When Clark talks, I'm mesmerized

[curse10]

I just finished watching the debate (I had to tape it). He's moved up in the ranks, a solid number 2, in my book.

He doesn't stumble on words. He's clear. Concise. And he makes sense. Although I love Kerry, I think Clark's plan for getting us out of Iraq is the most sound out of any of the candidates.

And he has a lot of charisma. Every debate I've watched I've been waiting for that so-called Dean charisma-- and everytime he's blown out of the water by everyone but CMB, Lieberman, and Gep. And this time around Clark was just fantastic.

Clark's gonna be around for quite awhile- and I, for one, am glad to hear it.

[laruemtt]

1. i think i'll wear

my polar heart rate monitor next time i know he's gonna speak because i really can feel a biological change when i listen to him - no kidding. i feel better about life in general when i hear him speak!

[Demobrat]

2. I can't stand his accent. He sounds like Bush to me.

I find that in order to give him a fair hearing it's better if I read his statements rather than listen to him speak.

[curse10]

4. It's a completely different accent

Bush has a very clear Texan accent-- Clark's is an upper Arkansas accent (reminds me of my grandmother's).

[Demobrat]

9. I'm sure it is.

But I'm a northerner living on the west coast who's actually heard very few southern accents in her life. It's nails on a blackboard to me.

[Donna Zen]

10. Texas accent

Mark Crispin Miller was trying to figure that one out. It seems junior's Texas thang..doesn't quite make the grade.

Upper Arkansas accent? I wasn't sure what it was. My good friend is from Little Rock and doesn't sound a thing like Wes. I just figured when someone has lived everywhere on the planet at one time or another, that his accent was gone. It does come through on occassion. In one of the media clips he's eating spinach and carrying on about Popeye. All of a sudden there it is.

[Mz Pip]

11. It's Southern

but Bush sounds like a punk, uneducated and crass. Clark's speech flows and he uses complex sentence structure and syntax. Bush sounds cheap. Clark sounds eloquent.

MzPip
:dem:

[Demobrat]

16. I don't think that's got much to do

with their accents.

[Clark4Prez]

21. I think he sounds like he's in a Kawanis speech contest

Bush reminds me of the boy in speech class that practiced way to much. Each word is pronounced clearly and just enough pause in between each word for emphasis.

He gets that beam in his eye when he reads a good line, it's like "See, mom, I am doing good on this speech!)

[theshadow]

25. That's the Ritalin kicking in.

[creativelcro]

33. sounds like Bush looks like Bush = BUSH LITE

[curse10]

35. that's nice

:eyes:

[SahaleArm]

38. Deanbot Version 1.0 - Needs an upgrade *nm*

[Skwmom]

3. Thanks for the encouraging words about Clark.

Clark is my number one choice but I also think Kerry is a great candidate.

[arewethereyet]

5. didn't he work in psy-ops ?

probably explains it. Snap out of it ! NOW !

[curse10]

7. LoL

It's those hypnotizing eyes!

[kentuck]

6. He's a very inspiring speaker, in my opinion.

I'm glad he's on our side. :)

[thinkahead]

8. it's because he doesn't blink

j/k

[Mz Pip]

14. Contacts

I think that keeps the blinking down.

MzPip
:dem:

[MariaS]

17. In the Spin Room

after the debate Clark said to a reporter Look I Blinked or something to that effect. You are not the first to make that observation. I have been watching and he does blink those fabulous eyes on occasion.

[in_cog_ni_to]

12. The man is awesome.

Everything about him. His intelligience, his compassion, his position on the issues and his looks. I've never really detected much of a southern accent, in fact, I was wondering why his accent wasn't heavier. Anyway, I agree with you. Clark is mesmerizing and every time he opens his mouth, I cling to every word. Thanks for the post. I like Kerry too.

[grasswire]

15. compare Clinton's speech with Clark's

...both from Arkansas. Quite a diff. Clark has the same ease of thought that Clinton has, too. Maybe it's the Oxford scholar influence.

[Myra]

36. Clark is the most impressive presidential candidate I've ever seen.

Clinton is close: brilliant, charismatic, charming, eloquent, handsome.
But he has a teensy bit of a salesman feel to him.

Clark has all of Clinton's good qualities, but is not the least bit unctuous.

[Anaxamander]

42. Clark is an amazing speaker...

...and he sounds nothing like Bush. A lot of people think there is one Southern accent, but there are actually many, many, many different types. I find General Clark's accent very charming, but truthfully I don't notice it very much, because he's such an eloquent speaker.

Bush's accent falls into the "fake," "phony," or "bullshit" variety. Sure, you're a Texan, not a Connecticuter. Then why in the hell does Jeb not have an accent? Fuck those assholes.

[Zomby Woof]

13. I was actually horrified at his Iraq response

(Sorry kid! Gotta speak up on this one!)

On two levels - first, content. He used the term "retreat or defeat", and how we MUST stay at all costs. He was in Vietnam, he should know better - but then again, he was one of the leading proponents of the fighting there. I instantly thought of LBJ and all the endless rationales for staying the course, etc. His plan was so layered in Pentagonese, it just had "status quo" written all over it. It LOWERED my estimation of him, and I was willing to give him a chance. He would not only inherit a quagmire, he would NOT alleviate it.

On the other level, he layered his plan with convoluted bureaucratic jargon, jumping from point to point in a maze-like fashion, all too typical of generals and other high-ranking officers. He seemed to have lost his way with the answer, content aside.

I surely hope the Democrats do not think Clark or Dean are the best we can do. They would be my last choices if forced to rank.

Edit: He also has ZERO charisma! I feel EMPTY when he speaks, like he almost isn't there! Must be something in your water up there in Massachusetts. ;-)

[arewethereyet]

18. game, set, match

both these guys will fare poorly as they have so many flaws.

Edwards. The plan, the delivery, the pinache, the next president.

[Mattforclark]

22. Yuhuh

He was in Vietnam, he should know better - but then again, he was one of the leading proponents of the fighting there.

Lt. Wesley K. Clark was all over the airwaves talking to Walter Cronkite and everyone about how we should be involved in the Vietnam war. He was world famous with his support of the Vietnam war. A leading proponent indeed.

If you do not like his presentation, I would encourage you to examine his substance, because substance is much more important than presentation: http://www.clark04.com/issues

[arewethereyet]

28. actions speak louder than words

glimmers on a screen are only that. The guy has acted and we can judge that conclusively.

[Zomby Woof]

32. you're a lot like the Deanies

LOL. Your Cronkite reference was a little too literal in what I meant by him being a proponent. Proponent is not the same as talking-head advocate. Then again, with all those pro-Bush and pro-Iraq war appearances Clark made on CNN, I can see why you got confused.

But you remind me of some Deanies, when confronted by even the MILDEST criticism, want to throw the link to his website at me, the way a fundie throws bible verses at a non-believer.

Been to his website, read the glittering generalities. No thanks.

Kucinich (I hate myself for saying this) and even the Almighty Dean have better plans for handling post-war Iraq than the esteeemed ex-generalissimo.

[eileen_d]

40. You think Dean has a better plan?

Dean has an outline of a high school term paper, as far as I can tell. Clark has a thesis.

[curse10]

26. LoL

I hate you and I'm never speaking to you ever again!

[Zomby Woof]

29. LOL

We'll always have memories of "Dean-bashing"! :loveya:

[Mz Pip]

27. Do you really think

it's a good idea to go screw up a country and then walk away before it's stablized?

We were in Vietman with no support from anyone. We walked away and left the country in chaos.

Clark doesn't want that to happen again, which is why we need some International support on putting things back together. I do not get the sense that Clark wants to slog on like in Vietnam, maintaining the staus quo for no apparent reason.

We made a huge mistake in Iraq. We need to own up to it and do our best to fix it and Clark advocates using diplomacy as much s possible to do it.

MzPip
:dem:

[CWebster]

39. Zoombywoof!!!

You restoreth my faith that in hidden small pockets - where the gaze of the unblinking eye can't penetrate there are souls still capable of stating what is, is.

Damn, it is a scary thing, but the ol' general spent a lifetime in psch-ops. What better way to break the growing grassroots momentum of the Democrats.

Who would've imagined, our side would be seeking a General as hero, who supported our nightmare in Viet Nam, voted for Nixon, Reagan, Bush1 was involved in the most shameful covert operations in Latin America.. Who as of the Spring of this year had glowing words for Bush, days before declaring his candidacy converted to Democrat, only after the Republicans rejected his appeal, claims he was anti-Invasion, although the evidence disputes it, and now speaks in language of no retreat in our latest nightmare...In addition he was fired from the Pentagon and accused of wanting to start WW3 at Pristina...Yet, they are mesmerized as if he was the new messiah?

Man, that staring eye trick really works!

[Walt Starr]

19. He is damn good

I truly appreciate his responses and his overall demeanor, too. He is one of the best of the best.

He gets a big vote of confidence from me!

[arewethereyet]

30. I didn't see tha last one, was he good in that one ?

because he was painful to watch in the others I've seen

[madaboutharry]

20. During the eight years of the

Clinton administration, I always felt like everything would be o.k. I was often at odds with some of Clinton's policies, but I somehow felt like the country was in good hands. I get that same feeling from Clark. I believe he will make decisions based on what he determines to be best for the American people and not for some corrupt cabal of jackals. As president, I think Clinton tried to do what he thought was best for the nation.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

23. Me too I get hypmotize

What the name of that guy in the castle with the black cape
with the black collar up and the teeth and never blink?
I get wouzy and droll.

[Faygo Kid]

24. Mesmerized? That's not what I want.

Hey, I like Clark - and any Dem over GWB. But "mesmerized?" C'mon. All of them put their pants on one leg at a time. Too much at stake here for that kind of stuff.

[creativelcro]

34. Same pattern that makes it look like a sect... Mesmerized by the Savior

[Donna Zen]

31. Wes 101

Very rarely does anyone interviewing him even scratch the surface. In one Q & A, he was answering a question and moved into a comment on rights under the constitution. Suddenly, he was quoting from the Federalist Papers.

He loves our Constitution.

As for his Iraq answer, well since he wrote it everyone is using it. Biden, Hilary, etc. Here's the deal: the USA as with any nation, must have credibilty. It is very important for any kind of treaty, or brokered deal. Now I personally could care less about saving face, but I'm well aware that if a country goes around blowing up other countries and not cleaning up the mess, then their word is no longer worth anything. This has long term ramifications that will effect not only our military posture (that I don't give a fuck about) but our ability to impact even human rights conversations. Clark knows this. He has the only plan that gets us out asap, and saves face. BTW, in Time, Joe Klein suggests that the disaster called Iraq is too far gone. Clark says, he hasn't conceded the possibility but sort of agreed. It sounded damn ominous to me. A civil war in Iraq, will turn into a regional nightmare and can pull us into a long conflagration. Horrible.

Our options are few. Stay on bush's path and we're there for 50 years, leave suddenly and face the killing fields, listen to Clark and ease our asses out of there.

Bushco is now refusing contracts to anyone who was not among the willing to be lead by a world class asshole. Clark says turn over the whole damn thing to a non American in exchange getting out.

[CWebster]

37. "When Clark talks, I'm mesmerized"...

That's enough to strike fear in the heart of any independent thinker.

Yeah, his tough boy language of "success", glossed over with the perfumed prince polish, and "no retreat, no defeat" punchlines sounds a little too familiar to what we heard in Viet Nam - for my eyes to glaze over.

This morning I heard that the US is creating an Iraqi Intelligence agency to train Iraqis to infiltrate and spy on their own. You know, like Saddam's secret police....(Here comes the new boss, just like the old boss), or in other words, a School of the Americas or NED, made to keep those anti-occupier resistors in line. Right up ol'Wesley's alley.

[Jacknife]

41. When Clark talks, I'm asleep

n/t