I bumped into a few of my many lefty friends this weekend, who were almost all enthusiastic about Wesley Clark. I was particularly amused by the far-left counter-cultural National Gay Lesbian Task Force getting solidly behind a general who almost started World War III with the Russians. None of them cared much about Clark’s actual positions, however. All they cared about is his perceived ability to win. One explained that the white-hot rage at Bush had now tippled over into a cold determination to beat him, by whatever means necessary. I have to say I respect this kind of political argument. But it also strikes me that the left really cannot criticize Bush as a cipher for other forces aligned behind him, when they are doing exactly the same with a general they view as a purely Potemkin figure. “Look, if it means we get Gene Sperling and Robert Rubin running the country again, I don’t much care who they put up as a front-man,” one partisan gleefully explained. All of this reminds me of Bill Kristol’s flirtation with Colin Powell as a Republican candidate a few years back. Why the Powell boomlet? He was black and could win. Er, that was it. Powell was a cipher to innoculate the Republicans from seeming too white-bread. Similarly, Clark is a perceived winner and a cipher to innoculate the Democrats from seeming … what, exactly? Unpatriotic? Weak on defense? Out of the cultural mainstream? Who knows? It all smacks of phoniness and opportunism to me. And it’s a clear sign that those who control big Democratic money are worried (I’m with Safire on that). If I were a Dem, it would make me want to vote for Dean even more. After all, what would be healthiest for the future of the Democrats – a party still run by principle-free sleazeballs like McAuliffe and the Clintons or one built up from the grass roots by people with passion and ideas?
CORRECTION: The person whom I quoted from memory above says he never used the term “front-man” to describe Wesley Clark. He says a more accurate rendition of his blind quote would be: “”If it means getting Robert Rubin and Gene Sperling back into power, who cares who gets them there?” He also denies he’s partisan. No, it wasn’t Sid Blumenthal.
UNSTEPFORD WIVES: Can America cope with Judith Steinberg and Teresa Heinz?
The Dish 