Culberson opponent tells MoveOn to get lost

A Democratic congressional candidate in Texas is telling MoveOn.org thanks but no thanks after the group bought radio ads to aid his candidacy.

Businessman Michael Skelly (D) is a well-funded long shot against Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas) in the incumbent’s Houston-area district. The district voted 64 percent for President Bush in 2004, and the ads could do more harm than good by linking the challenger to the liberal group.

{mosads}MoveOn bought ads in Culberson’s and five other districts. The spots focus on opposition to offshore drilling for oil.

Skelly, who has called for lifting the ban on offshore drilling, says in the release that it is “time for MoveOn to move out of Texas.”

“MoveOn’s opposition to drilling is 100 percent wrong, and so is John Culberson’s opposition to investment in renewable energy,” Skelly said. “We need a balanced solution to our energy challenges that includes both drilling for domestic oil and investment in renewables. We have to do it all.”

MoveOn spokeswoman Ilyse Hogue distanced the  group from Skelly. she said the ad is on behalf of MoveOn’s thousands of members in Culberson's district, and not Skelly’s campaign.

“We don’t know Mr. Skelly, but we seem to have one point of differentiation in that we don’t think political speech is just for politicians.” 

MoveOn is a powerful player in electoral politics, but its left-wing bent has sometimes forced Democrats to distance themselves from it.

Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.), the presumptive Democratic nominee, recently criticized the organization for its controversial newspaper ad accusing Gen. David Petraeus of treason. That ad was condemned by the full Senate.