CD 23: Canseco Moaning About Rodriguez’s MoveOn Contributions

Laura Elizabeth Morales over at Memoirs of a Young Conservative alerts us to the fact that Quico Canseco (R-San Antonio), one of several Republicans running for the chance to lose to Ciro Rodriguez next fall, is trying to make some hay with Ciro Rodriguez’s contributions from the MoveOn PAC. From Morales’ blog, quoting something from Canseco’s campaign:

Ciro Rodriguez and the Democrats are counting on their liberal 527 henchmen to do their dirty work as they slander the good name of General Petraeus. Today, the Democrats got their wish in the form of a full-page New York Times advertisement paid for by the liberal fringe group MoveOn.org. In the ad, General Petraeus, a soldier who has dedicated his life to defending America, is being called a traitor.

The New York Times ad speaks for itself.

Will Ciro Rodriguez, who has benefited from over $163,000 in campaign cash from MoveOn.org, finally denounce the group’s despicable behavior? Don’t count on it. It seems that MoveOn.org is doing exactly what Ciro Rodriguez and Democrats want them to do.

The ad in question is this one, run in the NYT by MoveOn’s political action arm.

Yes, MoveOn was Ciro’s top contributor. However, the Republicans are stretching in trying to tie the MoveOn ad and MoveOn to Ciro’s ideology. Ciro’s not exactly on the same wavelength as MoveOn. He sided with Republicans on the issue of leaving Iraq late this past spring. And, in other instances, too, he’s voted against the MoveOn position.

Hell, Matt Stoller has gone so far as to call Ciro a “BushDog.”

Just because you take someone’s money doesn’t mean you’ll vote with them. Ciro is a good case-in-point, so Canseco’s attack is a bit hollow.

And, of course, I’m always interested in the fact that the netroots on a large scale shrugs and groans because four Texas Democrats (Edwards, Rodriguez, Cuellar, and Lampson–two of whom have enjoyed national netroots support in the past) are all over the ideological map and aligned with the blue dogs.

The fact is, like it or not, Ciro’s votes on those issues are in tune with his district. Perhaps Ciro is a bit more out of tune than Lampson is with his district, but the fact is that hard-core liberals would have a hell of a time winning these seats.

That the Canseco campaign is calling Ciro Rodriguez’s voting record in harmony with MoveOn is almost amusing. Perhaps their opposition research folks need to check it a little better.

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