Could Clark peel a lot of military votes from the GOP?

[fujiyama]

I was wondering what you all think...

While, I'm not sure if Clark would be able to grab a majority of the military vote, I'm sure he could take a significant number, perhaps even up to half. That would be significant and useful, especially in some swing states like maybe Florida or some other southern state.

[pinkpops]

1. seems like

[sfecap]

2. Most former military people I talk with...

...don't like the guy.

[wyldwolf]

12. Most I talk with do...

:)

[KittyWampus]

25. Most Military People I've Spoken To Do

And the fact that he had to do an end run around alot of the politicos in Kosovo is A BIG PLUS!

My Dad is especially impressed with Clark's mentioning the military's culture of "Want"... he's told me about when he was in charge of requisitioning stuff... he always had to order way more than he needed at any given time cause if you ever cut down your order... they'd just decrease your allotments... so it never mattered if you only needed 10 cases of toilet paper... you ALWAYS asked for 100...

[Padraig18]

3. I would tend to agree with that statement. n/t

[roughsatori]

4. Will he motivate registered Democrats to vote for him?

I don't thnik he will. The candidate who can to that to the highest degree will win. Concentrating on pulling in Republican votes is a strategy doomed to fail.

[wyldwolf]

13. He already has...

...unless those saying he's their favorite in the polls won't vote for him... which is a big leap in logic.

"According to Ruy Teixeira, co-author of "The Emerging Democratic Majority," Clark's followers are right to suppose that their man's appeal is demographically broader than Dean's. In a post on the Emerging Democratic Majority blog, he analyzes an October Gallup poll to discern "The Demographics of Clarkism":

"While Clark receives more support than Dean among both men and women, his margin over Dean among women is just 3 points (16 percent to 13 percent), but an impressive 12 points among men (29 percent to 17 percent)," Teixeira points out. "He also beats Dean in every region of the country, but especially in the South (25 percent to 8 percent). Also intriguing is how well he does among low income voters (less than $20,000), clobbering Dean by 26 percent to 5 percent. In fact, Clark bests Dean in every income group up to $75,000. Above $75,000, Dean edges Clark, 26 percent to 25 percent."

Furthermore, unlike Dean, Clark seems to have significant support from black voters. He's been treated gently by Al Sharpton and endorsed by Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y. "When Charlie Rangel speaks up for somebody like General Clark, it speaks volumes in the black community," says Brazile.

Brooks-LaSure, an African-American who plans to work on communicating Clark's message to black communities nationwide, points out that when Dean spoke at a black church in South Carolina, the audience was primarily white. Clark, he insists, will appeal to black voters. "The general's experience growing up in Little Rock, and then in the military, where they boast of having more African-Americans in positions of management and leadership than any other organization in the world, you can tell is not something new for him," Brooks-LaSure says.

Finally, Clark has support among a constituency that doesn't relate to Dean at all -- those who think that Bush is a basically decent man who's doing a bad job as president." salon.com

[jumptheshadow]

17. I think he may surprise you

Once he really works up a head of steam I don't think there will be any doubt that he's a Democrat, a liberal, incensed about Bush & Co., and is the Democratic candidate who can inflict the most damage on Bush during and after the primaries.

[Pastiche423]

18. There is already

lots of doubt that he is a Democrat and a libera!

[wyldwolf]

19. only among the far-left fringe...

...of the party.

[Pastiche423]

23. Oh please, enlightened one

define what you believe "far-left fringe" to mean.

Is it someone that wants a DEMOCRATIC candidate that has a history of fighting for and doing for the DEMOCRATIC Party? Or wants a DEMOCRATIC candidate that has a record of fighting for and doing for the DEMOCRATIC party that can be examined? Or maybe, a DEMOCRATIC candidate that hasn't praised whistle ass et al in the past year? How about a DEMOCRATIC candidate that din't sell the privacy of U.S. citizens for over $300,000? What about a candidate that was a DEMOCRAT before he announced his run on the DEMOCRATIC ticket?

Is that what you mean by "far-left fringe"?

[mikehiggins]

31. Far Left Fringe

I think what he means is the faction of the Democratic Party that would rather lose than compromise their vision of what the Party is.

Its sort of like what happens in FreeMasonry. There are folks who tell FreeMasons that their organization is really part of the New World Order, and the fact that they don't know that means they have been fooled by those higher up, those "secret masters" who rule all.

The average FreeMason says our organization is what we say it is, and if the vast majority of FreeMasons say the group is one way, who is someone else to claim it isn't?

Clark says he's a Democrat, and his supporters say he's a Democrat, and even many of his opponents say he's a Democrat (and most certainly the Republicans say he's a Democrat), so, he's a Democrat.

He may not be your kind of Democrat, and you are welcome to your opinion, but he is just fine by me and a lot of other people so it seems to me the thing to do is let the people decide, not some small coterie of folks who just can't understand why most of their fellow citizens just don't "get it".

Let the voters decide what they think of Wesley Clark. That's the Democratic way.

[wyldwolf]

42. Or as Michael Moore calls them - the "professional left"

http://www.liberalresurgent.com/mooreclark.mp3

[Andromeda]

34. That's a comment I would expect...

from some of left-wingers who are probably not Democrats anyway.

[Andromeda]

33. He is motivating a lot of Democrats...

he just got a late start in his campaign but he's got some time to catch up.

As for Republicans---I've heard many of them say that they are impressed with Clark and would consider voting for him.

[Pastiche423]

36. He (or his supporters)

"impress" whoever he/they are trying to convince that he is of their ideology.

To Dems, he is a Dem
To repugs, he is a repug
To Greens, he is a Green
To Indys, he is an Indy

What is it they call something that can change to look like its environment?


It's a...

!

And that is exactly what clark is. He'll be whatever it takes to win. Not what it takes to be a good president to We, the People.

[Woodstock]

5. I think so, plus he appeals to older people

according to the polls

personally I'd like to see a Dean/Clark or Clark/Dean ticket

[caledesi]

20. Dean/Clark is my dream ticket! nt

[w13rd0]

22. It's not my personal choice for a ticket...

...but Dean/Clark has the best chance of getting Democrats out to vote, peeling away military and the elderly from Bush, and attracting the attention of Independents...

At least if we were to create a ticket from present candidates...

[LonelyLRLiberal]

21. I agree that Dean/Clark or Clark/Dean might be a winning ticket

just don't know which one should lead the ticket - if Clark would promote Dean's domestic policy ideas and if Clark is seen as the stronger overall vote-getter, I'd be okay with Clark-Dean.

I'm wondering if Clark can stand up to the demands of the mean world of political campaigning though. He would have to get a hell of a lot better to actually win against the evil Repuke tactics IMO.

I don't know why anyone really worries about the deep South - they are going to go Repuke anyway because most of them are openly racist or at least closet racists. The Repukes are full of code words and code policies that are clearly racist in intent. (I should know - I have plenty of relatives in MS and AL who are big-time racists and are also hardline Repubs.)

[RandomUser]

26. The focus on the south is strategic

Even if we can't sweep the south, we must be able to credibly steal the south away from Bush, or at least have a credible chance of damaging him. Conceding the south, or only making a token defense there, is a disaster because it frees up Bush's resources. We want him pinned down in the south, instead of ignoring it as being "safe" and spending his warchest and time visiting the nonsouth battleground states.

So, whether we win the south or not, we can't let Bush have a free ride there, for purely logistical reasons.

[M_Demo_M]

24. With all due respect to the very energetic Dean supporters

I personally think that a Edwards/Clark ticket would be both feared by
the Bush team and would win the election.

Edwards and Clark together complement each other well.

Clark obviously has a lot of military/foreign policy experience
an area where Edwards is a bit thin.

They are both Southerners and would pick off at least a few of
the southern states from the GOP.

And Edwards has a connection to working class people that
would neutralize Bush's phony cowboy simple guy appeal.

And Edwards has a lot of good and positive ideas that inspire
both Democrats and independants (in my humble opinion).

[Andromeda]

35. I like Edwards too.

Before Dean caught on fire with his grassroots campaigning Edwards was my choice.

If Edwards poll numbers started climbing then I'd throw my support to him. He is one of the most gifted candidates and even though I didn't support his vote on Iraq, I still have high regard for him.

[RandomUser]

38. Me too

I think Edwards, regardless of whether he gets the nomination or not, will be a force in the future. He's young and has a long political career ahead of him if he wants it. If he doesn't win, I think he would be a great asset either as VP or AG.

[quaker bill]

6. Yes

He will not get them all, but no one else will either. The military will likely swing more Dem next time around anyway. Bush* is cutting pay and benefits, Clinton got them raises.

[Wickerman]

7. I've heard of several Bush* voters who are giving him strong look

they haven't voted Dem in the past, but think Clark might provide them the best bang for their voting buck. I do think only the hard care repug service members will be voting for Bush* this year.

[annxburns]

8. He could ....

I have alot of military people in my family. Clark has alot of potential to pull in military votes. Lots of military people are repubs but they are growing more and more disgusted with Bush. They are really pissed about having benefits cut. Maybe Clark not being universally "well-liked" in the Pentagon would have meant more one year ago ... I recently had at least 5 military members of my family tell me they were going to vote for Clark. (i'm the family flaming liberal and democrat. Same family members used to tease me about Clinton, now they are seeking me out to ask about Clark - it's freaking me out) One said "He may be a sum bitch but g**damn at least we would have someone in there who knows what he's doing."

I still haven't decided between Clark, Edwards or Kerry but Clark or Kerry would have the best chance with this group.

[janekat]

9. Have a Republican friend whose kids are military who likes Clark

She no longer likes Bush and wants someone else to vote for.

[Kat45]

10. I think he could. n/t

[quinnox]

11. I think that it is obvious

Military people would go for a guy like General Clark, especially over a guy like national guardsman Bush.

[Hippo_Tron]

14. Clark should get Dick Armey to campaign for him...

Afterall Dick pretty much had the same views on the war that Clark did. That might grab some of the military vote.

[union_maid]

15. I think he'd get more than most other candidates

A lot of the people in the Meet-up I go to are veterans. They like him very much. OTOH, they're also ABB or AABB (Almost anyone but Bush).

[girl gone mad]

16. I think Clark could win over military support..

but, it would depend on the media's handling of Bush's military background. If the media plays sup Bush "winning" Iraq and Afghanistan, then it would be tough for Clark. If the AWOL becomes more of an issue, Clark could easily do very well with the military. Maybe Clark will be too nice to confront Bush on his record, but it needs to get much more attention this time around - it is a character issue.

While Clark may not ever win a lot of public military support, I think he ultimately will win their support behind the closed curtains at the voting booth.

[David Zephyr]

27. Yes. Lots of Them.

Good question. The answer is yes.

[RandomUser]

28. Clark has a better chance with the military vote than the other Dems

Out of all the Dem candidates, I can't really see any of them being able to siphon off more of the military vote than Clark would. Some of them, like Kerry, would be able to siphon off some of the military voters, but I don't know if Kerry will get more military voters than Clark. Clark has the best chance, in my opinion.

[Justice]

29. Clark Would Have Support of Military, Not the Defense Industry

Clark makes a distinction between the military men and women and the defense industry - republicans like weapons, democrats like people.

When Clark says he would cut the Defense budget - he is talking about weapons programs, all those secret programs that cost billions and don't work. Clark supports the men and women of the military - health care, education, child care, living conditions, combat pay, disability and retirement. For these reasons, lots of military folks will support him.

[leesa]

30. If the military folk vote Republican, then they deserve whatever they get

[Pastiche423]

32. clark?

[mdmc]

37. he'll pull some votes

clark / haig 2004

[Pastiche423]

39. You read my post incorrectly

If the military vote repug, they get clark.

[unfrigginreal]

40. Yep

And Dean will pull some of the deficit hawks and libertarians from the Repukes.

[w4rma]

41. I don't have a clue.

I get the impression that he hasn't prepared himself as much as he should have for this presiential run. If I was sure that he had, then I'd say "yes".