NYT Letter to the Editor. From Matt Bennet

[Renew Deal]

Clark's Campaign

Published: February 16, 2004

To the Editor:

"Why Clark's Campaign, Once Full of Hopes, Fell So Short" (news article, Feb. 12) correctly quoted me, the Clark campaign's director of communications, as saying that Gen. Wesley K. Clark, at the start of his campaign, was an "empty vessel." This sounds as if I were maligning General Clark, but nothing could be further from the truth.

What I meant is that because he was not a politician with a long line of compromising in his wake, General Clark began this campaign as a blank slate for voters, one that they could fill in as they saw fit.

But once General Clark began to set out his views and his agenda, he did not and could not try to be all things to all people.

Wes Clark is a leader. Leaders make hard choices, and they stick by them. And General Clark did that every day. I couldn't be prouder to have been a part of his team.

MATT BENNETT
Arlington, Va., Feb. 12, 2004

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/16/opinion/L16CLAR.html

[Tim_in_HK]

1. When I read the original article

I assumed that Bennett had made a poor choice of phrase and actually meant what he wrote in the letter to the editor. But I also thought that his use of 'empty vessel' was indicative of how bad the media people involved with the Clark campaign were. Yeah, they quoted you correctly, dummy. Maybe another choice of words would have been more appropriate . . . such as 'blank slate' as you say above, or even 'unknown quantity' would be better than 'empty vessel.'

And don't get me started on Lehane (a.k.a. Mr. Chortles). I wonder if he'll ever have a job in another campaign. I certainly hope not.

[funky_bug]

3. The UGH that is Lehane

Thanks for posting that. It's nice to remember the early days when Clark was indeed, anything but an empty vessel.

Anyone else but me name a voodoo doll after Lehane, though? The best thing that ever happened to Kerry, was the loss of Lehane. If only we could go back...

[Adelante]

5. All campaigns have a Chris Lehane

Their work is necessary for a candidate to have a jump on what's coming down the pike. They investigate opponents and even allies. For example, Lehane investigated Kerry for Gore 2000. He investigated all of Gore's potential VPs.

But Lehane is not to blame in the "intern" smear on Kerry.

Lehane has denied it. Clark has denied it. Several reporters who were present have denied it. The reporter whose memo was leaked citing Lehane as the smearer has retracted his statement and firmly states it was not Lehane, but Democratic opponent campaigns. I would dearly love to know what opponent Dem campaign abetted Drudge and his rightwing character assasination plot.

"The Drudge item blaming Lehane quoted Craig Crawford, a former Democratic operative who now works as a consultant and columnist for MSNBC. Within 10 minutes after Drudge posted the Kerry intern item, Crawford sent a memo to his superiors that said the story was "something Chris Lehane (clark press secy) has shopped around for a long time." According to Crawford, someone at MSNBC promptly leaked his memo to Drudge. But when Lehane called Crawford with a loudly indignant denial, the MSNBC columnist quickly issued a public retraction. He said:

"The comments attributed to me are from a private email to television news associates based on conversations with Democratic campaign operatives. I did not consider any of it confirmed enough to report or publish. I can only verify that Chris Lehane's rivals in other Democratic campaigns made these claims and I have found no independent source to confirm it. Which is why we did not go with the story. But then someone sent my email to others, which is the only reason it got into the public domain." In other words, there is no proof that Lehane circulated the rumor, let alone that the rumor has any basis in reality."

Source: Joe Conason, Salon, 2/13/04

[krkaufman]

4. Agreed. "empty vessel" makes him sound like Reagan

... or someone worse.

Ain't he *AIN'T* that.

[Adelante]

2. Glad he clarified

When I read it I took it as he says he meant it here, but it was interpreted otherwise by so many.

[mikehiggins]

6. The statement is what it is

If there are people who can take "empty vessel" as something other than a hit attempting to blame the failure of Clark's campaign squarely on his own shoulders, I haven't met them.

If the voters in the primaries did not have a clear idea as to who Clark was, perhaps Mr. Bennett might consider returning some of the money he was paid as Communications Director. That was his job, after all.