Nailed it!

I didn’t watch Wesley Clark on Meet the Press. Tim Russert makes me break out in hives. But I just read the transcript, and thought Clark did very well.

In particular, I thought this response was pitch-perfect:

MR. RUSSERT: General, you had this to say. “Having other people tell you what to do is no substitute for having been there in the arena yourself. … You need a candidate who’s got foreign policy expertise.” Do you believe that Howard Dean has the necessary foreign policy expertise to be an effective president?

GEN. CLARK: Well, I’ll say this to you, Tim. If George W. Bush is qualified to be president of the United States, then any of the Democratic candidates are more qualified. I just don’t believe that at this time in American history the Democratic Party can field candidates who can only represent the education, health, job and compassionate sides of the party. We have to be a full-spectrum party. We have to deal with the challenges facing America at home and the challenges facing America abroad. And that’s why I’m running.

Author: Mark Kleiman

Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out. Books: Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken) When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993) Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989) UCLA Homepage Curriculum Vitae Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com