(Updated Again) Ensign Calls on Dems to Return MoveOn Funds

This statement released by Nevada senator John Ensign:

"Today, ostensibly on behalf of National Democrats, Democrat front group MoveOn.org is calling a unanimously confirmed United States General a liar and betrayer of the public trust. Apparently the prospect of campaign funds is enough of an incentive for Senate Democrats to stand idly by while a respected General is maligned before he has even presented his report to Congress.

"If Senate Democrats are serious about moving our country forward, they will denounce this outrageous ad and return the campaign funds MoveOn.org has lavished on them as well as the donations made through MoveOn.org -- the choice is theirs."

We won't hold our breadth, but it'd be nice if at least one Democrat would step forward to condemn the group's personal attack on Petraeus.

Update: I'm pleasantly surprised. Harry Reid has condemned the MoveOn ads:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid expressed frustration Monday with a new print ad attacking Gen. David Petraeus that is being paid for by a liberal advocacy organization on the same day the general is providing testimony before Congress on the situation in Iraq.

When asked early this morning if this was the right message for his party to send, the Nevada Democrat curtly answered "No."

In a separate conversation, a senior Democratic leadership aide called the ad an "unnecessary distraction" and said Democrats are prepared to focus on "Petraeus executing a mismanaged mission."

HT Hot Air

Update II: A reader takes issue with my characterization of Reid's statement as a condemnation of the MoveOn ad. Perhaps that reader is correct, Reid did only express "frustration"--as though his concern was that the ad was making his life more difficult rather than the fact that it was smearing the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq. Still, anytime the Democrats distance themselves from their most unhinged, fringe supporters, that's a good thing. The Tank also has the video of John Kerry describing the ad as "inappropriate." Granted, when Kerry describes inappropriate conduct on the part of U.S. troops (real or imagined) he lumps the perpetrators in with Genghis Khan and when it's lunacy from the left, it is merely inappropriate. But again, baby steps.