America Conor O'CleryPolitical trivia quiz. Who made the following state- ment? "I'm very glad we've got the great team in office, men like Colin Powell, Don Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, Condo- leezza Rice . . . people I know very well, our president George W. Bush. We need them there."
The answer? Democratic presidential candidate Gen Wesley Clarke. The general made the comments, which included effusive praise for Ronald Reagan, at a Republican dinner in Little Rock, Arkansas, on May 11th, 2001.
They were thrown in his face at the start of a debate among the 10 Democratic candidates at Pace University in New York on Thursday evening. He was never "partisan", he replied, he had changed his mind about Bush after he had "recklessly" cut taxes" and "took us into war with Iraq"; he was pro-choice, pro-affirmative action, pro- environment, pro-health and all in all was "proud to be a Democrat".
The unearthed video provided the second setback for the former NATO commander who joined the Democratic Party in the summer and declared his candidacy for the presidency last week.
In a chat with reporters after declaring, he had rowed back on his opposition to the Iraq war (his main credential in the eyes of many Democratic supporters), saying: "I probably would have voted for" a congressional resolution authorising President Bush to invade Iraq.
Amid a chorus of criticism that he did not know his own mind, he then declared, when campaigning in Iowa: "I would never have voted for war." What he meant was that he would have voted for the resolution only to pressurise Saddam Hussein to disarm.
The debate at Pace, the third in a series, was the first since Bush's tumble in the polls changed the political dynamics of the election campaign. One of the group of 10, described by the Rev Al Sharpton as "eight career politicians, an officer and [pointing to himself\] a gentleman" could now actually become president. The stakes could not be higher.
Soon the field will be confronted with the first real test in the form of the Iowa caucus in January. Iowa is to the left in party terms and the candidates on Thursday were therefore eager to sound a bit protectionist to enhance their chances there.
Labour favourite Dick Gephardt in particular has to score well in Iowa to survive. In New Hampshire, where the first Democratic primary election is held a week later, Dean has a 36- 24 lead over John Kerry with the general registering at eight points. Both Gephardt and Kerry tried to hurt the front runner by accusing Dean of the very tendency that Clark showed before his road-to- Damascus conversion - favouring a Republican.
They said he was an ally of right-wing Republican Newt Gingrich during the healthcare wars in the mid-1990s. It backfired. Dean was applauded when he said they should be ashamed to compare any of the candidates with Gingrich, a hate figure among Democrats.
As the new boy in class, none of the incoming hit the general nor did he figure in the flurry of attacks and rebuttals rushed out to journalists by candidates' aides. Twenty-three press releases hit my desk in the press room during the two-hour debate with headlines like "Howard Dean Gets It Wrong Again" (from John Kerry); "Kerry's Trade Flip Flop" (from Joe Lieberman); another Kerry Exaggeration" (from John Edwards) and "Dean Supports Fair Constructive Free Trade, Does Lieberman Agree?" (from Howard Dean).
After the debate, the candidates were escorted in a slow-moving river of aides and camera crews into the crowded "spin" room behind guides holding up candidate's name. Only the general did not deign to mix it with the throng. Dean told us he thought the general "did good". The former Vermont governor had been invited during the debate to comment on Clark's Republican record but had declined, leading some observers to conclude that he wants the general on his ticket when all is said and done.
Election debates are often decided on one-liners, like Ronald Reagan's famous 1984 put-down of 56-year-old Walter Mondale: "I am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent's youth and inexperience." The other debate of the week - in Sacramento on Wednesday among the five leading candidates in the California recall - will be remembered for another Republican actor's put- down of his most vocal opponent.
It came from Arnold Schwarz- enegger after independent Arianna Huffington protested about his interruptions by saying: "This is the way you treat women, we know that." He shot back: "I just realised that I have a perfect part for you in Terminator 4."
The audience loved it. It may not play well in the coming days, however, as it apparently referred to a scene in his next film in which Schwarzenegger thrusts the head of a female robot into a toilet bowl. The actor's support from women, always shaky, will not have improved. Such exchanges made for a lively debate but did little to enhance the candidates' standing as serious politicians.
Observers said Schwarzenegger had done well because expectations had been so low and he had successfully memorised his one-liners.
The movie actor refused to attend earlier debates and only turned up at Sacramento because the questions were scripted in advance. The real winner may have been Governor Gray Davis, who was not asked to take part - he is not a candidate - and so avoided being mauled for his dismal economic performance.
Watching the showdown between the heavily accented foreign-born candidates (Schwarzenegger is from Austria and Huffington from Greece), many voters may decide to keep Davis in office after all and vote against the recall.
All the candidates in the New York Democratic debate attacked President Bush, with the wittiest line coming from Joe Lieber- man, who is trying to revive his campaign by lightening up a little. In the Bush administration, he said, "The foxes are guarding the foxes and the middle-class hens are getting plucked". He added, to laughter "I want to make clear I said 'plucked'."