No Shocker: Hillary Clinton Endorsed by Wesley Clark

General Wesley Clark

Possibly providing convenient cover for Hillary Clinton, following a week in which she called into question General David Petraeus, Wesley Clark has announced his support for the candidacy of his former boss' wife. Much like the issue with Giuliani yesterday calling Clinton onto the media carpet, this announcement has some points to ponder.

First, Clinton needs some military support after her walk along the precipice of the anti-war left. Having the former general post his support is useful, from an old media perspective.

Next, the timing of the announcement in the dead of a Saturday news cycle, shows that Clinton still has to respect the power of the anti-war left. In most elections, she would want a former general and national political figure to come out on a bright and shiny Monday morning, so the whole world could see a move toward the middle. That the General decided to roll out his support on a Saturday shows that the anti-war left has a firm hold on the imagination of the Democratic primary.

Finally, the General has essentially become the "utility military guy" for the Democrats. His support for Clinton, in spite of the fact that she hasn't strongly denounced her natural enemies - Moveon.org - for a lousy attack on the American commander in Iraq, shows that he has become more Democrat than General.

As an addendum, Hillary might use him for surrogate attacks on the anti-war crowd, or even as a buffer. However, most people won't pay too close attention to him and the Republicans will continue their complaints about the state of the Democrats and their anti-war supporters.