My letter to Sen. Obama's campaign
Submitted by Patrick McKinnion on July 7, 2008 - 2:09pm.
Wesley Clark
To the staff of Sen. Barack Obama's presidental campaign:
Since April of 2008 I have been sending what small donations I can to help Sen. Obama campaign and win. The last was a few weeks ago, which was made in tandem with a donation to Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign to help retire her debts.
This will be the last donation I make until after the convention. And future donations will depend on who Sen. Obama selects as his running mate.
The reason I am withholding donations is that I am troubled by the way Sen. Obama's campaign handled the very accurate and truthful comments made by Gen. Wesley Clark about Sen. McCain's fitness to be Commander in Chief. While I too can respect Sen. McCain's service and his time as a POW, I have to agree with Gen. Clark that service and experience as a POW does not equal command experience or show an ability to be commander in chief.
Sen. Obama's campaign could have taken that lead and shown that Sen. McCain's touting his service record does not make him a better person to be president. What your campaign did though was considerably less than you could have done - and disrespected the record and service of one of your own supporters, someone working very hard to get a Democrat in the White House and to create a veto-proof majority in the House and Senate.
This was the time to show leadership. Not politics of the past. I'm sorry, Sen. Obama and his campaign failed to lead on this issue.
Will I vote for Sen. Obama in November?? Yes, as I still believe that he will make a far better president than Sen. McCain. My continued financial support, however, depends on Sen. Obama showing the leadership required to repair the last eight years of Bush's failed policies in nearly every area of US society, culture, politics, and government. This was the first time I have felt disappointed in Sen. Obama and his campaign. Please make sure it's the last time. Just as the United States deserves better than Bush or McCain, Gen. Clark deserves better than what he got from Sen. Obama's campaign.
Sincerely
Patrick McKinnion
Save your money or give it to downticket races.
That's a very good letter. Thanks for doing it. You should have more credibility with the staff than some of the rest of us.
Stan Davis
Lakewood, CO
Wes Clark -- Make America All It Can Be!
Writing that letter I know wasn't the hard part for you, feeling the need to write it though had to be difficult for you. You're an honorable and honest man.
We learn. We change. That's progress. If we don't do that, well, we're GWB.
I'm going one step further and requesting a refund. I got a call from the Obama campaign asking for money. I told them then that I would have to wait and see who he selected as a runningmate. I meant it, but then Wes Clark sent out an appeal to contribute to the Obama campaign...so I did. And now I want that $ back since they "of course reject" General Clark's statements, they might as well "of course reject" any campaign contributions that Clark funneled their way.
if not, it's a brilliant collage of Clark's interview and the media reaction. This deserves the widest dissemination!
I won't give TPM any hits because of their unfair treatment of Hillary. I had several email exchanges with Josh Marshall over his blatantly dishonest headlines, but even when proved wrong by ensuing events, he wouldn't back down. He's done outstanding work regarding the DOJ, but he totally lost his fairness during the primary. Now I read elsewhere he's got some "buyer's remorse" over Obama's stance on FISA. Too bad, so sad.
Well done.
"Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants."
Gen. Omar Bradley
I am taking the same action, i.e. I'll vote for him in November but I won't send another cent. I held off on funding any candidates until the nomination was clear, and then sent $100 to Obama. I had been planning on sending $100 a month through November, but that is out of the question now. I sent my money to Clark instead. I realize that Obama didn't throw Clark as completely under the bus as he did Reverend Wright, but Reverend Wright's comments were less defensible. If Obama doesn't stand up for Clark now, who is going to stand up for Obama when the Rove machine trains its slander guns on him?
I have made several calls to the Obama headquarters.
1-866-675-2008 option #6
Plus I sent an email which I had to resend via their web site.
I agreed with what Patrick and Marc Ellenbogen said and I asked for Senator Obama to make a statement or speech expressing his understanding of why General Clark was correct in his asessment that John McCain does not have national security credentials or good judgment.
I said Clark set the foundation for Barack Obama to win in November and that should be publicly acknowledged.
One woman I talked to agreed with me. Everyone made notes of what I said and assured me that those notes will be read.
I gave them Marc Ellenbogen's name and asked them to check out his UPI Intl piece on General Clark.
At least that's the rumor going around there.
This letter goes far deeper than the issue of whether people should contribute to the Obama campaign. What the Obama camp must realize is the following: "Sen. Obama's campaign could have taken that lead and shown that Sen. McCain's touting his service record does not make him a better person to be president. What your campaign did though was considerably less than you could have done - and disrespected the record and service of one of your own supporters, someone working very hard to get a Democrat in the White House and to create a veto-proof majority in the House and Senate."
You would think that the Democrats capitulation to George Bush in authorizing the senseless Iraq war would have drilled some sense into their heads, but apparently not. Democrats continue to give the Republicans the upper hand in national security matters, as unjustified as it may be, and Obama is no different. McCain is vulnerable to the criticism which General Clark made, and the fact that Democrats won't join in shows a real weakness on their part. Obama should be glad to have General Clark working for him. Clark should continue to impress upon the voting public that McCain lacks the judgment to be president, and his honorable military record doesn't bail him out.
nt