Campaign 2004 The race for president Resources See video of the debate (CNN) Your Voice Join the conversation with other MPR listeners in the News Forum.

	E-mail this page			Print this page

Democratic insiders taunt newcomer Clark in presidential debate
October 10, 2003

Phoenix, Ariz. — Washington insiders seeking the presidency gave Wesley Clark a rough welcome to the Democratic race, dismissing the insurgent outsider's 11th-hour allegiance to the party and assailing his indecisiveness on the Iraq war.

The insiders - six congressional veterans with 75 years of combined experience - scored a few hits in a debate Thursday night in Phoenix. But some Democratic strategists wondered if they did so at their own peril, coming on the heels of Californians' recall of career politician Gov. Gray Davis and their decision to replace him with Hollywood action hero Arnold Schwarzenegger, a political novice.

"The outsiders still have juice because they're fresh and new and on the cutting edge of what has voters so angry," said Donna Brazile, a Democratic consultant who helped run Al Gore's 2000 presidential campaign.

"The insiders are talking about what they fought for yesterday," she said. "The outsiders are talking about what they'd fight for tomorrow."

After the debate, Clark, a retired Army general who has not held public office, said the country "is getting tired of politics as usual and the nitpicking as usual. That's the message that came out California."

Clark's rivals were primed to attack the man who jumped to a lead in some national polls within days of his entry into the race last month. Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and Sens. John Kerry, Joe Lieberman and John Edwards took turns criticizing Clark, attacking him as a late convert to the party who can't make up his mind on the war.

"Wes Clark, welcome to the Democratic presidential campaign," Lieberman said sarcastically.

Clark, who voted for Republicans Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George H. Bush for the White House, labored to fend off the criticism from the early moments of the debate, which was conducted by CNN. "I would never have voted for war. The war was an unnecessary war and it's been a huge strategic mistake for the country," he said.

But Dean said that exactly one year ago, Clark had advised a Democratic congressional candidate in New Hampshire to vote for legislation authorizing the war in Iraq - a war the former general now criticizes sharply.

Clark defended himself by saying even though he had praised President Bush early in his presidency, "I did not vote for George W. Bush. I voted for Al Gore." He also said Congress made a mistake in passing the resolution to go to war in Iraq and tried to turn his rivals' political experience against them.

"There's some of us who aren't in Washington right now, but I'd like to ask all of those who are - let's see some leadership in the United States Congress," he said. "Let's see you take apart that doctrine of pre-emption now."

Dean also took some criticism from his rivals. Rep. Dick Gephardt accused Dean of supporting GOP efforts in the 1990s to make "deep, devastating cuts in Medicare."

Dean shrugged off the criticism, even joking at times about his rivals and their barbs.

"First they said I was George McGovern and I couldn't win," Dean said. "And now they're saying I'm Newt Gingrich and I couldn't win."

Dean also asserted his outsider status, even though like Clark, he's no stranger to Washington. Neither man has been elected to federal office, but both are experienced in negotiating with Congress and the White House.

"In Washington the culture is say whatever it takes to get elected," said Dean, a former governor of Vermont. "And the minute you're willing to say whatever it takes to get elected, you lose, because the American people are not nearly as dumb as the people in Washington think we are."

None of the candidates ran away from their Washington ties; some even embraced them. Lieberman was asked if California's recall suggested that being from Washington was a liability. "The way to bring about change is not to go to a rookie," the Connecticut senator said. "It's to go with experience."

Gephardt pointed to Lieberman and joked, "He's a rookie compared to me."

Arizona state Sen. Ken Cheuvront, who attended the debate, said he doesn't know if claiming the inside track is the best argument for winning office. Like Californians who elected Schwarzenegger, Cheuvront said people across the country are looking for change.

"Gephardt, he's been a great leader in the Congress, but he's part of the status quo ... and people want something different," he said.

Al Sharpton, the biggest political outsider at the debate, reminded his sparring rivals to keep their ultimate rival in mind: "We need to deal with how we beat George Bush in 2004."

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

News Headlines

Related Subjects