Opinion: Stepping in it with Both Feet. Wesley Clark and the Question Who is Smearing Whom?

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Anyone who has been in the U.S. Army among it's ground forces will tell you that aviators are looked upon as the most spoiled and pampered members of the military. While ground troops, especially infantry, armor, and engineers, slog it out in the mud and muck, through forests and jungles, in the desert heat or arctic cold, pilots generally get more cushy, comfortable rear area quarters for their time out of the cockpit.

But there is a price for such "luxury" digs for pilots. Combat pilots have some of the most intense, stressful training and duty of any members of the armed forces, special forces aside. Survival training is intense, with high-stress escape and evasion scenarios included in their training in order to prepare pilots for the worst case scenario; being shot down behind enemy lines.

That is exactly what happened to Senator John McCain in Vietnam, and an injured Lt. Commander McCain found himself in the hands of the enemy, and spent the next several years in the infamous Hanoi Hilton. And yet retired General Wesley Clark, a soldier with who made his early military career in the armored division and with political aspirations of his own, has taken it upon himself to belittle McCain's service record.

Gen. Wesley Clark, acting as a surrogate for Barack Obama’s campaign, invoked John McCain’s military service against him in one of the more personal attacks on the Republican presidential nominee this election cycle.

Clark said that McCain lacked the executive experience necessary to be president, calling him “untested and untried” on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” And in saying so, he took a few swipes at McCain’s military service.

After saying, "I certainly honor his service as a prisoner of war. He was a hero to me and to hundreds of thousands and millions of others in the armed forces, as a prisoner of war," he added that these experiences in no way qualify McCain to be president in his view:

“He has been a voice on the Senate Armed Services Committee. And he has traveled all over the world. But he hasn't held executive responsibility. That large squadron in the Navy that he commanded — that wasn't a wartime squadron,” Clark said.

“I don’t think getting in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to become president.”

And with that, the gloves came off. McCain supporters blasted Clark, with one McCain surrogate questioning Clark's own record as NATO Supreme Commander in Kosovo and his political ambitions, and McCain responding, when asked if he felt he was owed an apology, "I think it is up to Senator Obama now to not only repudiate him but to cut him loose.” This comment may serve to keep the Clark controversy alive and well for the coming days, dependent upon how Obama handles the situation as time progresses.

For Obama's part, the Senator from Illinois has denounced Clark's statements in an attempt to distance himself from the controversy stating “For those like John McCain who have endured physical torment in service to our country, no further proof of such sacrifice is necessary. And let me also add that no one should ever devalue that service, especially for the sake of a political campaign — and that goes for supporters on both sides.”

It is interesting to note that through all of this, the McCain camp, even prior to Clark's statements this weekend and his attempted clarification (i.e. backpedalling) of what he said, has yet to really pull out the mud in dealing with other candidates. McCain has taken the high road, not playing into the typical dirty tactics that typically comes with Presidential politics. In fact, McCain has been the first to denounce such tactics when they have been attempted on his behalf.

Obama, on the other hand, has already set up his own site to deal with the rumors and innuendo surrounding him personally, possibly in anticipation of the "dirty deeds" of the Republican campaign. The site has already dealt with such issues as his nationality and his religious views, issues that have plagued the Obama campaign from his rock star rise to the top of the Democratic ticket. But what of Obama's own campaign strategies as the election cycle unfolds? The campaign against fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton went into the mud on both sides, a place McCain seems stubbornly determined to stay away from. With Clark's comments regarding McCain, and Obama's seemingly less than whole-hearted denouncement of them, one has to ask, who is truly smearing whom in this campaign?