’t exactly a shining example of much of anything.
2 KevinH
July 1, 2008 @ 5:40 am CESTNo, this is exactly the point where everyone is getting it wrong. He said it not to "lessen McCain’s military experience" he said it to lessen the type military experience that McCain does have as a qualification for president. He calls the guy an f-in hero. Any fair reading of Clark’s comments shows that he respects him for his service, but doesn’t think that would make him a good president.
3 Interested
July 1, 2008 @ 5:53 am CESTLessening one’s experience is Lessening one’s experience, no matter if you put mustard on it or not Kevin. It’s pretty simple.
4 Michael Merritt
July 1, 2008 @ 6:31 am CESTInterested, I don’t deny that McCain has more military experience. If you want to go on terms of actually experience with military matters, John McCain beats everybody out, hands down. Even George Bush.
Not one of the candidates can say they have military decision experience, and this is what McCain is trying to suggest. That he’d be better as CiC because he knows how war works from a command perspective, which just isn’t true.
Still, he does have more experience with military matters than the current President, so I’m not denying he would probably be a better war planner then Bush. If he would just present it that way, I’d have nothing to say.
5 Interested
July 1, 2008 @ 6:39 am CESTI’d think it’s common sense to think that anybody who’s been in the thick of things has a better ability to have an educated view on it versus someone who clearly didn’t. Kerry certainly thought he did and I doubt it’d take much digging to see where Clark would have supported Kerry on that basis also.
He owns what he said - period, if he got hot under the collar than he needs to seek anger management therapy.
6 Michael Merritt
July 1, 2008 @ 7:11 am CESTI never said that he didn’t own it. I don’t think he said what he did out of malicious intent, but political rhetoric. But, it did definitely pretty much dash his chances of being on the VP shortlist.
Pity. He was on my favorites list before yesterday.
7 Interested
July 1, 2008 @ 9:24 am CESTSorry, that kinda said to me that you didn’t think he owned it.
8 Interested
July 1, 2008 @ 9:49 am CESTPity. He was on my favorites list before yesterday.
Although I have to agree with this. Clark is obviously so incredibly inept that he’d have the Quayle effect of job security for Obama.
9 Chuck Norton
July 1, 2008 @ 3:52 pm CESTHi all, I love you all but I don’t think that you are seeing the big picture.
Allow me to explain. NO campaign sends one of its guns to the Sunday morning talk shows without practiced scripts for questions. What we saw yesterday was a trial balloon to see if it is possible to hit McCain where he is strongest. Odds are internal polls show that when it comes to "patriotism" Obama has a problem. After the no flag pin gaffe, the comments about "guns and religion", wanting to withdrawal (lose) in Iraq before this near victory we have no is secured, sitting in that pew in Rev. Wrights church while he damns America, than getting caught giving thousands in donations to Pfleger’s church who is renown for his hate America rhetoric. So Obama’s campaign tried to float trial balloon to see if they could try to even the score by hitting McCain where he is strongest. When it didn’t work Obama triangulated against Clarke (who is a part of his own campaign) and has an excuse to make that speech with his pronouncements - the media went nuts covering the speech making Obama look good, playing that clip over and over, thus raising his poll numbers when it comes to patriotism. This maneuver is right out of the Dick Morris playbook.
10 Michael van der Galien, Editor-in-Chief
July 1, 2008 @ 4:44 pm CESTThat’s possible, actually.
On the other hand, it could also be a moment of Clark’s famous spontaneity.
11 Michael Merritt
July 1, 2008 @ 5:04 pm CESTInterested, my post was more about the thinking (or non-thinking) behind what Clark said. He has to live with what he said, I don’t deny that. To me, he was clearly p’d off by Schieffer’s (intended or not) provocation, and said something that’s he now been embarrassed by. He said it, he has to lived with it, and it’s probably cost him whatever political ambitions he had.
12 Chuck Norton
July 1, 2008 @ 6:57 pm CESTHey guys - have you seen that another Obama campaign advisor is attacking McCain on his service AGAIN today - the day After Obama’s very publicized speech?
I wrote about it here: http://iusbvision.wordpress.com/2008/07/01/obama-campaign-attacks-mccains-military-record-in-trial-balloon/
13 Michael Merritt
July 1, 2008 @ 7:18 pm CESTWhat Beers said is completely off the mark. Disgusting, even.
So sad. It seems that neither Barack Obama NOR John McCain can reign in the people advising them. Obama with people commenting on McCain’s service, and McCain with people commenting on Obama’s patriotism.
Distancing themselves from these people is becoming a full time job for them.
So, I guess this means only one thing: neither of them are becoming President.
14 Tully
July 1, 2008 @ 7:36 pm CESTAdd another Obama surrogate trying their best to discredit McCain’s service record as being worth considering when choosing whom to vote for–Jim Webb.
15 Chuck Norton
July 1, 2008 @ 8:35 pm CESTThanks for that link Tully - Webb says that McCain should not use his military service in the election. Did Webb, shortly before he started running for Senate, critique Kerry when he themed his 2004 convention on his 3 months of service in Vietnam? Well I did the reseach and Webb used his service in his campaign as well. I updated my blog on this. Thanks again.
16 Chris
July 1, 2008 @ 10:16 pm CESTJust follow the Web link. This quote caught my eye:
"And John McCain’s my long-time friend, if that is one area that I would ask him to calm down on, it`s that, don’t be standing up and uttering your political views and implying that all the people in the military support them because they don’t, any more than when the Democrats have political issues during the Vietnam War. Let’s get the politics out of the military, take care of our military people, or have our political arguments in other areas."
I can’t recall McCain ever suggesting that all people in the Military support his views.
The bigger question: Why do the Dems keep digging the hole deeper? This was an unsolicited comment on Webb’s part.
17 Tully
July 1, 2008 @ 10:28 pm CESTThey are trying to neutralize military experience as a consideration in the campaign because Obama doesn’t have any. DUH.