What is the effect of the MOVEON.ORG advertisement in THE NEW YORK TIMES
that questioned General David H. Petraeus, who now leads our troops in
Iraq? The advertisement questioned his integrity and suggested that
Petraeus lied during his testimony before Congress. Polls taken after
General Petraeus and Brian Crocker, current U.S. Ambassador to Iraq,
testified suggested that MOVEON.ORG overreached. It did so because it
was not differing in a policy sense, but because it was just plain
angry. When a group operates out of anger it almost always goes too far
beyond what the general public deems acceptable.
I know this from personal experience. When President Ronald W. Reagan
chose George H. W. Bush as his running mate I was angry. A bad storm had
prevented me from meeting with Reagan that morning. My colleagues told
Reagan that if he chose Howard H. Baker, Jr. they would walk out. They
said no such thing of Bush. I arrived just as they were departing the
meeting. When I asked them if they had threatened a walkout for Bush
they admitted that they had just told Reagan that they preferred someone
else.
I was so angry that I endorsed Reagan in 1980 but not Bush. My anger
continued on election night where, despite a tremendous victory by
Reagan and Bush, I attacked Bush. People were thrilled to have elected
Reagan, but upset with me for attacking Bush. They didn't want some
second-rate activist to spoil the victory. It was Senator Paul D. Laxalt
(R-NV) who calmed me down. I knew that Senator Laxalt had been promised
the Vice Presidency. When Bush was selected, Laxalt left the Republican
Convention and was not seen for about ten days. Laxalt was a fine man
and a close friend of Reagan. I figured if he could get over his
disappointment, so must I. But the fact was, my anger had caused me to
overreach.
Similarly, MOVEON.ORG was angry because they knew that General Petraeus
was likely to give convincing testimony, which he did. Senator Hillary
Rodham Clinton (D-NY) did herself no favor by attacking Petraeus,
claiming that he was lying when he testified. It would behoove
MOVEON.ORG to rid itself of its anger.
General Petraeus mentioned at the beginning of his testimony that he had
written his report and had not cleared it with anyone at the Pentagon or
White House. Democrats, especially those running for President,
basically called this good and decent man a liar. They, too,
overreached. They did so because they realized that once again President
George W. Bush had them cornered. They want to end the war. General
Petraeus was asking for the surge to continue until early 2008.