Giuliani blasts discounted MoveOn.org ad

Rudy Giuliani jumped today on a brewing controversy over the rate charged MoveOn.org for a full-page ad in the New York Times that questioned the independence and integrity of the top US commander in Iraq.

The antiwar group has said it paid $65,000 for the ad, published Monday morning as General David H. Petraeus testified to Congress. That rate is about one-third of the regular charge.

A Times spokeswoman has denied the rate charged indicated a political bias and said it was the paper's policy not to disclose the rate paid by any advertiser.

Giuliani, the former New York mayor now seeking the Republican presidential nomination, said he plans to buy an ad supporting Petraeus in Friday's Times -- and he wants the same discount. (The Washington Post's political blog obtained a copy of the ad.)

"We call upon the New York Times to give us the same rate, the discount, heavily discounted rate they gave MoveOn.org for that abominable ad," Giuliani said during a campaign stop in Atlanta.

He described the MoveOn.org ad, which was headlined "General Petraeus or General Betray Us," as character assassination. Giuliani and other Republicans have demanded that Democrats condemn the ad and disavow the group. While Democrats have distanced themselves, they haven't acceded to those demands.