http://www.youtube.com/v/skEcKIK_W8Y
by Frank James
Much of the response today to MoveOn.org’s full-page New York Times ad impugning the integrity of Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S.’s top commander in Iraq, has come from Republicans who are trying to tie Democrats to the ad since MoveOn.org supports Democrats.
The Republican National Committee, for instance, has a document out today which, looking forward to tomorrow, raises the question of whether Senators Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois will renounce the ad.
“At Tomorrow’s Petraeus Hearings, Will Hillary And Obama Denounce And Apologize For MoveOn.org’s Attack Ad Or Continue To Follow Their Lead?” the RNC asks. The RNC notes that both presidential candidates have reached out to MoveOn.org in the past.
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During the House hearing at which Petraeus testified today, Rep. Illeana Ros-Lehtinen, a Florida Republican, sought to hang the MoveOn ad around the necks of her Democratic colleagues too.
When it was her turn to ask a question, she began by saying she hoped the Democrats would use the hearing to renounce the ad.
A Democratic congressman who was off camera had a response that “Nobody has to distance himself from something they weren’t associated with.”
Whether that’s a response Clinton and Obama will be able to use to effectively immunize themselves from further negative association with the ad remains to be seen.