How a real leader talks to the American people: "I talked to Condoleeza Rice right away. I found out I didn't like her view on foreign policy. She said American troops shouldn't do peacekeeping they should do real fighting. But she is an academic, what does she know? I've been on the front lines. I tried to explain it to her. She let me know she was going to be in charge."
http://www.politicsnh.com/archives/pindell/2003/september/9_27clark.shtml
General Clark says he'd relieve Rumsfeld of his command
By JAMES W. PINDELL and SAM YOUNGMAN
PoliticsNH.com
NEW CASTLE, Sept. 27 -- Gen. Wesley Clark, told a New
Hampshire audience Friday night he had only fired one
person in his life. On Saturday he said he wanted to
fire a second person: Secretary of Defense Donald
Rumsfeld.
When asked at a house party on the Seacoast about what
he would do in Iraq if elected president today, he was
met with applause when he said, "First of all I would
change the Secretary of Defense. Then I would go to
the commanders of the ground and go to Iraq myself
personally and I would develop an exit strategy that
gives us a success and lets us downsize our commitment
there."
Besides Rumsfeld, Clark also criticized Bush's
National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice for her
views of the world and then U.S. House Majority Leader
Tom Delay, also a Republican, for his vote on a
measure involving Kosovo.
"So when I got out of the military and into business I
looked at both parties," Clark explained to the crowd
on why he was a Democrat. "I talked to Condoleeza Rice
right away. I found out I didn't like her view on
foreign policy. She said American troops shouldn't do
peacekeeping they should do real fighting. But she is
an academic, what does she know? I've been on the
front lines. I tried to explain it to her. She let me
know she was going to be in charge. And I spoke out on
the election campaign on what we are trying to do on
behalf of Bosnia and the Balkans and so forth. And
when I went home to Arkansas I was in business and I
wanted to meet both sides. The Republicans came to me
and said 'Hey we would like for you to speak at our
Lincoln Day fund-raiser. I said I am not going to be
there for Lincoln Day. They said 'General we'll hold
Lincoln Day whenever you can get here.' So I did. I
spoke to about 450 Republicans there at Embassy
Suites. I was non-partisan. I basically praised
Republicans for being Republicans. . . . But I knew
what the Republican Party was like and I couldn't
identify with that party. They are the party that when
I was commanding in Kosovo, they were the party led by
Tom Delay against our airman who were in the skies
over Yugoslavia taking fire from Serb anti-aircraft
and this party voted against them. They claimed they
weren't. They claimed they were voting against just a
policy, but I read what they said. They wanted the
policy to fail. They didn't have a vision. They didn't
understand what America was about. They put their
interest of the party above the interest of the party.
I'll never put the interest of the party above the
interest of the country."
It should be noted that Clark only took questions
after several in the crowd of about 70 verbally
complained.
Traditionally in New Hampshire candidates attend house
parties and briefly explain their platform and why
they are running following by about 30-40 minutes of
taking questions from the audience. Here Clark spoke
for 20 minutes and quickly began shaking hands.
A Clark aide noted it was his first house party ever
as a presidential candidate and didn't understand
protocol and was not hiding from questions.
The house party in New Castle ended a two day trip to
New Hampshire, his first trip since announcing he was
in the presidential race.
Clark has been criticized by some of the other
candidates for flip-flopping on issues during his
11-day-old candidacy, but
seemed to become more comfortable in his role with
each stop.
“I never say the same thing every day,” he told a
supporter in New Castle. “I grow every day.”
Earlier on Saturday Clark visited with patrons at Chez
Vachon, a French-Canadian diner once adored by a
candidate named Bill Clinton. After that he met with
Manchester fire fighters and briefly discussed
Homeland Security. On Monday the union representing
New Hampshire fire fighters will formally endorse John
Kerry's presidential campaign.
Arguably the biggest test for Clark came to his trip
in Dover at lunchtime. Dover is the site of the only
Draft Clark office in New Hampshire, where about 250
supporters from all over New England came to hear the
General rally his troops and ask for support and
explicitly for money.
At none of the events Saturday did Clark take
questions from the media.
Terry Evans, of Windham, said she worked for Rep. Dick
Gephardt in the early 1970s, but said Saturday
afternoon that she was still undecided, but she was
leaning toward Clark.
Evans said after the rally that Clark’s position as a
political newcomer and his NATO command were
contributing factors in her swaying support, adding
that “he’s definitely the best looking candidate the
Democrats have.”
James Pindell can be reached at
pindell@politicsnh.com