Novak falsely asserted Clark attacked McCain's "credentials as a war hero" as part of "conscious effort" by Obama campaign

On the July 2 broadcast of Westwood One's The Radio Factor, syndicated columnist Robert Novak falsely asserted that, during an appearance on the June 29 edition of CBS' Face the Nation, retired Gen. Wesley Clark joined a group of "Obama surrogates who have been questioning and attacking [Sen.] John McCain's credentials as a war hero." In fact, during his Face the Nation appearance, Clark praised McCain as a "hero" for "his service as a prisoner of war," while, as Zachary Roth wrote at the Columbia Journalism Review's Campaign Desk blog, "question[ing] the relevance of McCain's combat experience as a qualification to be president of the United States." Novak further asserted that Clark's comments were part of "a really conscious effort to downgrade him [McCain] as a war hero," adding, "[S]o when you find five, six, seven surrogates, all questioning McCain's war record -- this isn't an accident. This is -- I am sure this is some talking points that were put out secretly in the Obama campaign. But Wesley Clark being such a clumsy, ham-handed person, he just went too far." However, contrary to Novak's assertion that Clark was using "talking points that were put out secretly" by the Obama campaign, Clark has been saying for months that McCain's military service alone does not make him qualified to be president, including while he was speaking on behalf of Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.

As Media Matters for America has noted, during a March 2 conference call arranged by Clinton's presidential campaign, Clark praised McCain's "service as a fighter pilot" and "his courage as a prisoner of war," but added that "having served as a fighter pilot ... doesn't prepare you to be commander in chief in terms of dealing with the national strategic issues that are involved."

From the July 2 edition of Westwood One's The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly:

MICHAEL SMERCONISH [guest host]: Are you surprised by the legs that the General Wesley Clark story appears to have or is this just a July issue?

NOVAK: I -- no. I think this is a very interesting story. You know, there's a whole record of Obama surrogates who have been questioning and attacking John McCain's credentials as a war hero. I think they're very -- I think the Obama campaign is very much worried about this being something that will, when they get to know -- when people who don't follow politics, when they realize that he is a war hero, that this is gonna get the undecided vote to his favor. So, I think they're trying -- there's a really conscious effort to downgrade him as a war hero. And so when you find five, six, seven surrogates, all questioning McCain's war record -- this isn't an accident. This is -- I am sure this is some talking points that were put out secretly in the Obama campaign.

SMERCONISH: But where's the --

NOVAK: But Wesley Clark being such a clumsy, ham-handed person, he just went too far. He was too nasty. He didn't do it in some obscure place. He did it on a national television talk show on Sunday, and he just went too far. And he might have really inhibited the Obama campaign from carrying on this technique.

SMERCONISH: But where would the substance be to go after John McCain on his war record? It's not as if you have, as we saw four years ago, individuals who served with him now coming forward and saying history recorded this in an inaccurate fashion.

NOVAK: Well, it's a -- it's part of politics. If you're a -- if your main attribute as a politician for example, say, is that you're an expert at energy, what your -- what the opposition will try to do is to knock you down as an energy expert. So, the way to do this -- to knock you down as a war expert -- but it has to be done subtly. And Wes Clark was just so ham-handed, and clumsy, and really vulgar about it that he might have spoiled the whole thing for Obama.

SMERCONISH: Robert Novak, a privilege to have you on the Radio Factor. Thank you, sir.