Clark Keeps Up Attack On McCain As "Untested"

Last month, in an interview with the Huffington Post, Gen. Wesley Clark called John McCain "untested and untried" as a potential commander in chief. The charge raised a few eyebrows in several quarters, including the Morning Joe team over at MSNBC.

But Clark is not backing down from his analysis. In a Q&A session following his address to the Johns Hopkins School of Strategic and International Affairs on Thursday morning, he repeated the line and expanded on the difference between the value of military service -- which he admits McCain can justly tout -- and the substance of charting defense policy as president, which the retired four-star general claims is not reflected by McCain's military record.

"He [McCain] represents a wonderful, valued tradition of America: the idea of public service," Clark said. "But what I've said before and what I stand by is that in terms of the stuff of national security -- of making decisions, of weighing alternatives, being confronted with risks -- he's untested, largely, and untried. He hasn't been in the executive branch; he hasn't walked into a [national security policy] meeting and have his boss [criticize] his paper."

Clark also burnished his own standing to make such distinctions between service and strategic responsibility, saying, "I've ordered the troops to go in. ... He hasn't lived through those decisions." Still, Clark seemed to concede that McCain is nevertheless likely to be viewed as strong on national security. "In the way that politics works, John McCain will always be associated with the military," he said. "But I hope the voters in the election will be able to discriminate between a man's honorable service in the Armed Forces and experience in the tasks associated with becoming the commander in chief. I think those tasks require judgment, balance, a certain temperament of mind and a willingness to learn from the past and from the current experiences.

"And so, in those qualities, I don't think that his service as a POW is especially commendatory, or his service in the Armed Forces answers the requirements of the commander in chief position, particularly."

When asked whether Barack Obama has the appropriate resume, Clark said the Illinois Democrat is "running on the basis of judgment, not experience," adding: "So far, I think, if you look at his judgment, you've gotta say he's got pretty good judgment."

At the close of the session, the moderator asked Clark how he would respond to a future phone call from Obama about the vice presidency. "Oh, come on!" Clark exhaled with mock weariness, eliciting laughter from the audience. "That's a totally hypothetical question. I want to try to help the country. ... I'm not going to be presumptuous about this, and I hope no one else will be. ... There are a lot of people out there who can help him."

Comments

[saltysea]

Dear Gen. Clark,

Many of us are so proud of you for your respectful, logical, concise explanation of Sen. McCain's "automatic" qualifications to be leader in chief. It is so elemental, that the MSM look like they are in the tank with remarks like, "Really?" and "attacking McCain's service." And then our own Dems go on and waffle. And that is one big reason why people don't trust Dems; we can't even stand up tall and proud when one of our own respectfully speaks the truth, pointing out the elephant in the living room. We'd rather cower before the almighty MSM.

I soooooo hope that it is Obama/Clark in 2008, now more than ever!

[BlackbirdHighway]

So, John McCain crashed his airplane and that makes him qualified to be president. I once crashed my car, I guess I'm ready to CEO of GM.

[johnbkk]

John McCain is going to be president.

[EuroPreacher]

He MIGHT BE president but that doesn't take away the fact that he is a fraud and should be called rather John Manchurian like proved by this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuSDwwKLYr8

[LuckyDay]

Only in your nightmares.

[brighterside]

I want to put this slander that "Obama is not experienced enough compared to McCain" to rest.

McCain graduated in the bottom of his class, 864 out of 869. Has crashed 5 planes as a Navy pilot and was captured by the vietcong during a bombing run on a supposedly civilian target. He broke both arms because he didn't use proper procedure when ejecting out of plane. Was POW for 5 years. He was never slated to become admiral.

On the other hand Obama graduated as one of the top in his class as magna cum laude. He as the first Black president to be selected in Harvard's Law review. He also hold a Political Science and International Relations degree from Columbia. He taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago law school. Obama turned down lucrative and distinguished positions to become a street organizer making $13,000 a year. As a street organizer, he helped with the unemployment, fight poverty and helped with educating those that didn't have one.

There is no question about it.....Obama's life experience in helping people and the understanding of laws trumps anything that McCain have learned during his imprisonment.

[pdsimdars]

Nice to see the records summed up so nicely and compared. Great summary.

[LuckyDay]

By McCain's logic, anyone who has had a successful military career can be commander in chief.

[TurnThePageGA]

McCain had an honorable career. That is a lot different than a successful career. As Clark (who I supported in 2004) points out there is nothing in that honorable career that qualifies McCain to be President of the US. There is probable cause in McCain's career during his military and post military to question whether he has the temperment and judgement to be Commander in Chief. Wesley Clark is in a postion to question McCain on this better than Obama. His stock may be rising for VP if he can continue to show more fire than he did in 2004

[Underthematrix]

Okay I admit it I'm shallow. I would love Gen. Clark on the ticket cause he's pretty. However, my first choice for VP is Sen. Bob Casey cause he's prettier. But really either one will do.

[jsinclair]

Here's a brief, but good, overview of Clark's life and some of his accomplishments. http://www.clark04.com/about/

It's interesting how many early life experiences he and Barack have in common. Both were only children, had father's who left when they were young (Clark's passed away), were raised for some time by a single mother, and then had grandparents who helped care for them.

Both were outstanding students and athletes. Both have shown natural leadership ability throughout their lives. They are both devoted husbands and fathers. Both have shown discipline, idealism, and altruism in their career choices (Obama as a community organizer and Clark in making his decision to become a career officer after being in command of, and deeply moved by, a group of wounded/recuperating soldiers.)

Both seem unusually adept as being both team players and team leaders. Their brilliance and good looks seem to be combined with an apparent modesty, religious faith, and sincere devotion and willingness to sacrifice for their country (to me, Obama's run for the presidency represents a very large sacrifice). Both seem unusually cool and unflappable under pressure.

Obama wants a VP who is a capable leader but also a good team player, most of all, someone he can count on to be a "good, trusted advisor".

I can't think of anyone who could fit the bill--and really be so well-suited, in particular, for President Obama--than General Clark.

Obama/Clark '08

[TurnThePageGA]

He is also out of the Clinton Camp which could be a plus with her supporters if Obama doesnot pick Hillary.

[LuckyDay]

Had Clark been on the ticket with Kerry in O4 the "weak on security" mantra of the Republicans would have been more of a non-issue and the Dems would have won. An Obama/Clark ticket would be very strong.

[suuzie]

You have sold me on Clark, sounds like a good fit for VP.

[DreadPirate]

Photos of the event are available here....

Clark was at SAIS to discuss Jeffrey Bialos et al. new book,entitled:

"Ideas for America's Future - Core Elements of a New National Security Strategy" of which General Clark who contributed a special Forward, articulating the serious need for Americans "to cut to the core towards a national security debate" in a nonpartisan manner, as we did 20 years ago.

Slideshow of Clark at SAIS here: http://news.webshots.com/slideshow/563925888VGAZFx

[elleng]

Pirate, were you there? Transcript? Video?

Thanks for slideshow.

[HannibalSilver]

The most powerful weapon of mass deception is fear, and the most powerful antidote to fear is the truth. The general's remarks is good medicine to restore American sanity! Clark, please keep repeating the truth until this Bush/Rove/McCain twister is vanished once-for-all from our skies, hearts, and minds. The nation, the constitution, the bill of rights, the economy, and the grieving families have been sick for a long long time.

[Krikkit]

Actually, truth (or reason) has very little impact on fear -- mostly because those two operate in different parts of the brain. What does counter fear is emotional fatigue from having it invoked too often.

There's a lesson here to be learned from "The Boy who Cried Wolf," and it isn't the one we all know so well about the dangers of repeated lying. The lesson is that high emotion entails enormous physical costs in stress to the person experiencing it. It is the biological organism's amazing ability to dampen out emotions like fear when repeated exposure to the stimulus (like repeated terror alerts) that minimizes that damage caused by stress.

After Homeland (IN)Security finished with the yellow/orange/red alerts, the duct tape and plastic, the "mushroom clouds," the no-fly lists, the protected petting zoos as high risk targets, and now with the "we're going to lose a city" remarks -- all have worked to innure the public from the very fear they hope to invoke.

The General's remarks are likely to be well-received, not so much because he speaks the truth, as his words mirror what we've already come to experience through repeated desensitization.

[Xenopus]

I am so happy to see Gen. Clark bring out this point that Senator McCain isn't a qualified Commander and Chief because he was a prisoner of war for 5 years. I have been saying that for a while now. Senator McCain served his country well, but not as a decision maker, a manager, a planner. In fact he told his father he wouldn't be staying in the military because he didn't have the desire to do what a General does. He wanted to go into Politics. Enter Cindy McCain $$. I have to question many of his decisions, his temperment, his life style (after returning from Hanoi). I also have to question that his 25 years in the Senate has proven him a leader in and with his party on major issues, thus the Maverick brand (although he is trying to be cozy with them now). It is these "decider" qualities which make a President, not being a prisoner of war.

[elleng]

Xenopus, I checked mccain's bio some time ago, and was impressed with how unimpressive it is; if anyone's really paying attention, he's clearly a no-go.

Reps may know this tho, and give us romney somehow; that's the one I'm really afraid of.

[TiffanyHusseinBanned]

Clark is moving up on my list. Pretty, pretty, pretty good.

[nirak]

Wes Clark for VP

[NotMcCain]

Making the point (about McCain not having the experience in military decision-making or foreign policy matters simply because he was a POW) takes guts and credibility.

Fortunately, Clark has both. Thank you, General.

[Krikkit]

Yeah, how many times did McLame plunge his plane in the drink out of how many flights again? Wasn't it three times out of a total of five flights?

Sounds like incompetence to me, but I'd have to see some kind of comparison to the performance of other pilots carrying out the same kinds of missions to know for sure.

[win2kpro]

Obama/Clark '08-A winning team!

[Politicallysavvy]

Gen. Clark, if you read this here's what I have to say...
Keep the mic on your comments about McCain's experience. If you (a credible military voice) can successfully plant doubts in the electorates minds about the "experience" of McCain, that is just great.

For too long, conservatives have used military service asa wedge. We are saying "Not this time!"

[duze]

Clark would be an excellent choice. He is the TRUTH. McCain would have to salute him.