Did Dean Push Clark (and Gephardt) Into Endorsing Kerry?

[DrFunkenstein]

My theory is that Clark genuinely thought Kerry was the best man for the job. Somehow, I think maybe Dean people blame the media or something. But should the Dean supporters be very surprised that Clark did not turn to the "anti-war" candidate, the other "outsider?"

Honestly, given the nature of Dean's relationship to the other candidates, humans and roaches alike, was anything else to be expected? Are there any Dean people who thought Clark would go the other way?

Clark totally could have sat out like Clinton and waited for the process to resolve itself, but he didn't. He got behind Kerry without needing to. To me, that suggests that Clark understood that despite Kerry's vote - which Clark "probably" would have made - Clark felt that their views on foreign policy, and probably domestic policy, really weren't all that different, and that Kerry had the mettle to knock Bush on his ass.

[xultar]

1. Dean's face says " Look @ these Effen Gom-bas" n/t

[killbotfactory]

2. Kerry's practically already won, stop bashing Dean.

Or at least wait till his corpse is cold before you start pissing on it.

[boxster]

3. I'm sorry, but that's a great picure.

Too funny.

To respond to your post, I think that Clark also feels that national security and foreign policy experience are going to be important in this race, and he believes that Kerry is better prepared for a race of that nature.

Bottom line, though, is that Clark understands that unity is important in our party in this election. I think coming out this quickly was an attempt to show that unity.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

4. Clark showed real class

and I love the way he wasn't willing to go for Woodruff 'gothcas' on IP today...

[boxster]

6. He was frustrating the hell out her, too.

I love it. She deserves it for interrupting his every other word.

[WiseMen]

5. Clark is a PATRIOT. This is what I would expect of him.

[slinkerwink]

7. and Dean ISN'T a patriot for speaking out against the war,

and addressing the true wrongs in our society?

[Tom Rinaldo]

17. Dean is a patriot too. A wonderful Patriot in fact, and he still is.

While I disagreed with a policy or two, in the large picture Dean had it right. He fought hard for all the right things, and he fought well, and his campaign has had a huge impact, and it is all positive. Now even John Kerry is a stronger campaigner, and thus a better candidate, smoked out of his shell, energized to confront the Republican machine, and most of that is because of the challenge Dean presented to Kerry. But that is the least of it. Dean woke up a sleeping mass of people and gave them real power. Dean rallied Democrats everywhere to battle against the Republicans, while most party leaders were wiping the sleep from their eyes after waking up in bed with them. Dean was right about Iraq, and he never wavered in making that case.

Now, here is the hard part, Dean was going to lose anyway, even though that is all true. I have been so upset coming to grips with the fact that Clark would not become our President, no matter how much I believed he was the right man, at the right time, for the job. It doesn't change the facts. Wesley Clark has a brilliant analytical mind, that is how he rose to the rank of Four Star General. He believes in himself, just as Dean believes in himself, but he looked at the battle field and he concluded that Kerry held all the strategic advantages, and that Kerry would ultimately prevail. And that continuing the battle now would only lead to more blood shed but would not alter the outcome. Some of our forces would be spent in the course of that prolonged conflict, and another battle important awaits us, to defeat Bush in November.

I can't even imagine the internal discipline it must take to give everything you have to a quest the way that Dean and Clark have, and to then conclude that it will not end in victory, and in the case of Clark, to immediately act on that conclusion, to close ranks behind your former adversary for the sake of the battles ahead. Clark is ahead of me on this one. I was already trying to move through my disappointment, debating whether I would still vote for Clark in New York, or perhaps switch to Dean, dreaming of scenarios where Clark would get drafted once again, and last of all, trying to imagine myself working for Kerry in the fall. I can't shift gears that quickly, though whenever I let myself think about it, I thought Kerry had it won now.

If not now, later, if when the convention comes and the delegates arrive, Kerry has the majority he needs, Dean will step forward and praise Kerry. They will clasp hands at the podium, and they will unite at rallies across the nation fighting together against Bush. Dean will do this as soon as he is convinced that Kerry can't be stopped, and he will do it for the Party, and he will do it for the Nation. Clark believes that now, and that is why he is doing what he is doing now.

[quinnox]

8. Easy answer - Yes

After the dirty and attack dog campaign Dean ran, these guys would never have endorsed him.

Dean is losing support left and right, elected officials are embarrassed they made the mistake of jumping on the Dean bandwagon too early.

Watch for SEIU union to jump after Wisconsin.

Dean will be humiliated the longer he stays in, but it is his call.

Dean was a master divider, not a uniter.

[Debi]

9. Median income in Vermont - over $50,000

Majority of people covered by health insurance - ALL people treated to equality under the law...

You're right, Howard Dean is a piece of shit

[progressivebydesign]

15. Oh.. you forgot unpatriotic.

I'm sickened by the nature of the attacks on Howard Dean here. I guess it's okay for Democrats to run ads that would make Karl Rove proud (Dean with Osama), and it's okay to push poll, do midnight robocalling, put out smear fliers, and forged emails against Dean because he's.... he's... I have absolutely NO idea why the venomous attacks against Dean. Frankly, if I had recognized any of the people that attack Dean from 3 or 4 years ago, when I came to DU, I'd worry.

Another good person completely trashed and ridiculed in politics.

[MrSlayer]

10. I think it's very likely.

I certainly wouldn't endorse a guy who said terrible things about me. I really wanted to like Dean and I still like to hear him stump but every time I would really warm up to the guy he would say something to cool me off. I'm sure he's a nice guy but his campaign strategy doesn't make him come off that way. He just seems bitter now.

[killbotfactory]

12. Kerry said Clark was a republican

Obviously our candidates aren't too concerned about political rhetoric.

[Kahuna]

11. Clark values national security credentials above all else.

PERIOD! Outsider, smoutsider. Dean was never gonna get Clark's endorsement. Never!

[OutlawCorporatePolls]

13. once clark went to kerry...

...maybe the clintons help release the intern story. while, they have been REALLY behind edwards this whole time. what a better way to bring em both down. maybe maybe not. is an Edwards/Clinton ticket in the making?? not if dean has anything to say about it..

[deutsey]

14. Considering how Geppy and Kerry backers were in cahoots

in producing the despicable "Osama ad", I guess you could say Dean did not have to "push", because Geppy was already there.

Clark? Well, considering there are huge doubts surrouding his claim to being an "anti-war candidate" (see Democracy Now!), I wouldn't have expected him to align himself with Dean (although, given his desire to be an "outsider", I had hoped).

In a larger perspective regarding you and other Kerry supporters who feel this compulsion to continue attacking Dean: Your guy is the frontrunner. Why do you still feel this compulsion to beat up on Dean? Why don't you drop it and tell us why we should support Kerry?

I've already said before I'll vote for Kerry if he gets the nomination (albeit unenthusiastically), but perhaps if you Kerry supporters here concentrated on building up Kerry instead up tearing down Dean, I'd consider also volunteering for your guy. Right now, all I can promise is I'll vote for him (and, right now, I'll be holding my nose if I have to do that).

If we truly want to beat Bush and the interests he represents, we're going to need more than the old, stale Democratic strategy of "getting out the vote" on Election Day. We're going to need an enlivened and active electorate who are involved in awakening grassroots democracy in their communities. This is the opposite of what the corporatist elites demand of us.

[stickdog]

16. Yes, fear of Dean's activist Democratic supporters has driven this

entire campaign.