Eight days after his most prominent supporter falsely accused President Bush of being a military "deserter," Gen. Wesley Clark again declined an opportunity to condemn the bogus charge, maintaining, as he has since Thursday, that he hasn't examined the allegation.
Asked Sunday whether he knew of "any evidence" to support the accusation leveled by radical filmmaker Michael Moore, who called President Bush "a deserter" last Saturday as Clark looked on, the former NATO commander told "Meet the Press," "Well, I've never looked into those ... those allegations."
Clark's protestations of ignorance come despite the fact that the Boston Globe, the newspaper that originally reported that Bush had missed a full year of National Guard service in the 1970s, said Friday:
"News reports, including some in the Globe, have questioned Bush's constancy as a National Guard airman at the time, but he has not been credibly accused of desertion, a serious charge. Clark should have distanced himself from the remark."
Moore still cites the original May 2000 Globe report on his Web site to defend his Bush "desertion" charge, though the New York Times discovered later that year that the Globe missed evidence that proved its original report was false.
Still, despite his key backer's disingenuousness, Gen. Clark told "Meet the Press," "I will tell you this about Michael Moore. I think he's a man of conscience. I think he's done a lot of great things for ordinary people, working people across America. And I'm very happy to have his support."
Ever since the Moore flap erupted after Thursday night's debate, Gen. Clark's support in the New Hampshire primary has been dropping like a rock, plummeting 9 points in just three days, according to a Gallup survey released Saturday.
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