Retired U.S. Gen. Wesley Clark certainly proved himself an able soldier, but as a politician, he apparently missed a few classes at West Point School for Politicos. By now, many of you know Clark committed the first surrogate gaffe of Barack Obama’s general election effort by saying on CBS’ “Face the Nation” last weekend John McCain’s experience as a fighter pilot and Vietnam POW didn’t qualify him for the White House.
Oh boy. There’s a difference between speaking candidly and speaking strategically in politics, a difference Clark apparently hasn’t picked up. I’ll let Newsweek’s Andrew Romano pick it up here:
It’s not that Clark’s analysis is wrong; it’s that it’s so narrowminded and obvious that it doesn’t do any damage at all. Of course spending five years as a POW doesn’t automatically qualify McCain to take over the free world. No one–not even McCain himself–would argue that it does. There are only a few jobs, in fact, that provide direct, transferable training for the Oval Office–the vice presidency, the governorship of a large, complex state and/or military command service. Neither McCain nor Barack Obama has held any of these gigs, which means that Clark completely misses the point. Without a past “presidential”-seeming position to base their decision on, a la Dwight Eisenhower or Ulysses S. Grant, voters must instead examine all the available data points–the candidate’s positions, plans, Senate votes and personal biographies–to determine who they trust to lead the country.
I’ll take it a step further. What Clark misses by saying McCain has had no “executive” experience is to miss the fact that he’s served in one of two Arizona senate seats for decades and now run two presidential campaigns, the last one in 2000 which could have been successful if it hadn’t been for all those false rumors spread by the George W. Bush team. While neither of those compare to being the commander-in-chief of the U.S. military and providing oversight of the national economy, mood, morality and general welfare, neither should his experience in those capacities be ignored.
Here’s the real damage. McCain has dominated the political discussion for the better part of June by focusing on the nation’s energy policy, calling for expanded domestic oil drilling, and apparently winning the debate with American voters (even though he’s losing to Obama on the economy and Iraq). Republicans started painting Obama as a politician with a vage and insufficient plan to battle skyrocketing gas prices (even though it’s those same Republicans and the president who are as much to blame for the pain at the pump as gas companies are), and it was working. Now Clark stuck a large military boot in his mouth by bringing focus on McCain’s strength - service to country - and allowed the McCain camp to again dominate the national discussion for at least another week. Instead of the media talking about Obama’s patriotism at a time the red,white and blue is flying from every house and neighborhood, the media’s focused on Clark’s ill-chosen words and McCain’s experience as a POW. It’s a discussion Obama simply cannot win. Clark’s provided McCain a rallying point: “See, they’re attacking my military record in a desperate attempt to win the White House. Help me defend not only my honor but the dignity and honor of all those who served in the military.”
Clark would be smart to stop trying to “clarify” his remarks, stop trying to be so right and just fade for a while.
