WASHINGTON (CNN) - New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson told CNN Wednesday he disagrees with the liberal group MoveOn.org’s recent decision to publish an ad in the New York Times attacking the top general in Iraq, David Petraeus, but the White House hopeful stopped short of formally condemning the group.
"They shouldn't have done it," he told CNN's Wolf Blitzer in an interview on “The Situation Room.” "On the other hand, MoveOn has done some great things to alert the American people about the escalation of the war."
Several Republican presidential candidates have called on their Democratic counterparts to formally distance themselves from the group, following the publication of the ad last Monday that said, in part, "General Petraeus or General Betray us?"
But, in a meeting with CNN reporters and producers before his television appearance, Richardson refused to go that far.
"Why condemn it? I disagreed with it. Who cares?" he said. "You guys have too much fascination with these groups nobody cares about.”
"I am no one's candidate. I am independent," he continued. "I'll have Republicans and independents in my cabinet, and I'll tell you my cabinet before the election."
- CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney