The Beginning of the End of Wesley Clark, Part One

"I've known Wes for a long time. I will tell you the reason he came out of Europe early had to do with integrity and character issues, things that are very near and dear to my heart. I'm not going to say whether I'm a Republican or a Democrat. I'll just say Wes won't get my vote." - General Hugh Shelton, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on the maverick soldier now running for the presidency.

This item is cut and pasted from Andrew Sullivan's site. It's the single most devastating quote I can recall about a presidential candidate in three decades.

The Beginning of the End of Wesley Clark, Part Two

Two weeks ago, he was their guy. Today, he's just another guy. The following is from this morning's New York Times:

Officials close to Mr. Clinton said he was upset at what they described as the false perception in Democratic political circles that he and his wife, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, were seeking to anoint General Clark as the 2004 Democratic presidential candidate.

They said that the calls by Mr. Clinton to the presidential campaigns — along with a breakfast interview Mrs. Clinton gave to two dozen Washington reporters this morning — were intended to distance the Clintons from the Clark campaign and establish them as above the presidential fray.

This is known in politics as "cutting your losses early."

A Good Speech

President Bush's speech to the United Nations is here.

One Thing About Wes Clark

A friend of mine reminded me this morning that General Wesley Clark is a great debater. A former West Point colleague (of the General) made the same point to me this afternoon. Having not seen him in action, I don't know. But I do know that CNBC and The Wall Street Journal are hosting a Democratic presidential campaign debate that will be broadcast at 4pm (EST) on Thursday afternoon on CNBC.

It'll be interesting to see how Gen. Clark fares in a 10-way scrum.

Circuit Board Breaker

News of the death of Sun Microsystems may be premature. Read the whole thing, as they say.

Call Back

Howard Fineman of Newsweek and MSNBC and all other known media outlets, reports the following:

Clark was furious. Last January, at a conference in Switzerland, he happened to chat with two prominent Republicans, Colorado Gov. Bill Owens and Marc Holtzman, now president of the University of Denver. "I would have been a Republican,” Clark told them, “if Karl Rove had returned my phone calls.” Soon thereafter, in fact, Clark quit his day job and began seriously planning to enter the presidential race—as a Democrat. Messaging NEWSWEEK by BlackBerry, Clark late last week insisted the remark was a “humorous tweak.” The two others said it was anything but. “He went into detail about his grievances,” Holtzman said. “Clark wasn’t joking. We were really shocked.”

If this story is even two-thirds true, it disqualifies Clark from further consideration. Why should any Democratic primary voter be asked to nominate someone who would otherwise be a Republican if Karl Rove had returned his calls?