Burnt Orange Report

Can't We All Just Get Along (And more thoughts on Clark)?

By Byron LaMasters

This kind of stuff really pisses me off. Now it's on Clark's Blog:

I just saw an article in USA today about this "Is Clark a Democrat" crap. Lots of off the mark quotes from Dean.

I have to say, I haven't been this angry since Bush smeared McCain.

I am registered Independent and I WILL NOT VOTE FOR HOWARD DEAN now, even if he wins the nomination.

Posted by: Indie at October 2, 2003 07:16 AM

[...]

Indie: I am with you, Dean is a bitter man and I will sooner leap into the Ohio river than vote for him.

Henry: If the links to the Henniker c-span don't work, try going to C-span site and link from there. Could be your media player.

Posted by: Kramer at October 2, 2003 07:51 AM

Although, to be honest, most of the comments over on Clark's blog are positive. It's also filled with a lot of former Dean supporters. I found this comment to be a very interesting look at the Dean / Clark dynamic. I find myself agreeing with a lot of it:

The Dean dynamic seems to me to be a little bit more complicated. What Dean has is a team that's really, really committed to him but that is probably going to max out at its online support plus a few percent. These people really feel involved in the Dean campaign, because Dean has made them feel so (I spent some time on the Dean blogs and even gave the man a bit of money when I was thinking "Wesley Clark? Too good to be true, so it will never happen.") "You have the power" really energizes his base.

But it stops there.

What we have over here is the same level of commitment among committed supporters but a candidate who comes off much better than Dean does, if only because he has the credentials to say what he's saying without the "raving left-wing liberal from New England" label sticking. The substance of what Clark and Dean say, as has been pointed out numerous times, is quite similar, though Clark brings a better national perspective to it. I'll explain that more later if people want to hear the rationale. But Dean probably doesn't know what the PNAC is, let alone "having their number."

To put it more briefly (hard for a political scientist), Clark has a broader appeal. People will consider voting for Clark who would never consider voting for Dean. These people are the so-called "Reagan Democrats," the people who normally vote Democratic but who put Reagan in office; who came home in '92 and '96 and put Clinton in office. In short, they're the swing voters, the ones who are essential to winning an election.

That's why we've got to get behind Clark and push him through the convention. If he makes it through the convention, he'll mop up the floor with the Shrub. But in the primary process, it's the committed folks who show up to vote in many states. We need to get more folks firmly committed. And we need to get independents to the polls in those states in which they can vote in the Democratic primary, like McCain did with the Republican primary in 2000. We need to get independent Democrat-leaners to reregister in closed primary states (those in which you have to be registered with a party to vote in its primary).

This takes a lot of foresight, and it takes a lot of commitment. Clark can do his part by being who he is -- the ideal candidate to beat Bush. But we also have to do ours, which is reaching out to the people whom we need to pull off the nomination.

This isn't just about getting General Clark elected. It's about saving the country from four more years of the far right. No other candidate, I'm convinced, will do this.

A quick read of Woodward and Bernstein's "All the President's Men" and "The Final Days" is instructive. In 1972, the Republicans bumped off Edmund Muskie with a falsely-planted letter which contained an ethnic slur against (of all people) French-Canadians. It resonated in New Hampshire, and he dropped out. They wanted to run against the weakest possible candidate -- George McGovern. So they got him nominated.

You've heard, as much as I have, that the Republicans would love to run against Howard Dean. They're sure they can bump him off in the general election. Sadly (because I really like the man), I'm afraid they're right. That's why we've got to get a candidate nominated whom they CAN'T bump off in the general election.

And Wes Clark is that candidate.

Posted by: DC Pol Sci at October 3, 2003 09:54 AM

Generally, the Clark Blog (get the pun? Heh.) commenters have been pretty respectful, though. I think that most of his supporters admire the grassroots and fundraising success of Howard Dean, but simply don't see him as the candidate to beat Bush. My main point is simply to remind everyone that Clark, Dean and Kerry are all three good Democrats, old or new. Whoever wins the nomination among them (or Edwards of Gephardt) will need the supporters of everyone else to beat Bush. Nothing annoys me more than seeing Dean supporters say they won't vote for any Democrat other than Dean, and likewise for the Kerry and Clark folks.

Posted by Byron LaMasters at October 4, 2003 12:00 PM | TrackBack