New Hampshire

Dean denies offering No. 2 spot to Clark

Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean reiterated his campaign’s disavowal of an assertion by former NATO commander Wesley Clark that Dean had offered him a spot as a running mate before Clark launched his presidential bid.

“I think Wes Clark would make a fine running mate, but I did not ask him to be a running mate,” Dean said Monday in Portsmouth, where he picked up the endorsement of a chapter of the Communications Workers of America.

“He gave me some good advice. I gave him some advice on domestic policy areas,” Dean said. “I did not and have not offered anybody the vice presidency. I think that would be very presumptuous to do that, since not one vote has been cast in any primary and I think the voters get the final say of who the front runner is.”

California

Foie grass under fire

An all-out food fight is taking place in California’s wine country, and residents of the chic culinary destination of Sonoma aren’t thrilled with the opening shots. Vandals have flooded an upscale food specialty shop and covered its walls with graffiti. Ducks have been sprung from their cages at a farm.

Animal rights advocates who want the sale of foie gras, the fat-engorged liver of ducks and geese, banned in Sonoma and elsewhere, argue that force-feeding the animals is cruel and inhumane.

In Defense of Animals and other groups have concentrated their efforts on several Northern California restaurants and Sonoma Foie Gras, the only West Coast producer of the haute cuisine.

Five hundred people signed a petition to ban foie gras sales. The Sonoma City Council has taken no action.