Gen. Wesley Clark to Maryland Juice: The Truth About Sen. Rosapepe

Last week Maryland Juice went out on a limb and outed State Senator Jim Rosapepe as a candidate for 2014 Maryland Comptroller.

In doing so, Maryland Juice apparently attracted a new reader: former Presidential candidate General Wesley Clark!

Our elegantly titled article, OUTED: Jim Rosapepe for Comptroller // Moustache for Lt. Comptroller, provided some historical context for Rosapepe's 2006 State Senate primary, but we apparently quoted a Daily Kos diary from user Sharon in MD that contained some inaccurate information:

"Jim Rosapepe may be a familiar name to Howard Dean supporters in Maryland as he supported the Dean candidacy in 2004." 

2004 Presidential Candidate and Retired Army General Wesley Clark contacted Maryland Juice to provide this correction:

I was surprised to see you repeat a story that Senator Jim Rosapepe (D, College Park) supported Governor Dean in 2004. In fact, Jim was one of my leading supporters in Maryland and ran as a delegate candidate for me. He and I worked together during the war in Kosovo when he was US Ambassador to Romania and I was NATO commander. He's a great public servant and I'm glad to hear he's considering running for statewide office.

This is not the first correction Maryland Juice received to our Rosapepe article. In the comments to the original post, Prince George's Councilmember Mel Franklin appears to offer both a correction to this post and an early endorsement of Senator Rosapepe for Comptroller. Here is an excerpt:

Senator Rosapepe was a strong Clark supporter, not a Dean supporter... If the Comptroller position becomes available, Jim is definitely the right person to fill it.

This incident has provided Maryland Juice with two insights about Sen. Jim Rosapepe:

1. He must be a skilled politician, as he was able to win over Dean supporters in 2004, even though he supported General Clark! 
2. He seems to have friends in high places. Will Rosapepe's time as an Ambassador in the Clinton administration lead to a Comptroller's race with involvement from officials at the national and international levels?

We will obviously be monitoring developments in the Comptroller's race, but you can read prior coverage by finding articles tagged "Comptroller" on Maryland Juice.

In the meantime, I think this error warrants an admission on my own part: In 2004, I was (briefly) a supporter of General Wesley Clark in the primaries. I had just put his bumper sticker on my car when he dropped out of the race a few weeks later. My what a different political terrain we were facing then!