Clark garners support from McGovern, Moore
SUNAPEE, N. H. -- Just as opponents have started renewing questions about his opposition to the Iraq war and his Democratic credentials, retired Army General Wesley K. Clark has been collecting endorsements from some of the most partisan, antiwar Democrats in the book.
On Saturday, filmmaker Michael Moore, who offered an antiwar rant at the 2003 Oscars, riled up a crowd of 2,000 for Clark at a raucous rally in Pembroke.
Yesterday, George McGovern, who staked his failed 1972 presidential campaign on opposition to the Vietnam War, joined Clark at a breakfast in Keene, calling the candidate "a true progressive" and "the Democrats' Democrat."
Moore's speech and McGovern's endorsement come just days before Clark's rivals for the Democratic nomination are due to leave Iowa and descend on New Hampshire with guns firing.
The Howard Dean campaign has circulated fliers pointing out that Clark voted for presidents Richard M. Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush.
Last week brought attacks by both the Republican National Committee and Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, who rehashed some of Clark's congressional testimony from 2002, calling Saddam Hussein a "threat," and claimed it showed a flip-flop in his position on the war.
Clark said the quotes were taken out of context and that his full statements support his continued view that the war was unnecessary and Hussein did not present an imminent threat.
In prepared remarks yesterday, McGovern, a World War II veteran, didn't discuss Clark's testimony or the Republican charges. Instead, he praised Clark's strategy for leaving Iraq and his three-decade military record.
The appearance by McGovern, 81, was clearly designed to mollify some New Hampshire Democrats, particularly women, who have raised reservations about Clark's military background. But there are risks, as well, to latching onto people who have become political symbols on their own. Republicans have long used McGovern, who lost 49 states to Nixon in 1972, to argue that an antiwar platform is unelectable. Clark aides say that as a retired general, he can stand with an antiwar figure without looking soft on defense.
Moore, meanwhile, has raised eyebrows with his fiercely partisan books. In "Dude, Where's My Country?", Moore alleges that the Bush administration smuggled Osama bin Laden's family out of the United States shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, while a ban on international fights was in effect. News reports from the time said the bin Ladens left Sept. 18, after the ban had been lifted.
Moore didn't tone down his rhetoric at Saturday's rally, bringing a sizable crowd to its feet when he imagined a debate between Clark and President Bush: "That's right! The general vs. the deserter!" Moore was referring to reports from the Globe in 2000 that said Bush could not account for where he was some of the time when he served in the Texas National Guard.
Asked at a press conference about Moore's speech, Clark said he was thankful for the filmmaker's support. Pressed, he also distanced himself from the "deserter" label Moore used against Bush.
"You know, I've heard those charges," Clark said. "I don't know whether they're established or not. He was never prosecuted for it."
Joanna Weiss can be reached at weiss@globe.com.
