Clark's new positioning strategy: "I grew up poor"

[kerryistheanswer]

Clark is really beginning to get desperate. First he talks about being a general and Kerry a lieutenant. Then he blasts the other candidates for being insiders and taking funds from lobbyists (which he has also done).

Now he's claiming to have grown up poor. While I respect all the candidates for overcoming their own personal challenges, this is pretty silly. Both Edwards and Kucinich also grew up poor - to claim to be the only candidate in the race is ridiculous. And unlike Dennis Kucinich, Clark earned > $1 million last year. He's not going to get the middle-class and lower income vote - it's not credible or unique.

[jpgray]

1. If I recall, he was separating himself from the Yale folks

Not from Edwards or Kucinich. If someone has the quote, please post it.

[JI7]

3. lieberman grew up without much

his family worked hard to get him where he was. so i wouldn't include lieberman with having the priveledges that dean and kerry had.

[jpgray]

8. Sorry, sometimes I forget about the joe-mentum. :-)

But yes, Leiberman wasn't born with a silver spoon in his mouth, by all accounts.

[HFishbine]

2. If only a candidate of modest means

can win the votes of the poor, there were originally only three choices, and two of them have dropped out.

[Salkin]

5. He Paid for West Point TOO

Clark also said he put himself through West Point. Wonder how many jobs that took?

[Padraig18]

19. Actually, he didn't.

He may have worked to earn spending money, but the US taxpayers paid for his West Point education. West Point does not charge tuition.

[Jerseycoa]

22. He worked his way

but not for tuition.

[Dark Star]

4. Dear kerryistheanswer:

What was the question? :evilgrin:

Pls don't buy the mainstream media recitation of the Clark/Kerry remarks. The context in which they occurred belies the way it's been played up. Don't forget the media is not behind the democrats!

Your initial post seems unnecessarily angry with Clark.

Come on, it's ABB.

:toast:

[Freddie Stubbs]

6. Nixon grew up poor also

Did that make him a better candidate than Kennedy?

[Jack_Dawson]

7. Clark and Dean grew up very differently

Nothing wrong with pointing that out.

[in_cog_ni_to]

9. He's NOT a Washington "insider"

sitting in the Senate taking money from lobbyists for votes. He WAS poor, but he has also apologized for for not including Edwards and Kucinich in his statement. He is talking about being poor as a child. He spent 34 years in the military making $50,000. HARDLY wealthy!

I wish people would stop spinning his words. You haven't been listening to the RW media lately, have you? NAH! Couldn't be! :eyes:

[returnable]

10. Oh, please

"And unlike Dennis Kucinich, Clark earned > $1 million last year. He's not going to get the middle-class and lower income vote - it's not credible or unique."

Edwards pimps his modest upbringing and he's a multi-millionaire, too.

Like it or not, that stuff resonates.

[Justice]

14. Media Bias Showing

because only Clark is criticized for it -

[Bread and Circus]

11. You are just upset because Kerry is silver spoon material

[mmonk]

12. substance

must envoke attacks. Why else would anyone pay such attention to such a desperate campaign?:eyes:

[Salkin]

13. But paying for westpoint?

Clark's commen's are ridiculous and to suggest that he paid with his own money for West Point?!?! We NEED credibility to win...this guy has a real consistency problem, not to mention Gen. Shelton's critique. (Which by the way is not a RW attack, he's an Edwards advisor!!)

[mmonk]

16. He's consistent in his values

just ask your friend Shelton.

[kerryistheanswer]

17. Right - Isn't Westpoint tuition-free?

[girl gone mad]

15. Clark already apologized..

and clarified that he had been referring to the front-runners, Dean and Kerry.

DO you really want to contribute to this new "Clark is a liar" meme after what happened to Gore in 2000? I'm sure the RW is thrilled to have Dems doing all their dirty work for them.

[kerryistheanswer]

18. Sorry - I don't want to start a flame

But I feel bad for Clark. He's a good guy but his campaign is really struggling. I was shocked by his interview last Monday on Larry King with Bob Dole. After that, he hasn't stopped his attempts to distinguish himself from the rest of the bunch. It hasn't succeeded up to this point. I don't think the "I grew up poor" is really going to work.

[mmonk]

21. even if he didn't grow up as wealthy as most of the candidates?

[Bread and Circus]

23. Then stick to the issues and quit re-iterating the RW talking points...

[Jerseycoa]

25. Don't think this is anything new

He has been telling his life story since day one of this campaign in person and on videotape. What is new is comparing his roots to those of other candidates.

[Jerseycoa]

20. I'm willing to say

it was not a good statement. He apologized for it a few minutes later. But he is entitled to talk about his own roots. He has never said he is poor now, just the opposite. He said he was raised poor and he was. In the 1940s, life was not easy for a female breadwinner raising a child. Even after she remarried, when he was 10, that same situation continued, because the stepfather was a bankrupt alcoholic, so she was supporting a larger family on rotten pay. He is a self-made millionaire as is John Edwards. Clark never claimed he was currently poor.

I think this is not the best direction for the Kerry campaign to be taking if that's what this thread is about.

[DaisyUCSB]

24. The media completely twisted his general/lieutenant comments

he said it as a joke, and they made it out like he was serious about it.

You really don't need to continue the misleadingless about it

[Hav]

27. .

Everytime someone continues this dishonest discussion,one should remember that Clark's own son was a Lieutenant.

[bowens43]

26. Clark's positions and rhetoric

are very fluid, they tend take the path of least resistance.