September 10, 2007
MoveOn.org 'Betray Us' Ad Infuriates GOP
A full-page MoveOn.org print ad run in the Monday edition of the New York Times has ignited a firestorm among Republicans. The ad, set to coincide with the Gen. David Petraeus' hearings before Congress, accuses the top general in Iraq of "cooking the books for the White House" and asks if he shouldn't be called "General Betray Us."
"General Petraeus will not admit what everyone knows: Iraq is mired in an unwinnable religious
civil war," the ad charges. While Petraeus has hinted that he might call for a small reduction of U.S. troops at the end of this year, "we won’t hear what Americans are desperate to hear: a timetable for withdrawing all our troops."
GOP responses to the ad have been fast and furious. National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Cole said in a statement: "It is bad enough that MoveOn.org has been trying to bully Members of Congress into a course of action that most experts believe would lead to catastrophe in Iraq and the death of tens of thousands in a regional sectarian war. But comparing an American general, who has spent his life serving and defending our country, to traitors like Adam Gadahn, Jose Padilla and John Walker Lindh goes too far. Moveon.org owes General Petraeus and every American in uniform an apology."
The NRCC and the Republican National Committee issued challenges to Democrats to denounce the ad. "Will Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and the rest of the Democrats make it clear that they support our men and women in uniform by denouncing the MoveOn ad, or will they once again bow to the radical liberals who now seem to be controlling the Democrat Party?" RNC Chairman Robert "Mike" Duncan asked in a press release.
GOP presidential nominees were also quick to jump into the fray. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney told The Corner that "Democrats must make a choice. Will they embrace these deplorable tactics or give General Petraeus a fair hearing? It should be the hope of all Americans that we give him a fair hearing." And Arizona Sen. John McCain called the ad "a McCarthyite attack on an American patriot."
The "Betray Us" ad was even brought up during the Petraeus hearing on Capitol Hill today, with Republican members of the House Armed Services Committee expressing their disgust for the spot.
MoveOn.org has steadfastly defended the ad, releasing fact sheets which it claims corroborates all of the claims made against Petraeus. Eli Pariser, executive director of MoveOn.org Political Action Committee, maintains that "every major independent study and many major news organizations cast serious doubt on Petraeus' claims." He accuses the White House of employing political operative Ed Gillespie to manipulate Petraeus' message over the past week and contends that what Petraeus tells Congress this week will be yet another example of the Bush administration's public relations spin machine.
A recent Gallup/USA Today poll showed that Americans have a much higher opinion of Petraeus than they do of President Bush or Congress. However, an ABC News/Washington Post survey found that a majority believed that the general will try to make things look better in his report than they really are. Also, 66 percent of Americans seem to think that the report will not bring about any change in Bush's policy and that he will stick with his plan no matter what Petraeus says this week.
All of this puts the Democratic leadership and presidential candidates in an awkward position. So far, none of them have released a statement either in support of or denouncing the MoveOn.org ad.
Posted at 1:29 PM
Posted to:
Iraq, Middle East
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