Clark Puts His Foot in It

Over the weekend General Wesley Clark made a statement that John McCain had not commanded troops during war so he is unqualified to be commander-in-chief. This is an interesting statement for a couple of reasons.

By Clark's reasoning, very few presidents were qualified for the job. This includes Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt.

If McCain is unqualified after years in the service then what of Obama? He has no military service at all. Some of his supporters say that Obama's record of good judgment (he gave a speech against Iraq in 2003) makes him immune to this criticism. This is a rather weak argument.

It is very possible that Clark was trying to position himself to be vice-president. If Obama had someone qualified to be commander-in-chief on the ticket, people might not notice that the experienced commander wasn't at the top.

If that was what Clark ws trying, he failed miserably. McCain denounced Clark's statement while taking the high road:

If that's the kind of campaign Sen. Obama and his surrogates and supporters want to engage in, I understand that. But it doesn't reduce the price of gas by one penny. It doesn't achieve our energy independence or make it come any closer. Doesn't make any American stay in their home who's at risk of losing it today. And it certainly doesn't do anything to address the challenges Americans have in keeping their jobs, homes and supporting their families.

This forced Obama to disown Clark. Worse for Obama, it distracted the media from what was supposed to be a major speech. Whatever he talked about, the only thing the press covered was his response to Clark. Any chance that Clark had of getting on the ticket is now blown.