Presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton declined Tuesday to repudiate an ad by a liberal advocacy group that accused America's top military commander in Iraq of betrayal. During an interview on CNN, Clinton was asked repeatedly if she wanted to criticize MoveOn.org, a liberal group that mocked Gen. David Petraeus as “General Betray Us” in a full-page ad in the New York Times last week.

“Do you want to distance yourself from that ad?” asked anchorman John Roberts. “Was that MoveOn.org ad over the top?”

“Well, I certainly speak for myself,” replied Clinton, the junior Democratic senator from New York. “And I am a very strong admirer of General Petraeus, his record of service for our country, the dedication he has brought to a very difficult job that many of us think does not have a military solution.”

But during her questioning of Petraeus before a Senate panel last week, Clinton implied the general was not telling the truth. “I think that the reports that you provide to us really require the willing suspension of disbelief,” she told him.

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Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney kept up the pressure on Clinton and other Democratic White House hopefuls to denounce MoveOn.org, an increasingly influential force within the Democratic Party.

“It clearly indicates that Moveon.org is critical to the financing of any Democratic candidate,” Romney told Fox News Channel. “And that tells you something pretty scary about what is happening in the Democratic Party.

“It clearly indicates that Moveon.org is critical to the financing of any Democratic candidate,” Romney told Fox News Channel. “And that tells you something pretty scary about what is happening in the Democratic Party.

“Obviously, any one of the Democratic leaders should stand up and say this was an outrage, it's offensive, distance themselves entirely from the ad,” he said. “It's outrageous to have somebody who is putting his life on the line for us being attacked as a betrayer. That's simply something the party should have to disavow.”

During another TV appearance Tuesday, Clinton said her tumultuous tenure as first lady during her husband's scandal-plagued administration has made her a better person.

“I think you have a choice in life,” she told MSNBC. “Every one of us faces challenges that come at us, and we may not be able to control what happens to us, but we can try to control how we respond to what happens to us.

“And, you know, you have to dig down deep. You have to really, in my case, pray a lot and, you know, try to just search inside my heart and soul. You know, there's a lot that I've gone through, and I'm much more empathetic to what other people go through.”

bsammon@dcexaminer.com