The Duplicitous Mr. Clarke

Tom Bevan of Real Clear Politics sent us this email on Richard Clarke’s deceitful claim of political neutrality:

My ears nearly fell off when I heard Dick Clarke say he voted for Al Gore on Meet the Press today, since I thought I heard him say he voted for Bush on Thursday. Turns out I was wrong, Clarke only misled me (and probably many others including members of the 9/11 Commission) into believing that. Here are the quotes:
Sunday on Meet the Press:
Russert: Did you vote for George Bush in 2000?
Clarke: No I did not.
Russert: Did you vote for Al Gore?
Clarke: Yes I did.
Wednesday Before the 9/11 Commission: Clarke: “Let me talk about partisanship here, since you raise it. I’ve been accused of being a member of John Kerry’s campaign team several times this week, including by the White House. So let’s just lay that one to bed. I’m not working for the Kerry campaign. Last time I had to declare my party loyalty, it was to vote in the Virginia primary for president of the United States in the year 2000. And I asked for a Republican ballot.”
Clinton could not have done it better.

Indeed. There was no race in the Democratic primary in 2000, so Clarke crossed over to vote for John McCain in the Republican primary. (I think it’s safe to assume he didn’t vote for Gary Bauer, Alan Keyes or Steve Forbes, who were the other candidates in the race.)
Clarke’s forked tongue may help to explain why he fit in so well and prospered in the Clinton administration, but was demoted by the Bush team.
DEACON adds: Tom Bevan sent his email to the right place. Rocket Man’s posts on Clarke and related developments have taken Power Line (and arguably the blogosphere) to a higher level.

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