Down A Road We Have Walked Before

Wesley Clark enters the race! Democrats and patriots swoon at the sight of a Real American. And who can not be mesmerized by his resume - the Southerner with high marks at the military academy, the impressive graduate work, the military service, the incredible intellect and the steely gaze... wait a minute! Wake me up!

Here we go again - the Dems nominate a guy who looked good in a uniform, is smarter than anyone in the world, and, best of all, is a complete cipher on every issue, including Iraq. And don't bother asking - he wants to "listen to the people" before his focus group experts decide what message to re-transmit. From the Miami Herald:

But the political newcomer who only recently decided he was a Democrat and who enters the race with a blank ideological slate made it clear he wants to keep that slate blank, at least for a while.

He offered a stump speech devoid of detail, and then in an interview late Thursday with The Herald -- one of his first since entering the race -- studiously tried to avoid being pinned down on any specifics.

He explained that he just wants to ''listen to people'' before saying where he stands on topics such as the trade embargo with Cuba, the economy and immigration policies.

''It's not like the election's tomorrow,'' he said.

UPDATE: The flip-flops begin. See the continuation for gruesome details.

The media response has been somewhat guarded, although we have no doubt that stories hailing Gen. Clark's "growth", "refreshing candor", and "level headed vision" are going through their early drafts. Hatchet jobs can be found, and it is interesting to excerpt this intentionally brutal bit from the Adam Nagourney of the NY Times:

...he appeared to struggle to stake out positions on issues that have bedeviled four members of Congress who supported the war and are now seeking the Democratic presidential nomination.

General Clark said that he would have advised members of Congress to support the authorization of war but that he thought it should have had a provision requiring President Bush to return to Congress before actually invading. Democrats sought that provision without success.

"At the time, I probably would have voted for it, but I think that's too simple a question," General Clark said.

A moment later, he said: "I don't know if I would have or not. I've said it both ways because when you get into this, what happens is you have to put yourself in a position — on balance, I probably would have voted for it."

Leadership that's shirking. And a bit later, we see:

The general's remarks in a free-rolling 90-minute airborne interview suggested the extent of the adjustment he faces in becoming a presidential candidate.

"Mary, help!" he called to his press secretary, Mary Jacoby, at the front of the plane, as he faced questions about Iraq. "Come back and listen to this."

At one point, Ms. Jacoby interrupted the interview, which included four reporters who were traveling on the general's jet, to make certain that General Clark's views on the original Iraq resolution were clear.

"I want to clarify — we're moving quickly here," Ms. Jacoby said. "You said you would have voted for the resolution as leverage for a U.N.-based solution."

"Right," General Clark responded. "Exactly."

Now, if Bush does that, he is just the puppet of his handlers. Fortunately, this is Wesley Clark!

And it is worth noting that Hurrican Isabel blew most other coverage off the front page of the Times, but they found upper-left space for an article that should have been titled "Clark - Clinton's Catspaw?", but was actualy called "Late-Arriving Candidate Got Push From Clintons".

The WaPo had a kinder reporter, and a kinder take on the airplane interview.

We have a very different question - Gen. Clark seems to have annoyed everyone he works with. Who can picture him working happily with Congress, and why do we think he won't triangulate like crazy against the (probably still minority) Democrats?

UPDATE: The General, evidently having had a longer chat with Mary Jacoby, restates his position on the Congressional resolution:

"Let's make one thing real clear, I would never have voted for this war," Clark said before a speech at the University of Iowa. "I've gotten a very consistent record on this. There was no imminent threat. This was not a case of pre-emptive war. I would have voted for the right kind of leverage to get a diplomatic solution, an international solution to the challenge of Saddam Hussein."

That seems to dovetail nicely with his initial straddle, which we repeat with reckless disregard for our bandwidth charges:

"General Clark said that he would have advised members of Congress to support the authorization of war but that he thought it should have had a provision requiring President Bush to return to Congress before actually invading. Democrats sought that provision without success."

He seems to be staggering towards a formulation suggesting that he would have voted for something, but not this. Glad he cleared that up.

And P.S., this is a heck of a way to try and start driving St. John's "Straight Talk Express". Out-kerrying Kerry is probably not possible, and certainly not desirable.

Comments

[Jon Henk]

Clark, at this point, seems to be a nice uniform and little else.
Perhaps he's got something beneath that uniform, but he's not letting us in on it, yet.

I wrote on that point, in metaphor form, on my blog.
Point is, he's all shiny and new, now, but there's gotta be something else to it, or no deal.