Clark Is Not a Republican. No Bush. The GOP? Not in Clark's Future

[Composed Thinker]

So Clark was at a meeting full of Republicans and he said nice comments about Republicans? Why is this a huge shock to everyone? He voted for Republicans in the past. Well, there has been a gradual shift to the right in the past thirty years. As one article in The Nation once put it, Richard Nixon advocated positions in 1972 that were well to the left of those that Al Gore advocated in 2000. The list goes on and on, but there's no need to go over the same stuff again.

I think it's fair to say that Clark is moderately liberal. A little more liberal than Lieberman, perhaps, but far less than Kucinich.

The overriding point? He's not a Republican, even if he used to call himself one.

[dkf]

1. Geez, so only right wing wackos are Republicans then?

Anyone less than a wacko is a Democrat?

If so, then you are right and Wes Clark is a Democrat.

[Composed Thinker]

2. That's not what I said

Clark may have been registered as a Republican and voted for them in the past, but he sounds like a Democrat and believes in Democratic causes today. That's what counts.

[trotsky]

3. I am upset we are forgetting the Jeffords phenomenon

Moderate and liberal Republicans despise what their party has become. But they were willing to hold their nose & vote for * in 2000 because his campaign de-emphasized the radical politics of today's Republican party.

This quest against Clark disgusts me. Hey, I'm still leaning towards Dean, but #1 I want to get rid of *. WHOEVER the Democrats nominate - even Lieberman - would be better than the piece of excrement that disgraces our White House now.

[Composed Thinker]

4. We've got a lot of good candidates.

Let's hope that we don't squander the opportunity we have.

[mhr]

5. Info on Clark's Troubled Past

can be found here:

http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Articles8/DVNS_Wesley-Clark.htm

[Composed Thinker]

6. That seems like a lot of far left stuff

[Jackhammer Jesus]

7. If there's one thing that SHOULD put an end to this crap...

It's today's comparison of Clark and Dean on the issues, in which they came out disturbingly close (considering Clark is a big bad Republican).

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=423028

Shamefully, this will either be collectively ignored or brushed aside by the "Clark is a Republican" group, since they think they clearly have such overwhelming evidence to support their belief that anything to the contrary is inconsequential.

Kind of frustrating for people who like to see, you know, the truth. :eyes:

[boxster]

10. Thanks, JJ, you did my job.

I've posted this a couple of times now. I thought that it did an excellent job of pointing out that Clark and Dean aren't as far apart as posters (on both sides) would like us to believe.

The scary thing is that this should be incredibly obvious to anyone who bothered to look at Clark's stance on the issues. Or watched the debate. Or read about his speeches. Etc.

[Bombtrack]

8. I don't think he's ever called himself a republican or conservative

unlike say Dean.

Clark is a brilliant guy. A Rhodes Scholar. Almost of those type of people are moderates. Fairly left on social issues usually, and occasionally center-right, but just as commonly center-left on economics.

I find that usually people of his ilk who were born rich are more supply-side/ conservative, and those from his type of humble beginnings are more keynsian/left-center.

Look, between McGovern and Nixon, McGovern was alot further away from the center by then modern academic/historical acceptance.

And the case can very easily be made that Carter was a failed presidency. Although he did have bad luck and subversion from the right, (along with a weak control of his own party), he was a very bad administrative day-to-day executive.

So, chosing Reagan did not prove he was a partisan republican or conservative, even back then.

As far as Bush1 in 88, he wasn't really too much of a conservative either, certainly less than Reagan. And maybe Clark supported the death penalty.

I haven't heard that he voted for Ford, leading me to believe he voted for Carter. He voted for Clinton I believe twice.

And people can change when they get out of the military. He voted in the dem primary in Arkansas relatively recently.

Ever since Eisenhower, the military has tended to have more confidence in certain leaders. and because of the anti-anti-communist, part of the left, that made it's biggest impact in the democratic party, military culture has been even more accepting of republicans. I think the fact that Clark has been provenly independant-minded while IN the military, and has become obviously liberal since exiting it, proves he's free-thinking, and prejuduce-free.

[Justice]

9. Clark Never Called Himself Either A Republican or A Conservative

more than that - he grew up middleclass to poor - not rich.

[Bombtrack]

11. By "his ilk" I meant ultra-accomplished intellectuals

I know his background