Retired Gen. Wesley Clark, the former NATO allied supreme commander, one-time Democratic presidential candidate and now Barack Obama supporter, may think he's helping the presumptive nominee with his take on Sen. John McCain's military service. But he's not -- and the party would be better off if he shut up about it.

To large numbers of voters, Mr. McCain is an American hero who was imprisoned and tortured after being shot down in 1967 over North Vietnam. Despite this consensus, Mr. Clark has made a bloodless, academic argument about the senator's military qualifications to be president.

Mr. Clark had said this before, but his appearance Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation" set off a controversy.

"In the matters of national security policy-making, it's a matter of understanding risk," he said. "It's a matter of gauging your opponents and it's a matter of being held accountable. John McCain's never done any of that in his official positions. I certainly honor his service as a prisoner of war. He was a hero to me and to hundreds of thousands and millions of others in the armed forces, as a prisoner of war.

"He has been a voice on the Senate Armed Services Committee and he has traveled all over the world, but he hasn't held executive responsibility. That large squadron in the Navy that he commanded -- that wasn't a wartime squadron."

Then, when moderator Bob Schieffer pointed out that Mr. Obama hadn't had any of those experiences, Mr. Clark obligingly provided a provocative sound bite: "Well, I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president."

Now his remarks are being cast by Republicans as an attack on Mr. McCain's military record -- and never mind that his full statement contained flattering references to his Vietnam service. Of course, Mr. Obama gets the blame, although he has always spoken well of Mr. McCain's record.

All this may seem unfair to Obama supporters, but the truth is the technical point Mr. Clark made wasn't worth the trouble. Command experience may be worthwhile, but plenty of good presidents have not had it -- and some have had no military experience at all. While an Obama campaign spokesman disowned the remarks, the candidate should say explicitly that Mr. Clark wasn't speaking for him.