Wesley Clark says Howard Dean offered him the VP slot on his ticket if Dean got the nomination. Joe Trippi, Dean's campaign manager, denies it.

Speaking in a taped interview on ABC's "This Week," Clark said Dean had asked him to be his running mate should Dean win the Democratic nomination in a conversation before Clark entered the race.

After the interview was broadcast, Dean campaign manager Joe Trippi said on the same program that such a conversation never happened. And after that, Clark's communications director disputed Trippi's response. "Joe Trippi may want to check in with his candidate before talking," Matt Bennett said in a statement from Clark headquarters in Little Rock, Arkansas. "Howard Dean did in fact offer Wes Clark a place on the ticket in a one-on-one meeting that Trippi did not attend."

What does Dean say?

Update: The LA Times reports Clark's campaign is advancing after early missteps.

Update 12/22: Dean denies it:

"No, I did not," Dean told Reuters in a telephone interview. "I think Wes is a good guy. I think he'd be a good running mate, but I think it would be highly foolish of me to offer anybody the running mate spot."