Lieberman takes on Clark

Can you smell the desperation at Lieberman HQ?

Igniting a spate of post-debate recrimination, Joe Lieberman accused new presidential rival Wesley Clark on Friday of taking "a journey of political convenience, not conviction" from the Republican ranks to the Democratic Party. Clark's camp called Lieberman desperate.

Hmmm, smells like Garry South's work. Though the more Lieberman goes on the attack (first against Dean), the bigger hits he takes in the polls.

Still, it heralds the biggest line of attack against Clark.

On the day after a 10-way Democratic presidential debate, Lieberman took issue with Clark expressing support for the Bush administration's policies in a May 2001 address to the Arkansas GOP. Bush was pushing his tax-cut package at the time.

"I was fighting that reckless economic strategy while Wes Clark was working to forward the Republican agenda by raising money for the Republican Party," the Connecticut senator said.

Lieberman may be the first, but it won't be long before Edwards and Kerry chime in. Dean doesn't need to touch Clark yet (they're not competing in the same initial states), so expect nothing but polite words from that camp. The others, all vying for that "anti-Dean" slot, have a lot more to lose from Clark's candidacy.

Posted September 26, 2003 09:29 AM | Comments (208)