Read Progressive editor Matthew Rothschild's take at
http://www.progressive.org/webex04/wx011904.html
Some snippets:
"Why Moore thinks Clark will get the United States out of Iraq and end that war is beyond me. I've listened to Clark in almost every debate, and he has no plan for ending the war. Unlike Dennis Kucinich and Al Sharpton, he is against pulling the troops out."
"Moore claims that Clark "will insist that trade agreements do not cost Americans their jobs and do not exploit the workers or environment of Third World countries." How is he going to do that? In the debates, Clark is one of the more avidly pro-free trade among all the Democrats, perhaps second only to Joe Lieberman."
"Clark has come out with a relatively progressive tax proposal, and he now parrots the Democratic line on abortion, affirmative action (to his credit, he filed an amicus brief in support of the Michigan case, Moore notes), education, health care, and the environment. But here is a guy who voted for Nixon and Reagan and praised George W. Bush and Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney early in the Administration."
Moore deflects this by saying Clark is "the best candidate to bring millions of other former Reagan supporters to our side." But Moore refuses to acknowledge another way to win, and that is by turning out new voters: progressive young people, poor and working class people who don't believe either party delivers for them, and an increased percentage of the black and Latino vote. Instead, Moore focuses on what he calls "the fence sitters."
Which I think goes to the heart of the Dean vs. Clark strategies. Which will bring us victory, converting "swing voters" or bringing in "new voters?"