A ridiculous squabble has broken out between the Clark and Dean camps over whether Dean offered Clark a spot on the ticket before Clark announced his presidential campaign. I think it would be in both campaigns’ interests to let this flap pass. Quickly.
On ABC’s This Week, George Stephanopoulos brought up Clark’s potential interest in joining with Dean for the 2004 race. Clark said, “I don’t see that in the cards,” and added, “[Dean] did offer me the vice presidency, but that’s not the issue.”
A few minutes later, Stephanopoulos began interviewing Dean’s campaign manger, Joe Trippi, who denied that any such offer was ever extended. While acknowledging that Clark was offering Dean foreign policy advice before becoming a candidate, Trippi said the offer of VP slot “never came up” in any of the meetings he attended.
Trippi’s response prompted the Clark campaign to issue a tersely-worded release to contradict Trippi’s on-air remarks.
“Joe Trippi may want to check in with his candidate before talking,” Clark’s Communications Director Matt Bennett said. “Howard Dean did in fact offer Wes Clark a place on the ticket in a one-on-one meeting that Trippi did not attend. Joe Trippi shouldn’t comment on meetings he wasn’t invited to.”
Which side of this fight you believe probably depends on which candidate you like better. If you trust Clark, you’re probably inclined to believe his version of the story. If you’re inclined towards Dean, the opposite.
Published reports appear to back Clark on this one. The Washington Post reported, in a front-page article in September, that Dean “asked retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark to join his campaign, if the former NATO commander does not jump into the race himself next week, and the two men discussed the vice presidency at a weekend meeting in California, sources familiar with the discussions said.”
Regardless, I see this as a squabble that does little to help either side.
The more the Clark campaign talks about disinterest in being Dean’s vice president, the more attention is focused on Dean’s status as the front runner. It makes Clark look like less of a commanding figure if the political conversation consistently references him as a possible contender for the second slot, instead of the top slot (for which I think he’s far better suited).
The Dean camp, meanwhile, insists the offer was never extended, not only contradicting Clark’s word, but published reports about the offer. Worse, the controversy suggests to the public that Dean is so sure of his success in the primaries, he’s already extending presumptive invitations to join his ticket, giving rise to concerns about his arrogance and over-confidence.
Note to both campaigns: Let this one go.