"NOYB" wrote in message
hlink.net...

Huh? In your warped opinion, "encouraging someone to run" isn't the same
as
"endorsing them"?!? What about Bill calling Clark and Hillary the "two
rising stars in the Democratic party"? Is that an endorsement?

Huh? In your warped opinion, encouraging someone to run is the same as
endorsing them. Out of context it can certainly be made to seem like an
endorsement, but only to those who'd like to spin it that way.

In context he's standing beside his wife so he cannot ignore her and says
the right thing. Since Clark is a relative unknown, it's easy to say that
he's a rising star since he's barely cleared the horizon. We can safely
assume the other candidates are already bona fide stars in the Democratic
party, otherwise they wouldn't have enough support to be standing on the
stage.

Next point: It's not likely the other candidates went to the Clintons
seeking their input. Clark did and received their encouragement. Put in
the same position, few politicians would be stupid enough to say "no, I'm
already supporting someone else, don't bother" unless the race was already
very apparent. It's not.

Is it your supposition that the Clintons sought Clark out to encourage him?

Otherwise, it's the same as encouraging Dean or
Gephardt or any of the other players to join the party and make it as
strong a field as possible.

But they *didn't* "encourage" any of the other guys to run.

They didn't have to!!! And, how do you know that the Clintons didn't call
Mario Cuomo to try to pry him out onto the stage. You only know what's
reported or falls into the hands of the media.

Second, I don't think for a moment that Dean would launch a third party
candidacy...

If he feels back-doored or betrayed, I think he would. Afterall, before
the
Clintons maneuvered Clark into the lime-light, it belonged to Dean.

That's rolling around in your head. No one with an ounce of common sense
would attempt to run a third party candidacy, other than the Greens. Most
of their constituency has had four years of Bush and won't be making the
same mistake again.