Afternoon Diary: There is still some news that isn't about Iraq

• MoveOn presses on

The conservatives have been protesting Tuesday's MoveOn.org ad in the NYT attacking General Petraus, and Democrats have been privately complaining that this has given new vigor to the Republicans. I reported yesterday that the Giuliani campaign is planning to run an ad in the NYT denouncing MoveOn and... Clinton. The ad actually ran today, and Clinton denounced it as the "first negative ad of the campaign."

Well today, Republicans were joined by none other than Elizabeth Edwards. Ms. Edwards has distinguished herself on the campaign trail by bold statements that put her at the left of her husband, but not this time: “Someone who’s spent their life in the military doesn’t deserve ‘General Betray Us.’” While this statement isn't a particularly strong condemnation, Elizabeth Edwards could also have chosen to ignore the issue all together. And while she did go on to offer some praise of MoveOn, this quote will not sit well with the anti-war crowd her husband is trying to seduce.

But MoveOn presses on. It still has the Betray Us ad on its website, and has now prepared a television ad called "Betrayal." The ad, however, is now taking on President Bush, rather than General Petraeus. You can watch it here.

• General Election still tight

Rasmussen came out with his frequent national election poll this morning. The results are in line with everything else we've seen: Clinton and Giuliani are deadlocked (Clinton has a one point edge, 46% to 45%, whereas she was losing by 3 points two weeks ago -- a statistically insignificant change), and Clinton leads Thompson by 5 (48% to 43%, roughly what it was at the end of August, before Thompson's formal candidacy statement. It does appear that Thompson did not get the same bounce in the general that he did in the primary race.

Rasmussen also has another interesting poll today: 48% of Republicans see Thompson as a conservative, while only 29% say the same about Giuliani. A full 59% say that Giuliani is a moderate, a much higher percentage than even McCain's. Romney is closer to Thompson, with 42% calling him a conservative. How Giuliani can be so high in the polls with such internal numbers is really stunning, and speaks to how much cover he has because of his use of 9-11.

On the Democratic side, Obama and Clinton are viewed roughly in the same way by Democrats. 37 and 39% view them as moderate, and 31 and 33% as liberal. A significant number (18 and 19%) calls them conservatives (it is interesting that Democrats are much more prone to seeing their candidates as conservatives than Republicans are at calling theirs liberals). But Edwards is judged differently: 48% say moderate, and 21% liberal. I guess this just shows no one is really paying much attention to issues right now, since it is undeniable that Edwards is by far the candidate taking the most liberal positions with the most populist rhetoric. Is it just because he has a Southern accent?!

• Shaheen confirms

News broke late yesterday that Jeanne Shaheen was finally ready to announce her candidacy for the NH Senate seat. This morning, Shaheen confirms that she is indeed stepping down from being the head of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and that she is taking on Senator Sununu.

No reactions yet from the other Democratic candidates in the race. Some grumblings were heard last night and this morning from activists familiar with the NH scene who complained that Shaheen is far more moderate than other Democrats already in the race. So there seems to be some movement to keep Marchand, Swett or Buckley in the race.