Petraeus ad remains in the spotlight
The furor over MoveOn.org continues to move along.
None too surprisingly, President Bush had harsh words today for the controversial ad by the liberal, online advocacy group that questioned the integrity of Gen. David Petraeus just as the commander of U.S. troops in Iraq was to deliver long-awaited testimony on Capitol Hill. Asked about the matter at a news conference --- as he no doubt hoped he would be --- the president termed the ad "disgusting."
He also, again predictably, followed the lead of Republicans seeking to succeed him who have used the ad to hammer Democrats in general and Hillary Clinton in particular. Bush said he was "disappointed that not more leaders in the Democrat Party spoke out strongly against that kind of ad. That leads me to come to this conclusion: that most Democrats are afraid of irritating a left-wing group like MoveOn.org; are more afraid of irritating them than they are of irritating the United States military."
Perhaps a bit more unexpected was a lopsided Senate vote later in the day in favor of a measure that, without mentioning MoveOn by name, obviously had it in mind in strongly condemning "personal attacks on the honor and integrity of General Petraeus and all members of the United States Armed Forces."
The purely symbolic, "sense of the Senate" resolution passed 72-25, with 22 Democrats (including California's Dianne Feinstein) and one independent (Connecticut's Joe Lieberman, whose reelection MoveOn unsuccessfully sought to thwart last year) joining 49 Republicans in supporting it.
During the vote, all eyes were on the four Democratic senators who in their spare time are running for president. Clinton voted against the resolution (which was sponsored by GOP Sen. John Cornyn of Texas), as did Chris Dodd. Not voting were Joe Biden and Barack Obama.
Did Obama duck the vote? That question was raised because he had been on the Senate floor a few minutes earlier to back an alternative resolution from Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer of California that berated the MoveOn ad as an "unwarranted attack" on Petraeus, but also rebuked ads that some believed questioned the patriotism of Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) in the 2004 presidential campaign and then-Sen. Max Cleland (D-Ga.) in his unsuccessful 2002 reelection bid.
The measure lost on a close vote; along with Obama, Clinton and Dodd voted for it. Biden also missed this vote.
The two GOP presidential contenders in the Senate, Arizona's John McCain and Kansas' Sam Brownback, supported the Cornyn resolution and opposed Boxer's.
As these skirmishes were being played out in Washington, MoveOn made clear it won't be backing off. Executive Director Eli Pariser said of Bush's broadside: “What’s disgusting is that the president has more interest in political attacks than developing an exit strategy to get our troops out of Iraq and end this awful war."
Still, evidence is emerging that MoveOn may have overplayed its hand with the Petraeus ad.
The Times' Tina Daunt, in a story that will appear later today on our website and in Friday's print edition, reports that political activists within the entertainment community are among those chagrined that the group has become an unwanted distraction in the debate over Iraq.
-- Don Frederick
Andrew Malcolm's immigrant parents repeatedly stressed the importance of active participation in a democracy. Early lessons included learning the alphabetical list of states by watching televised roll calls of national political conventions. That childhood exposure led to a lifelong fascination with politics, including 40-plus years of covering them and a brief stint practicing them as press secretary to Laura Bush in 1999-2000. A veteran foreign and national correspondent, Malcolm served on the Times Editorial Board and was a Pulitzer finalist in 2004. He is the author of 10 nonfiction books and father of four.
Johanna Neuman is a veteran Washington correspondent for both The Los Angeles Times and USA Today, having covered presidents and politics as far back as Ronald Reagan. A former president of the White House Correspondents Assn., she authored a book on media and foreign policy, “Lights, Camera, Wars.” Most recently she was co-author of the 
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Moveone.org's ad was shameless and despicable. If Clinton and Obama don't even have the courage to stand up against a tv ad, then I definitely do not want either one of them to be my President.
http://www.newyorkforhuckabee.blogspot.com
Posted by: Peter | September 20, 2007 at 05:18 PM
Years ago the Hollywood Elite were deeply offended and so was I that the religious right would call Ellen DeGereres, "Ellen Degenerate" when she came out in 1997. The argument was that it was a low blow and attacked her by mocking her name.
Fash forward ten years and the same Hollywood Elite that loves MoveOn.org is calling General Petreaus "General Betray Us".
Well the Hollywood Elite are hypocrites for finding the mocking of Ellen offensive while not finding it offensive what moveOn.org has done to General Petreaus.
I find what has occurred in 1997 and 2007 sophomoric and disgusting.
The Hollywood Elite should be ashamed of themselves for supporting name calling as a form of legitimate argument.
Give me facts, Hollywood--not low brow name calling humor.
Posted by: Kevin Norte | September 21, 2007 at 07:14 AM