Daschle cools onplaudits for '9/11'

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Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle -- embroiled in a tough re-election campaign in South Dakota -- distanced himself this week from documentary film director Michael Moore, whose "Fahrenheit 9/11" D.C. premiere he attended last month.

Mr. Daschle disputes a claim by Mr. Moore that he -- as the highest elected Democratic official in the nation -- hugged the filmmaker after the screening and promised to fight more vigilantly against the policies of President Bush.

"I know we senators all tend to look alike," Mr. Daschle said, according to the Rapid City Journal in South Dakota. "But I arrived late and I had to leave early for Senate votes. I didn't meet Mr. Moore."

His recollection directly disputes assertions made by Mr. Moore, who sat a few rows behind Mr. Daschle at the premiere.

After watching the movie, Mr. Daschle "gave me a hug and said he felt bad and that we were all gonna fight from now on," Mr. Moore told Time magazine. "I thanked him for being a good sport."

Dick Wadhams, campaign manager for Daschle challenger John Thune, said Mr. Daschle trotted out the case-of-mistaken-identity excuse only after being criticized for his coziness with Mr. Moore from voters in South Dakota, where Mr. Bush received 60 percent of the vote in 2000.

"As usual, Tom Daschle wants it both ways," he said. "He wants to go to the premiere and lend credence to the movie, but he doesn't want to be judged for it by voters. It's typical Daschle doublespeak."

If Mr. Daschle's excuse is accurate, Mr. Wadhams said, "it says something about Michael Moore's credibility."

As one of the most strident and unceasing critics of Mr. Bush and the war in Iraq, Mr. Moore -- and his movie critical of the war -- has become something of an awkward problem for Democratic politicians.

Though he relentlessly attacks Mr. Bush for the handling of the war, presidential hopeful John Kerry has not seen the movie and said he has no plans to do so.