MoveOn.org ad controversy

The MoveOn.org ad controversy began when the U.S. anti-war liberal advocacy group MoveOn.org published a full-page ad in The New York Times on September 10, 2007, accusing General David H. Petraeus of "cooking the books for the White House". The ad also labeled him "General Betray Us". The organization created the ad in response to Petraeus' Report to Congress on the Situation in Iraq. MoveOn hosted pages on its website about the ad and their reasons behind it from 2007 to June 23, 2010. On June 23, 2010, after President Obama nominated General Petraeus to be the new top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan (taking over the position from retiring General Stanley McChrystal), MoveOn erased these webpages and any reference to them from its website.

The ad argued:

The Washington Post's "Fact Checker" stated that the General's report of "sharply declining Iraqi casualty rates is certainly open to analysis, debate, and challenge" but that "MoveOn.org does not provide adequate factual support for its larger assertion that Petraeus is 'constantly at war with the facts' and is 'cooking the books' for the White House".

The New York Times initially charged MoveOn.org $65,000 for the ad using its "standby rate." The Washington Post has stated that the full one-time rate is $142,000 for an ad receiving guaranteed placement on a specific day. Times public editor and Pulitzer Prize-winner Clark Hoyt later stated in an editorial that the organization was mistakenly charged a rate to which it was not entitled under the newspaper's policies. Moveon.org repaid the difference to the Times on September 25, 2007. The New York Post quoted a Times public relations director saying the full one-time rate was $182,000, an additional $40,000 above what has been paid back.

Fox News stated:

Conservative columnist George Will argued that "the paper made a huge and patently illegal contribution to MoveOn.org's issue advocacy ad." He also stated that "The Times' performance in this matter confirms an axiom: There can be unseemly exposure of mind as well as of body."

Google and MoveOn were accused of selective adherence to trademark law for removing ads from Google Adwords for Maine Senator Susan Collins, citing infringement of MoveOn trademarks. Wired stated on October 15, 2007 that the "left-leaning political advocacy group, MoveOn.org, is backing down" and will allow Google to show the ads. "We don't want to support a policy that denies people freedom of expression," Moveon.org communications director Jennifer Lindenauer said.

Independent Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow, and several Republican presidential candidates criticized the ad. President George W. Bush called the ad "disgusting." Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani called it "character assassination on an American general who is putting his life at risk." Democratic Senator John Kerry also criticized the ad. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said on Fox News Sunday, "They went, in that one instance, I think, overboard. But the point they were trying to make was still valid." Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said on Meet The Press, "I don't condone anything like that, and I have voted against those who would impugn the patriotism and the service of the people who wear the uniform of our country".