"I know he's trying to get traction by seeking to play to what he
thinks is his strong suit of national security," [General Wesley] Clark said of
McCain while speaking from his office in Little Rock, Arkansas. "The truth is
that, in national security terms, he's largely untested
and untried. He's never been responsible for policy formulation.
He's never had leadership in a crisis, or in anything larger than his own
element on an aircraft carrier or [in managing] his own congressional staff.
It's not clear that this is going to be the strong suit that he thinks it
is."
Resume aside, though, Clark also took issue with the Arizona
Republican's instincts on national security. "McCain's weakness is that he's
always been for the use of force, force and more force. In my experience, the
only time to use force is as a last resort. ... When he talks about throwing
Russia out of the G8 and makes ditties about bombing Iran, he betrays a
disrespect for the office of the presidency."
McCain is running an ad in Wisconsin this week saying that, "Only a fool or a fraud talks about war tough or romantically." Which is the Senator?
3 comments:
Oh, come on, if an ex-prisoner of war is untested in military matters, what does that make the Harvard-educated community organizer?
Obama may be the better candidate, but I think this is just laughable.
Reread it, Elliott.
"policy matter"
"Leadership"
"instinct to use force first"
This isn't about some ephemeral "military matters." This is about the free pass that McCain gets on security issues just because he managed to get captured 40 years ago.
While I wouldn't put it quite as, ehm, bluntly as "just because he managed to get captured," grumps has a point indeed.
Obama and Co aren't dumb. They're not going to come at War Hero McCain saying "Your stay in the Hanoi Hilton doesn't matter!"
They're gonna say "Even with your military experience, which we honor thoroughly, your judgment in this matter in particular is incorrect."
And spice that up with bits of "Yeah, and your military chops didn't help you avoid voting for the biggest military debacle this side of etc, etc, etc."
This is Clark trying on the role of attack dog. I think it fits him pretty well, though a bit of tailoring is needed in his rhetoric. We'll see more of this in the time between now and convention.
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