Mac Owens takes the first shot at Gen. Clark, since he will announce today. He quickly covers his virtues and vices as a military commander (and takes some good shots at the Clinton administration’s handling of foreign policy). More on Clark later. Yet I need to go out on a limb. So I predict this: He will enliven the campaign like no one else could (save Hillary) and it will end up to be a struggle between Clark and Dean, with Lieberman struggling to hold on to third position. Furthermore, this will become very clear with the first national polls that include Clark. And that should be within days. It is one of the ironies in politics that the day after Edwards formally announces, he is, in effect, finished. I bet he is not amused.
Howard Fineman thinks that Clark is getting a lot of support from the Demo elites, including many former Clintonistas, because he is the only one who can stop Dean. Clark is the un-Dean candidate. Indeed, The Washington Times reports that he is running at the urging of Bill Clinton.
David Frum thinks that Clark is the wrong candidate. Clark sums up the illusions and errors of the 1990’s, including his military campaign in Kosovo which "was based on an unending series of errors." Here is the WaPo profile of Clark. It’s pretty informative.
I agree with the Dean-Clark showdown,
but I doubt Lieberman will be able to survive crushing defeats in Iowa and New Hampshire. My prediction: He endorses Clark early in the primary season.
Jed Babbin also commented on Dean/Clark yesterday: https://www.americanprowler.org/article.asp?art_id=2003_9_15_23_58_37
Why the man whose NATO "call sign" was "Supreme Being" was a FOB:
"But an unexpected bolt from the blue suddenly ignited Clark’s life, turning mediocrity into a skyrocket ride that could yet land him in the Oval Office. He was named Commander of the 1st Cavalry Division, III Corps, at sweltering Fort Hood southwest of Waco, Texas.
"On a late winter day in 1993, Texas Governor Ann Richards suddenly called the base, later meeting with Clark’s Number Two to discuss an urgent matter. Crazies at a Waco compound had killed Federal agents. If newly-sworn-in President Bill Clinton signed a waiver setting aside the Posse Comitatus Act, which generally prohibits the military from using its arms against American citizens within our borders, could Fort Hood supply tanks and other equipment?
"Clinton did. Wesley Clark’s command at Fort Hood “lent” 17 pieces of armor and 15 active service personnel under his command to the Waco Branch Davidian operation. It is absolute fact that the military equipment used by the government at Waco came from Fort Hood and Clark’s command.
"The only issue debated by experts is whether Clark was at Waco in person to help direct the assault against the church compound in a scene remarkably similar to the incineration of villagers in a church by the British in Mel Gibson’s movie “The Patriot.”
"What happened at Waco was the death, mostly by fire, of at least 82 men, women and children, including two babies who died after being “fire aborted” from the dying bodies of their pregnant mothers.
"Planning for this final assault involved a meeting between Clinton Attorney General Janet Reno and two military officers who developed the tactical plan used but who have never been identified.
"Some evidence and analysis suggests that Wesley Clark was one of these two who devised what happened at Waco.
"As Leftist journalists Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair noted, the ruthless tactics and attitude on display at Waco are strikingly similar to those Clark has used on other battlefields in his career.
"Odd, isn’t it, that the Leftist establishment press has told you nothing about the connection between General Wesley Clark and Waco – or what happened to him immediately after the service he rendered the Clintons at Waco?
"Immediately after Waco, Wesley Clark’s flat career began an incredible meteoric rise." From: "Wesley Clark: General Issues" - By: Lowell Ponte at: https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/970183/posts
Having already established himself as the "Supreme Being", Wes Clark obviously the "ego" to lead the Democrats in 2004. The question is if he has the necessary humility to be President.