Safire says Clark has "disappeared from the scene"

[jokerman93]

Watching Jim Lehere's News Hour on Bay Area KQED last night, Friday Nov 7, 03

Transcript:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/political_wrap/july-dec03/ss_11-07.html

William Safire disregards Clark as if he were already out of the picture:

MARK SHIELDS: Dean is clearly the front-runner and, Jim, in the effort to gang up against him this week was the consensus and acknowledgment on the part of his challengers that he has to be stopped. If he wins Iowa and New Hampshire, there's probably no stopping him and the worst thing in politics is to get what you wish for.

WILLIAM SAFIRE: On the other hand, look how everybody was all hot and excited about General -- what's his name -- Clark. And he sort of disappeared from the scene. So things change pretty fast around here.

Why??? This is absurd nonsense.

[MasonJar]

1. Well now

Well, now we know who the Pugs do NOT want.

[jokerman93]

2. Yes that's what I thought

If Saphire is any indication, it seems like the Repubs would prefer Dean to Clark for some reason.

Dean/Clark people? What say you?

[The Zanti Regent]

23. You mean SAFFLIAR

SAFFLIAR of the SCREW YORK TIMES merely parrots what Reichführer Rove writes.

SAFFLIAR doesn't realize that the Day of Reckoning is coming for the Nazi Republican Party

[Aleesha]

3. Hogwash!

Clark has a military background that is what is needed now, Iraq is going to be the focus of the 04 election, and Dean, has notta on any foreign policy experience, and if the american people only back Dean because he is blunt and not afraid to speak agianst Jr, then the american people deserve another war and 4 more years of the squatter!Clark is is a brilliant speaker, extremely smart, and not afraid to go into Iraq, Dean can't talk without jumbling his words, has that phony smile, and can't even talk about Iraq because he has no idea what being in the military is about. Dean will not beat Bush, Clark can.

[Scott Lee]

4. You just made a great case against Clark

"..not afraid to go into Iraq"...

That's precisely the stance that is becoming daily less popular, Aleesha.

Thanks for your endorsement of Dean.

[Lefty48197]

6. Seriously, you should have seen Clark's speech in SC on Thursday

He started talking about sending kids off to war and he vowed that he would never send them off to die without a good reason as Bush did. Clark's eyes teared up while he said it and you could tell that he was very passionate about the subject. I'm not anti Dean or anything, but I would trust Clark in charge of the military more than any other candidate.

[Lefty48197]

5. Safire is tanked up on martinis

He must have missed the speech Clark gave in SC on Thursday. It was the best speech I've seen him give yet.

[jokerman93]

10. I saw the SC speech rerun on C-SPAN last night

I'm constantly intriqued and impressed by Clark.

He's going on record unequivically on the side of integrity, common sense and a longterm vision of stability and sustainability for America as a strong partner in the world community. He's looking ahead with the knowledge and foresight gained from real leadership experience.

The "Mad General" as I affectionately call him, is starting to convince me he's the real deal.

(I call him the Mad General because he belives that America yet may have a bright future of leadership and co-responsibilty in the world community. The general is a rare one: he's a dreamer with a realistic plan.)

[maha]

7. Safire is still making excuses for Nixon.

Who needs him?

[Kahuna]

8. Latest Newsweek poll has Clark within MOE against

bush! And Clark still doing the best against bush. I wonder why Safire would say that? :puke:


http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/031108/nysa010_1.html

[KissMyAsscroft]

9. SAFIRE IS A LYING PARTISAN HACK.

Who cares what the fuck he thinks.

He gets the RNC memo and runs with it.

[VolcanoJen]

27. And the RNC Memo reads: "Bury Clark Early."

Talk him down, make him insignificant... in fact, if you can help it, don't even bring him up in your conversations about the Democratic candidates.

[glarius]

11. My observations as a non-American watching this from afar

It seems to me that the Republicans and right wingers such as Saffire, Tucker Carlson, Novak et al, have jumped on Clark from the moment he entered the race...I think they fear him because they think he will appeal to the Republicans who don't particularly like Bush, but admire a military man like Clark....They have belittled him from the beginning, which to me means he's the one they fear running against Bush....But sitting up here in Canada, I may have it all wrong...:)

[Kahuna]

12. You are correct. The GOP pundits positively GLOW..

when they assess Dean's chances of being the nominee. They can barely contain their mirth. And yes, they take every swipe they can at Clark and do all they can to diminish his campaign.

[jokerman93]

14. So the Repubs may see Dean as beatable

Clark does seem to have fewer chinks in his armor so far. He's going after Bush and the Neocons more systematically and strategically than the other candidates who seem to be more reactive that proactive (from my view anyway).

Also, my guess is Clark is likely to have a network of loyal supporters in the Pentagon. (You don't get 4 stars without one). It's obvious Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz have their own network of "Crusaders" in the Pentagon. Maybe Clark is a real threat to that emerging power structure as well -- which would mean it would be more difficult for them to subvert Clark's policies from within if he did take the executive branch away from them.

That's just one point that comes to mind I haven't seen expressed other places yet.

on edit:
lots of typos

[Old and In the Way]

15. I think you are correct.

They are rooting for Dean to get the Democratic nod. I think they will try to crucify him on his anti-war vote / no foreign policy experience / no military service. Clark/Kerry have all those bases covered.

I like Dean, I've contributed to his campaign, and will fully support him if he's our candidate. But I can see how the RNC is hoping that he's the Party's choice.

[Emillereid]

13. I wouldn't doubt that the new Repuke talking points

include instructions to ignore or otherwise marginalize Clark. I do think this administration is most afraid of facing Clark -- which I think makes him very attractive. I think they fear he knows too much. And I have to admit I have fantasies about him standing next to the phony fly-boy in a debate.

[Rowdyboy]

16. Yes, that visualization of a Bush/Clark debate

has brought a smile to my face many times...

[salinen]

17. i love you guys

here's what i propose. we decide now, today, that we all all for clarke. i mean i love them all (except lieberman). but think about it. repub think tanks are paying time-and-a-half right now to foil our strategies. what if we blitz them with our solidarity. after all, we will be down to one candidate soon. if we put it all on clarke because he has the ace card over dean. that ace is that he is a highly decorated and successful general. we must garner the paranoid vote. it is huge. he managed a war that was commonly agreed to between many nations. milosivic is the international court system, which is different than the bush death squad, and the war itself was quick. nobody likes ethnic cleansing. it would also be a media event that suddenly, we found our guy. let the fur fly!

[salinen]

18. oh and

i think it would drve home an embarrassment for bush if clarke wore his full dress uniform to the debate with smirky mcflightsuit.

[jokerman93]

19. LOL

Can he do that????

That would be kind of cheesy and obvious though wouldn't it?

[salinen]

20. j'man

perhaps - i know we'd vote for him regardless of cheese. but think about how regular people view things. i know, iknow, it's difficult to think like a regular person.

[gulliver]

21. Bushists have no choice but to ignore Clark.

They are afraid of him and for a good reason. If the Bushists engage Clark, they know they will lose.

[johnfunk]

22. Safliar is, as usual, full of crap...

... and take note of the manner in which conservative pundits are taking pot-shots at both Wesley Clark and Howard Dean. The reason is obvious -- either would win in a landslide against their beloved Dear Leader, Sneery W. McFlightsuit.

[Myra]

24. Safire is hoping that 'if he says it, it will be so'

He's been the mouthpiece for the GOP
for years (decades?). And now he's trying
to program the public into believing that BS.
He's a total whore.

[yellowdog]

25. He hasn't disappeared from the scene

but if he doesn't start finding some money he will have to. I checked opensecrets.org today and he has even less money than Lyndon Larouche Jr.
Larouche - $5,562,783
Clarke - $3,491,108
These numbers were as of 10/15. He can't survive if his supporters don't pony up more than this. I am a Dean supporter but Clarke deserves better than this.

[boxster]

26. Seems pretty obvious - the Repubs would much rather face Dean than Clark,

so they're trying to make Clark look unsubstantial, hoping we'll buy into it. Combined with the Repubs nearly falling over themselves backing Dean on his CF statement last week, it's pretty obvious that they are hoping he's the nominee.