Clark's camp emits some mixed signals on vice presidency

[Fleshdancer]

http://www.post-gazette.com/election/20040103clark400elect1p1.asp

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. -- Retired Army Gen. Wesley K. Clark told an undecided voter Wednesday night that he hadn't "ruled ... out" accepting the vice presidential slot on a Howard Dean ticket, but his campaign yesterday said he's not interested in the job.

When Clark was deciding last fall whether to run for president, he met on Sept. 6 with the former Vermont governor, now the Democratic presidential front-runner, to talk about his plans. The Washington Post reported five days later that "sources familiar with the discussions" said Dean and Clark had discussed the vice presidential slot on a potential Dean ticket.

Last month, that September discussion turned into a full-fledged dispute between the two campaigns. Dean Campaign Manager Joe Trippi told reporters that his camp had not offered Clark the prospect of the vice presidential slot. But Clark's campaign said that was indeed a topic.

In an e-mail to reporters, Clark's communications director, Matt Bennett, said the Dean campaign should get its facts straight. Bennett declared, nonetheless, that Clark "is not interested in being a candidate for vice president -- on anyone's ticket."

[Lobo_13]

1. Lookie, Lookie

Clark flip-flopped.

That dirty flip-flopper.

[Renew Deal]

3. Your dirty flip flopper needs mine to get elected.

Otherwise yours is going no where.

[Lobo_13]

6. by going nowhere

I'm sure you mean directly to the White House, twice.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

10. This is more poppy-cock from the Dean campaign - they are losing support

lately from people who are realizing that Clark will NOT be Dean's V.P.

[Renew Deal]

2. What's between the ruled and the out?

I wonder

[Fleshdancer]

4. "it"

It's clarified later on in the article but the rules only allow me to post up to 4 paragraphs.

[windansea]

5. this ruled out seems pretty clear

Retired General Wesley Clark said Friday he would not be ''Howard Dean's Dick Cheney'' if front-runner Dean wins the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.

Clark said he's running for president, not vice president.

''I'm not going to be Howard Dean's Dick Cheney,'' Clark told reporters. ''We've already tried that model of government. That's what's misled America thus far.''

Clark said President Bush was a former governor, inexperienced in foreign policy who surrounded himself with experienced advisers, like Cheney.

''He tried to reassure the American people by having a lot of highly experienced and competent advisers around,'' said Clark. ''And we see the results right now in our presence in Iraq and the alienation of people around the world.''

[TLM]

12. GASP! You don;t mean to say that Clark

has made contradictory statements on an issue?

[windansea]

23. let see

who do I believe...quote from Clark

or someone "overhearing" something

[xultar]

He was over heard...context is very important. I heard in the news

that when Dean asked...BEFORE he decided to run he hadn't ruled out a VeeP slot. But when he decided to run. It was for President and President only. Clark has been MORE THAN clear that he would not accept a VeeP slot.

Overhearing someone and HEARING someone first hand are completely different

[xultar]

14. oops sorry n/t

[xultar]

15. oops sorry n/t

[Melinda]

7. They even named the man Clark said this too - when & where as well

Yet on a New Year's Eve cruise around Portsmouth Harbor, Clark was overheard telling Garrett Scholes, a commercial photographer from Kittery, Maine, not only that Dean had indeed asked him to be vice president but also that he hadn't "ruled it out."

Scholes said Clark made clear, though, that he was still fully focused on winning the Democratic presidential nomination. Clark said he had been surprised that his initial conversation with Dean had been leaked to the media because it was supposed to be "private."

----------------

Well, it's interesting.

[dogman]

9. I'd have to hear it in context

I heard Begala ask Anthony Weiner a question that was so out of context he should apologize to Weiner. Anthony was baffled by the question and Begala explained it so badly that he is probably still baffled.

[xultar]

20. It isn't a DIRECT QUOTE from the guy, it was Hearsay which is

suspect until they get a direct quote from Garrett Scholes. The only item in quotes is "ruled it out". So the context isn't quite clear.

See below...

Yet on a New Year's Eve cruise around Portsmouth Harbor, Clark was overheard telling Garrett Scholes, a commercial photographer from Kittery, Maine, not only that Dean had indeed asked him to be vice president but also that he hadn't "ruled it out."

http://www.post-gazette.com/election/20040103clark400elect1p1.asp

[Melinda]

25. Well no d'uh

And you are reposting the exact text I posted and telling me this because...... why exactly?

[dogman]

30. What's the context?

As I said above. It has to be in context or it is meaningless. This is how the media controls thinking in this country. That's why B*** is president. He only says a few sentences at a time. They are sound-bites meant to be taken out of context. My observations of Clark tell me he doesn't answer any thing in three words except when he said"I will win!"

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. Reagan-Bush the last time this happened

remember poppy called Reagan a practitioner of Voodoo economics...

This means that we may still see this folks...

Rove will S****t a brick

[xultar]

11. You are VERY WRONG about that, no mixed signals

Clark has never said that he would accept the VeeP slot. He has been more than clear that he is running for President and not VeeP. Clark is a leader not a foreign policy advisor. Clark is a President not VeeP. Clark wouldn't put his family through all of this to be VeeP.

Please recheck your facts.

[Fleshdancer]

17. "Please recheck your facts"

I just posted the article. Feel free to contact the journalist if you think the facts are wrong.

[Melinda]

26. Are you a member of Clark's family?

A close, personal friend?

A member of his immediate campaign?

One of his political/policy advisors maybe?

Pray share how you specifically, factually know every direct remark/statement - passing remark/statement or state of Wesley Clark's mind, thoughts, and/or feelings in regard his campaign or personal familial relationships.

It's a pretty big froggy leap for you to decry "hearsay" about the article (albeit you are correct in that regard) and then positively broad jump to the statements of fact you made about General Clark words and feelings within your post UNLESS you are intimately involved with him (see list above for defintions).

So what exactly is your relationship with Clark?

[Jack_Dawson]

13. DREAM ON

Clark was tired. Whatever you think you heard, you didn't hear. Clark is a leader, not a follower.

President Clark

The Clark Administration

Get used to it.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

16. Not a chance that Clark will be Dean's V.P.

I work on the campaign and there is no way no how that Clark will be Dean's V.P.

Lately - there has been a rather large influx of Dean people joining up with Clark because they have finally come to the realization that Clark is NOT going to be Dean's V.P. Look for the Dean camp to continue to "throw this b.s. around" because they know he will lose a lot of support if people come to realize this.

They are in desperate need of someone with Clark's national security credentials.

It ain't going to happen folks.....

[Jack_Dawson]

19. You got THAT right

Plummeting in the polls does strange things to people, does it?

:freak:

[Fleshdancer]

21. I recommend reading the posts before replying

The person you're trying to insult sounds like a Clark supporter. The title accidentally included a double negative, but the post talks about how Clark would not take the VP position.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

22. whoops - meant not a chance Clark will be the V.P. to Dean

fixed the post....

[dd123]

18. If Dean picks a General for VP, I prefer Gen. Anthony Zinni myself

I saw a couple forums on CSPAN and I was completely impressed by Zinni's thinking and his bluntness. A Dean/Zinni combination would be incredible. And can you imagine Zinni debating Dick Cheney! That would be the hugest smackdown ever. I mean total evisceration.

Zinni had the advantage of being in the intelligence loop during the runup to the Iraq war. He knows that Cheney was lying and he will call him on it.

I highly recommend Zinni's appearance at the Arab Relations Policymakers Conference:

illegal codeplayClip('rtsp://cspanrm.fplive.net/cspan/archive/ter/ter090703_usarab.rm?start=1.0')

More Info on Zinni:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1683427.stm

Anthony Zinni is a decorated Vietnam War veteran and a four-star Marine general with a huge amount of military experience.
Although nicknamed 'The Godfather' - due, reportedly, to his Italian heritage - one of his key strengths is a reputation for political sensitivity, particularly in the volatile field of Middle East affairs.

In recent times, the now-retired general served as head of Central Command responsible for US forces in the Middle East, considered one of the most demanding positions in the US military

snip
In the 1990s he was employed in a series of command assignments, overseeing US military relief operations in Turkey and northern Iraq after the Gulf War and aiding earthquake victims in the former Soviet Union.

snip
Five years later he was appointed head of Central Command, responsible for 36,000 troops based in Saudi Arabia, at a time of heightened tension between the US and Iraq.

Characteristically, he began learning Arabic, read a string of books on Arab culture, and spent several months travelling to meet Arab leaders.

[Donna Zen]

24. I'd be careful about Zinni

On another thread a Dean supporter said that if a General was on the ticket Dean would lose his Green support.

[Sean Reynolds]

27. WHO CARES?

We'll find out in a few months anyway. If Dean wins the nomination and picks Clark as his VP, the issue is dead. If Dean loses the nomination, the issue is dead. But to fight back and forth over this is sad. It doesn't matter right now. Only time will tell what happens.

[MR. ELECTABLE]

28. Who cares what they say-- it was a RUSE anyway

The only people who have ever made any claims about these so-called " VP discussions" were the Clark camp, who were basically using a stupid rumor to get free publicity by using the front-runner's name. Three weeks until the first primary and they're still trailing Dean in every state except OK, and they're trending downwards-- time to bring up the old rumor again. While they're at it they should float the whole Hillary as VP rumor again, so she can deny it again for the eighth time.

[Name removed]

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