AP - Gen. Clark vouches for Clinton (ad)

[Sparkly]

Gen. Clark vouches for Clinton

By The Associated Press 14 minutes ago

TITLE: "Wes Clark"

LENGTH: 30 seconds

AIRING: Iowa

SCRIPT: Clinton: "I'm Hillary Clinton and I approved this message."

Retired Gen. Wesley Clark: "I see that Hillary's opponents have started attacking her. That's politics. What this country needs is leadership. I'm Wes Clark. I commanded our forces in Europe when we won the fight to halt ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. I've known Hillary Clinton for 24 years. I know she has what it takes to end the war in Iraq, avert war with Iran and restore our country's standing in the world. These are tough times and Hillary Clinton is the right choice for America."

KEY IMAGES: Ad opens with Clinton smiling as crowd behind her claps. Then Clark appears in suit coat and tie, speaking directly to the camera. Ad ends with Clark's voice over a clip of Clark and Clinton having a conversation on a sidewalk.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071205/ap_po/clinton_adwatch

I'm not editorializing, just mentioning. The link contains an analysis of the ad for those interested.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

1. Watch The Progressive, Former SAC Get Dissed In This Thread

[sandnsea]

2. The Clintons were behind Clark

Some people have been saying that for years. This is no surprised, and not a dis to the General to say so. Most politicians have friends, lots of them.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

4. I Agree...

It's good to see a progressive Army man of his caliber on the side of the Democrats...Most of the military is Republican...

[high density]

3. I agree with Clark on a lot of stuff

But Clinton is one thing we don't agree on.

[HeraldSquare212]

5. Well here's a question

and it is a question: Clinton appointed Clark to head NATO, right? And then later put him forward as a candidate in 2004? To my recollection when he was first introduced as a candidate he was referred to as Clinton's candidate. So I'm confused as to why his comments about Clinton get quoted so often - the news would be if he didn't support her, wouldn't it?

[karynnj]

19. Not to mention BC said that the only stars in the Democratic party were

HRC and Wes Clark. A rather tactless thing for the head of the Democratic party - he effectively dissed any likely 2004 candidate. Nice job, titular head of the party.

[Dawgs]

6. I know he's a friend, but claiming Hillary is the answer for Iraq and Iran is just wrong.

Any candidate that voted for two bills that support George Bush's position are not credible in this arena.

He should know better.

[FiveGoodMen]

8. He SHOULD know better!

I thought a lot of Wes until he came out for HRC.

Changed my mind.

[Cameron27]

7. Thanks Sparkly,

when Wes Clark has something to say, I listen. If anyone has an axe to grind against the Clinton's, Clark's firing would put him at the top of the list, so I believe he's sincere about this.

[BigDDem]

9. Clinton / Clark '08!

[tritsofme]

10. This is rich

I never was that impressed with Clark as a candidate, but I don't think his core supporters are now in the Hillary camp.

So watching their heads explode will be rather amusing.

[Bucky]

12. *boom*

Well, here I go...

[Bucky]

11. Is it me, or doest this come off as sort of a pro forma endorsement.

"That's politics" is a pretty safe way of leaving himself in good standing with anyone who happens to beat Mrs Clinton. It's too direct to be tepid, but the phrasing too banal to be passionate the way I've seen Clark get when the chips are down.

[Renew Deal]

13. I'm Wes Clark and I want to be Secretary of State...

Umm, ummm, I mean Vote for Hillary

:P

[Joe the Revelator]

14. Sad to see Clark turned into a lame shill for Team Hillary

But, thems the breaks I guess. Too bad, I would have liked to have seen him as President.

[Bucky]

15. You wanted a lame shill to be president?

I know Clark would only give an endorsement if he thought it was for someone who could do the job well.

[Joe the Revelator]

16. What part of "turned into" did you not understand?

I have to hope that some of you just pretend to be dense in order to score points.

[Bucky]

17. Okay Mr Nitpicky McNitpickerson, I'll slightly modify the sentence for your amusement

You supported Clark before, supposedly because you found something admirable in his character. Now Clark is supporting someone you don't support. Because of that, you now judge his character to be that of a lame shill?

I'm not pretending to be dense. Are you pretending to be that shallow?

[Bucky]

18. PS

Turning political disagreements into personal insults is kinda fun!

[Joe the Revelator]

21. I think Hillary is a bad person.

If Clark chooses to support her, then that says something about his character in my eyes, not hers.

[Bucky]

26. Notice how we have a better exchange when you tell me what you think, instead of saying I'm stupid.

I, like you, was disappointed in the endorsement. I knew early this past summer he wasn't going to run. He'd always said the decision would hinge on the money question. Clark is by nature a winner. When he couldn't pull down enough money to win, by his calculations, he chose to concentrate on cranking up the pressure against Bush on its moronic confrontation with Iran. Politics is secondary to governance for him. He (I'm guessing) simply went and joined the team with the best chances of winning. But he still doesn't strike me as someone who would sell his soul to stand beside a winner who had bad character.

I think Clark a good person of considerable character and judgment himself. I could never in a zillion years support Clinton over any serious Democratic candidate in the running. But Clark knows her and worked with her and judged her to be worthy of his endorsement. I just can't see a way to conclude that Clark is a sell out for endorsing her. I believe I'm a sounder judge of character than that. I don't think he fooled me four years ago when I became a Wes Clark Democrat. I think he's a man of parts; a man of integrity; and a pragmatic man firmly committed to winning in November.

To me pragmatism does not mean "without a moral anchor". Like any good general, he's flexible in how he achieves his goals. But Gertrude's husband, Wes Jr's dad, the guy who started off campaign 2004 talking about the Enlightenment and ended up pledging to "kick their asses" if anyone try to swift boat him, is still the same guy today that he was then. I disagree with him, but I will never quit admiring him.

[BigDDem]

20. Well, he's no Master P or

Butter Cow lady

[Cameron27]

24. lol

[BootinUp]

22. I wouldn't want him campaigning against me. nt

[IndianaGreen]

23. And Senators Kyl and Lieberman vouch for Hillary Clinton

and they more than trump Wes Clark's testimonial about Hillary.

BTW, speaking of loyalty, how come Hillary said she wanted someone like Colin Powell in her State Department instead of Wes Clark? Clark is not tainted by spreading false information about Iraq like Powell is.

[SaveElmer]

25. Beautiful....

And now the further trashing of Clark will begin...

Iowa voters will see the thoughtful perspective of a widely admired military and foreign policy leader...vs the rantings a of man trying to hide the fact that he was ever in the U.S. Senate, and one who didn't think the issue was important enough to vote on..