Is Clark too liberal to get elected?

[MIMStigator]

I'm scared the Michael Moore and George McGovern and Rangel endorsements will hurt Wes Clark in the general election because just because Wes Clark speaks for the democratic BASE doesnt mean he can get cross-over votes.

What do you think, is Wes Clark too liberal?

[Nashyra]

1. He does not come across as too liberal

He comes across as moderate and most people who think many candidates have basically the same platform, which is opposite of all things * will go for the guy who has the military and security background. That is crossover voters, not necessarily the Dem base.

[Hoppin_Mad]

2. He can always point out his GOP fundraising and voting record ! -nt-

[funky_bug]

5. Or

other candidates can keep calling him a republican. That should help smooth things over on the liberal end.

OR truly educated voters will just look at the platforms and make their decisions based on the issues.

[Hoppin_Mad]

12. Or they can look at his actions, not his newly minted words

there's an old saying . . .

[funky_bug]

14. That could be said of all the candidates

Are you just hoppin mad at Clark?

I for one support all our candidates, because they are representing my thoughts and views on America as it should be. I think it would be in poor taste for me to bash another candidate, just because I've thrown my monitary and physical support behind one of them.

[mikehiggins]

28. Do NOT expect an answer to your question. That IS the answer n/t

[exJW]

20. People who've "gotten a brain"...

... realize that his "newly minted words" match his actions, as well as his time-tested-words to a "T".

Thanks for the Clark endorsement.

[deminflorida]

10. That's just it isn't it...

it's the only thing they can come up with. Well if that's it good luck, all we have to do is stay on message with Clark's outstanding turn-around program for America.

[Democrats unite]

11. I guess the apology you made for doing this exact same thing...

meant nothing?

[Hoppin_Mad]

13. I apologized for using an inflammatory desciption of him

nothing more.

[Democrats unite]

15. Do I have you permission to post what the apology was?

eom

on edit: forget I even asked, seeing how your candidate is doing right now, I can understand your posts.

[Hoppin_Mad]

18. No - keep the focus on the candidates - not DU'ers

[mikehiggins]

29. Hey! Was that the one where somebody

used a description of Clark put forth by supporters of a man now on trial for genocide and war crimes in the Hague?

That post?

[deminflorida]

3. Wow,

I'm glad to finally here, this....

If he's too liberal, then I am too.....

His Middle-Class Tax policies and the lifting up of the American Family class is definitely in line with my beliefs...

[madmax]

21. Exactly deminflorida

I consider myself a moderate and Clark's values are in line with my own. I like the way he articulates his views - he makes sense.

If believing in a decent living wage, health care, equal education for all children, equal rights for all and a sensible foreign policy makes one a liberal the I guess I'll have to re-label myself.

[Maddy McCall]

4. Absolutely not.

In every election cycle, candidates pick up a wide array of endorsements. Those two endorsements will do NOTHING to hurt Clark, and as a matter of fact, having McGovern will benefit him as it will pull Democrats who supported McGovern's kind of liberalism back into the election.

And hopefully, younger Dems who don't remember McGovern will look to history to understand what real liberals were like 30 years ago. The Democratic party has shifted so much in the past 20 years that many people don't realize that we used to be proudly liberal.

At any rate, most voters don't vote for candidates just because famous person X says to. They do because they align with the candidate on the issues. OR because he looks good in a uniform or an argyle sweater ;-) .

[Jerseycoa]

16. McGovern

Baby BOOM Baby BOOM Baby BOOM Baby BOOM Baby BOOM Baby BOOM

[Maddy McCall]

22. That's right...

LOL! Love the way you put it.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

6. He's not too liberal, but is he populist enough?

Great tax plan - the Wall Street Journal panned it so you know it's good - but he hasn't said much about the power of corporations and their control over our democracy. I figured what with Clark's "Enlightenment Man" persona he'd wax on about Jefferson's warnings about the "aristocracy of monied interests" or Lincoln's thoughts on Labor vs. Capital.

Did he ever scrape and bow an apology for that "Let's send all the programming jobs to India" gaffe?

[Democrats unite]

7. This is getting unreal!

One camp side is saying he's a Republican, now someone is saying he might be to Liberal. Will the madness ever end?

[Toot]

8. I don't know about 'Wes Clark speaking for the democratic BASE',

but if anyone is "too liberal to be elected" it would be Dennis, who I actually like.

[Lauren2882]

9. I'm hoping the endorsements will help more than hurt.

i.e. I'm hoping that Michael Moore's endorsement will bring over Dean supporters who are fans of Moore (after Dean drops out or does poorly in early states).

I think for people who aren't fans of Michael Moore, his endorsement of Clark won't mean much because they don't really know much about him. He's not prominent like a Rush Limbaugh, who could hurt a Republican candidate trying to appeal to swing voters in a general election with his endorsement.

As for Clark being too liberal, I think that's not at all true. His tax plan, for example, is sensible and it does a lot to help out families with children.

[funky_bug]

17. Endorsements, in the end

only seem to help the candidates get some free air time on CNN and MSNBC. The fact of the matter is, we never saw the Harkin jump, and since Michael Moore opened his big mouth, Clark has dropped nationally. While I will take heart in the MOE, I can say that from what I've witnessed, endorsements are nothing more than soundbytes and press releases. I'm always happy to see Clark get a nod, but I'm equally happy to see Carter and Dean together. I thought it was cool that Hootie endorsed Edwards, and even cooler that Jack Black is backing Kerry. Of course, the Michael Bolton for Gephart thing made me giggle, but I digress. The fact of the matter is, any time someone of prominance says, "Hey, I like this DEM," I'm happy.

With the rush to endorse that has been the pattern for this primary, another one will soon follow for a different candidate, and then they'll get their soundbytes with the media, and then on to another.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

19. He can get away with his support for AA, etc. because he's a general

it's great!

[mikehiggins]

31. What do you mean?

Your remarks puzzle me.

I don't understand.

[buckeye1]

23. I think he might be the best candidate.

I am waiting to see if he can win primaries. Clark speaks for everyone.
I doubt that he cares about endorsments. He is looking good now.

[shivaji]

24. This exactly is Clarks's problem...he CHANGES with the need du jour

When he was at the repug fund raising, he was all for Bush.
When he was CNN analyst, he was all for ridding Saddam and freeing Iraqi people.
When he was Lobbyist for a firm dealing with the military, he was all for expanding military budgets.
Now that he has to compete with Dr. Dean, he is all of a sudden very liberal.

Will the real Clark please stand up?

IMPO Clark is an opportunist, egotistic, money hungry, UNdependable person. Other than that, he has served the military and not broken any laws.

Go with Dean/Kerry/Edwards?gephardt...they are MUCH MORE DEPENDABLE.

[MIMStigator]

26. Like when he helped Newt try to cut medicare and

said * was doing a good job on terrorism?

that was Dean, sorry

[bowens43]

25. I haven't seen any evidence that suggests Clark is a liberal.

[mikehiggins]

27. It is a danger, to be sure, but one we can live with.

The problem with being a "librul" in the past is that they are considered weak on national defense. That isn't a stance easily taken in regard to Clark.

As someone once said, "only Nixon could go to China." Maybe only someone like Clark could carry the liberal standard with him into the White House. Certainly, everyone else has to migrate to the middle, as almost everyone agrees. Clark is apparently perceived to be in the middle (if not the right wing) by a lot of people already.

That is going to be a hard image to crack from Bush's point of view. Hell, its hard enough to budge right here on DU. We still keep hearing how Clark is a Republican, months after the question first was raised.

Clark IS a centrist, of course, but his center is far to the left of what the media and the Bushites claim is the center. Someone said that compared to Harry Truman, Clark was to the left of Ralph Nader. Even on DU most will admit that his positions are to the left of any of the other leading candidates. They may not BELIEVE he means it but mostly they don't find fault with his positions as stated.

The only defense Clark has in this regard is the one he keeps using.

He isn't a liberal or a conservative; he's an American who puts God and Country first, ahead of ambition and wealth. A poor Jewish boy of reduced circumstances who has risen to contend for the highest office in the land.

I mentioned elsewhere that Clark sounds like someone out of a Norman Rockwell America, or someone out of Horatio Alger. Now that CMB is out of the race there is no one whose life is more clearly opposite to that of Bush, and no one who can make a better case for this country.

So if that is being a liberal, bring it on!

[Jerseycoa]

32. I've never given up the "L" word, I refuse to give it up

MAHER: Okay. I’m just – I’m just wondering, of all the people who has the credentials to say, “liberal” is not a bad word, I’m wondering if I could get you to say that.

CLARK: Well, I’ll say it right now.

MAHER: Good for you.

CLARK: We live in a liberal democracy.

MAHER: Right.

CLARK: That’s what we created in this country. That’s our—

MAHER: That’s right. Thank you.

CLARK: That’s in our Constitution. Let me follow on this, okay? I think we should be very clear on this. You know, this country was founded on the principals of the Enlightenment.

MAHER: Right.

CLARK: It was the idea that people could talk, reason, have dialogue, discuss the issues. It wasn’t founded on the idea that someone would get stuck by a divine inspiration and know everything right from wrong. I mean, people who founded this country had religion, they had strong beliefs, but they believed in reason, in dialogue, in civil discourse. We can’t lose that in this country. We’ve got to get it back.

MAHER: Thank you.

[creativelcro]

30. Wow, I consider myself part of the BASE and he does not speak for me.

[ecstatic]

33. No matter what the facts, most ppl won't associate liberal w/ General

Thats just the way it is. We are a nonthinking public.