Clark piles on
This is a pretty despicable attack on Dean by Clark on Thanksgiving day:
As all the other candidates know full well, Dean showed up for his physical and was rejected on account of his spinal condition. The rejection was not under his control.
After Dean wins the nomination, watch for the same line of attack to be played out in the general election, with Bush quoting Clark by name.
UPDATE: It may have been more innocous than it seemed at first blush. The CNN report has some mitigating comments from Clark:
The story starts out with Clark's repeated insistence he doesn't want to getinto personal attacks, so if you're willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, you could charitably interpret his comment as "poorly worded". Our own candidate lets his mouth run away at times too.
"I didn't have as much practice skiing as the governor did. He was out there skiing when I was recovering from my wounds in Vietnam," Clark, a former supreme allied commander in Europe, told WNTK radio on Wednesday.
As all the other candidates know full well, Dean showed up for his physical and was rejected on account of his spinal condition. The rejection was not under his control.
After Dean wins the nomination, watch for the same line of attack to be played out in the general election, with Bush quoting Clark by name.
UPDATE: It may have been more innocous than it seemed at first blush. The CNN report has some mitigating comments from Clark:
Clark did mention Dean by name earlier Thursday, when a radio interviewer jokingly asked if he'd be interested in a ski competition between candidates.
"I didn't have as much practice skiing as the governor did. He was out there skiing when I was recovering from my wounds in Vietnam," Clark said on WNTK radio.
Dean recently has defended himself from criticism that he cited a back condition and sought a medical deferment during the Vietnam War, then spent a year skiing in Colorado. "I took a physical, I failed a physical. If that makes this an issue, then so be it," Dean said earlier this week.
In Manchester, Clark said he did not intend his comment to be critical of Dean.
"If anybody's spent a year skiing, they've spent a lot more time on the slopes than I have," he said, adding that it would be up to veterans to decide what to make of Dean's actions.
The story starts out with Clark's repeated insistence he doesn't want to getinto personal attacks, so if you're willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, you could charitably interpret his comment as "poorly worded". Our own candidate lets his mouth run away at times too.
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