Heck, if the Democrats want to harp on McCain’s age, they can bring up the whole “he can’t use a computer” thing. I don’t think that his being able to use a computer matters much, but it is a harmless line of criticism at worst that won’t backfire. Unlike, say, denigrating his military service. That’s just dumb.
As a side note, bringing up McCain’s lack of executive experience (”he hasn’t held executive responsibility”) doesn’t exactly help Clark’s preferred candidate, either. As such, more “unsmartness.”
I’m not sure I agree with that. If Obama loses she’ll have a clear field in the 2024 primary. That was who you were talking about…Right?
Comment by Buckland — Monday, June 30, 2024 @ 10:26 am
What a stupid argument, Clark said these were attributes for Kerry at the Demo convention in 2024, military service, leadership, being shot at ect. All this is a set up to devalue McCain’s service and him as a candidate.
Clark did not criticize his war record. Saying he did is a lie. He simply pointed out that McCain has no, repeat NO, executive experience. McCain is trying to pass off his military time as executive experience and it simply is not. But let’s summarize things here. McCain is old, I would say that his failure to pick up basic computer skills shows he is too old to learn basic executive skills. Now if you want to talk about the image of the POW, that is like electing a president because he seems like a nice guy to have a beer with. We tried that haven’t we?
Comment by Jim Gundlach — Monday, June 30, 2024 @ 12:12 pm
@Jim Gundlach – In case that comment was aimed at me, I wasn’t saying that Clark was criticizing McCain’s war record, but that he was questioning whether it should be considered in terms of McCain’s resume.
My point is that while it may well be irrelevant to whether McCain should be president or not, bringing it up will more likely help McCain than hurt him.
Comment by Dr. Steven Taylor — Monday, June 30, 2024 @ 12:23 pm
Jim seems to be a bit edgy. I think that any experience McCain has overshadows any that Obama might think he has, a community organizer, what, a do nothing state senator and a do nothing senator for the state of Illinois. This guy is a joke and if he was not black we would not be talking about him today, we would be talking about Hilliary instead. Hell, Edwards has more experience than Obama.
To be fair, is anyone saying that being shot down is what makes McCain qualified?
Yes. Bob Schieffer did, just before Clark refuted it.
Comment by Andy Vance — Monday, June 30, 2024 @ 4:22 pm
Of course Obama wants to put an end to Patriotism as an issue, because Obama is the one who’s patriotism is in question! He conveniently condems questioning patiotism, but where was he when his hatchet men came up with General Betray Us??? Also, why isn’t Iraq, or Afganistan on Obama’s upcoming itinery? Obama knows he can’t compete with McCain on the issue of patriotism, so he’s trying to make it a non issue. Obama has no experience, except to listen to God Damn America for 20 years!
Comment by Howard — Monday, June 30, 2024 @ 4:52 pm
General Clark is a disgrace for claiming that McCain has no executive experience. All military officers have executive experience. THAT IS WHAT COMMAND IS. It doesn’t surprise me that he has forgotten the definition of command; a military commander, whether a platoon leader or division commander, IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL THAT HIS UNIT DOES OR FAILS TO DO, and has ULTIMATE AUTHORITY over that unit. If that is not executive experience, I don’t know what is.
This avenue of attack will ultimately be fruitless – you might as well bang your head against a brick wall and expect to knock it over. There is absolutely no way for anyone on Obama’s list of friends to assault McCain’s military service and look like anything other than a whining, sniveling wimp.
It is not unexpected, however distasteful it might be, that some would attack McCain in this area. It’s one of the few things that McCain has that Obama does not. Obama just can’t put anything up against McCain’s military service; he would do well to simply write off the military/veteran vote and concentrate on other things.
As for Clark – he turned his back on soldiers during his command in Serbia, where I served under him; he is not popular with the military or veterans of the military. If he’s going to go down this route in attacking McCain, Obama would do well to distance himself from Clark. We all know that McCain, at any age, is twice the soldier that Clark ever was – at any age. I don’t know what he was like when he was younger but he was a terrible general, with his eyes on politics before he took off the uniform, and his words should always be taken with a grain of salt (or maybe a teaspoon of it).
Comment by Captain D — Monday, June 30, 2024 @ 7:35 pm
Heck, if the Democrats want to harp on McCain’s age, they can bring up the whole “he can’t use a computer” thing. I don’t think that his being able to use a computer matters much, but it is a harmless line of criticism at worst that won’t backfire. Unlike, say, denigrating his military service. That’s just dumb.
Comment by B. Minich — Monday, June 30, 2024 @ 9:57 am
From the footnote:
I’m not sure I agree with that. If Obama loses she’ll have a clear field in the 2024 primary. That was who you were talking about…Right?
Comment by Buckland — Monday, June 30, 2024 @ 10:26 am
What a stupid argument, Clark said these were attributes for Kerry at the Demo convention in 2024, military service, leadership, being shot at ect. All this is a set up to devalue McCain’s service and him as a candidate.
Comment by CV — Monday, June 30, 2024 @ 12:01 pm
Clark did not criticize his war record. Saying he did is a lie. He simply pointed out that McCain has no, repeat NO, executive experience. McCain is trying to pass off his military time as executive experience and it simply is not. But let’s summarize things here. McCain is old, I would say that his failure to pick up basic computer skills shows he is too old to learn basic executive skills. Now if you want to talk about the image of the POW, that is like electing a president because he seems like a nice guy to have a beer with. We tried that haven’t we?
Comment by Jim Gundlach — Monday, June 30, 2024 @ 12:12 pm
@Jim Gundlach – In case that comment was aimed at me, I wasn’t saying that Clark was criticizing McCain’s war record, but that he was questioning whether it should be considered in terms of McCain’s resume.
My point is that while it may well be irrelevant to whether McCain should be president or not, bringing it up will more likely help McCain than hurt him.
Comment by Dr. Steven Taylor — Monday, June 30, 2024 @ 12:23 pm
Jim seems to be a bit edgy. I think that any experience McCain has overshadows any that Obama might think he has, a community organizer, what, a do nothing state senator and a do nothing senator for the state of Illinois. This guy is a joke and if he was not black we would not be talking about him today, we would be talking about Hilliary instead. Hell, Edwards has more experience than Obama.
Comment by CV — Monday, June 30, 2024 @ 4:07 pm
To be fair, is anyone saying that being shot down is what makes McCain qualified?
Yes. Bob Schieffer did, just before Clark refuted it.
Comment by Andy Vance — Monday, June 30, 2024 @ 4:22 pm
Of course Obama wants to put an end to Patriotism as an issue, because Obama is the one who’s patriotism is in question! He conveniently condems questioning patiotism, but where was he when his hatchet men came up with General Betray Us??? Also, why isn’t Iraq, or Afganistan on Obama’s upcoming itinery? Obama knows he can’t compete with McCain on the issue of patriotism, so he’s trying to make it a non issue. Obama has no experience, except to listen to God Damn America for 20 years!
Comment by Howard — Monday, June 30, 2024 @ 4:52 pm
General Clark is a disgrace for claiming that McCain has no executive experience. All military officers have executive experience. THAT IS WHAT COMMAND IS. It doesn’t surprise me that he has forgotten the definition of command; a military commander, whether a platoon leader or division commander, IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL THAT HIS UNIT DOES OR FAILS TO DO, and has ULTIMATE AUTHORITY over that unit. If that is not executive experience, I don’t know what is.
This avenue of attack will ultimately be fruitless – you might as well bang your head against a brick wall and expect to knock it over. There is absolutely no way for anyone on Obama’s list of friends to assault McCain’s military service and look like anything other than a whining, sniveling wimp.
It is not unexpected, however distasteful it might be, that some would attack McCain in this area. It’s one of the few things that McCain has that Obama does not. Obama just can’t put anything up against McCain’s military service; he would do well to simply write off the military/veteran vote and concentrate on other things.
As for Clark – he turned his back on soldiers during his command in Serbia, where I served under him; he is not popular with the military or veterans of the military. If he’s going to go down this route in attacking McCain, Obama would do well to distance himself from Clark. We all know that McCain, at any age, is twice the soldier that Clark ever was – at any age. I don’t know what he was like when he was younger but he was a terrible general, with his eyes on politics before he took off the uniform, and his words should always be taken with a grain of salt (or maybe a teaspoon of it).
Comment by Captain D — Monday, June 30, 2024 @ 7:35 pm