PoliBlog: Odd

September 17, 2024

Odd

Clark on voting:

He told us in an interview the other day that he is new to the party -- it's not that he'd been a Democrat all along and kept his affiliation private for reasons of propriety. Asked whether he had voted for Republicans along the way, Mr. Clark said, "I don't even remember." Had he voted for a Republican for president? "I imagine that I voted for Reagan at one time or another," he said. It will be interesting to see how that plays with Democratic Party activists.

Ok, either he is covering because he hasn't really been all that "political" and it would be embarrassing to admit when he is running for Pres, or he voted Republican predominantly in the past, and it would be embarrassing to admit that now that he has declared himself to be a Democrat, or he isn't too bright and really doesn't remember for whom he voted.

None of these are good options. I mean, please--he's a Rhodes Scholar and retired 4-star general and he can't remember for whom he voted, nor can be fully confirm with certainy if he voted for Reagan or not "at one time or another?"

And certainly it demonstrates the political neophyte problem that he has (and that I have mentioned many a time).

Source: Source: Enter Wesley Clark

Posted by Steven Taylor at September 17, 2024 02:20 PM | TrackBack

Comments

Hmm. One of two things:

(1) It's called "Not wanting to anger progressives by admitting you voted for a stand-in Satan like Reagan."

(2) That coyishness is present among many would-be celebrity candidates, and what we usually learn is that they missed a lot of elections. I suppose the media will dig up Clark's voting record eventually.

Posted by: Matthew at September 17, 2024 03:42 PM

Why should General McClellan's voting record matter at all?

Posted by: Leroy at September 18, 2024 05:42 AM

His voting record doesn't matter, per se--it is the fact that he "can't remember" that I find telling.

Posted by: Steven at September 18, 2024 06:29 AM

I have a hard time taking the new lil'Mac very seriously as a candidate. His personal bravery and intelligence are without doubt, and as much was as true of the original McClellan.

Steven, you have had numerous posts and comments about the chances of Clark winning the election, or even the nomination; in effect, while I admit that it was a bit sarcastical to compare Clark with McClellan, I agree with you that Clark has next to no chance of being the Democratic nominee and much less of a chance of actually winning the presidency. Therefore, Clark's inability to remember who he voted for is a matter of no importance.

Of course, I don't really believe that he doesn't remember, after all, presidential elections are not so often that anyone should be forgetting who they voted for in any given election. Especially not someone as smart as what Clark is billed as being...

Posted by: Leroy at September 19, 2024 03:30 PM