Clark stumps for Lamont, slams Lieberman on war
October 6, 2006
By AP | via The Advocate
STORRS, Conn. -- Democrat Ned Lamont won retired Gen. Wesley Clark's stamp of approval Friday and hammered home the anti-war message that propelled his primary victory.
"He's got loads of courage, common sense and integrity," Clark, the former NATO commander, said at a rally outside the University of Connecticut student union. "Ned Lamont will go to Washington and he will be the key to changing the course for this country."
Clark sharply criticized the Bush administration's handling of the war. He blamed Lamont's opponent, Sen. Joe Lieberman, for supporting Bush's Iraq policies.
Lamont, a Greenwich businessman who has pumped more than $6 million of his own money into the campaign, won the August primary by attacking Lieberman's support of the war. Lieberman, the Democratic nominee for vice president in 2000, then launched an independent campaign. A Sept. 28 Quinnipiac University poll of likely voters showed Lieberman with a 10-point lead.
Clark and Lieberman were rivals during the 2004 Democratic presidential primary.
"George Bush says stay the course," Clark said. "How can you stay the course when you're in a ditch? Joe Lieberman has been part of that ditch."
He added, "The truth is, (Lieberman) didn't control the steering wheel, but he was sort of supporting the elbow of the guy who drove us into the ditch."
Clark said the Iraq and Afghan wars have strained the military and asserted that America was losing the war on terror.
Lamont accused Bush of turning his back on the advice of top military advisers.
"When this president rushed us into war ... he didn't listen to the military, and that's one of the reasons we have this mess on our hands," Lamont said.
Lamont backs a timeline for beginning troop withdrawals from Iraq. Clark hedged on whether he supports timelines for resolving the war.
"There may be a place for a timeline," he said. "I'm not saying there is or there isn't."
Lieberman, campaigning in New Haven, said he welcomed Clark to Connecticut.
"I respect Gen. Clark. We disagree on some things. We agree on some things. Endorsements come and go in politics," Lieberman said. "Something that's interesting about Gen. Clark coming in is I believe that Gen. Clark doesn't agree with Ned Lamont's proposal for getting us out of Iraq by immediately beginning to withdraw our troops and having them out by next July 1."
Clark's endorsement came a day after Lamont and Lieberman held campaign events designed to appeal to veterans, a coveted group of voters who make up about 12 percent of the state's population.
