Democratic presidential hopefuls have found a way to return fire on Republicans after they endured attacks for the anti-war liberal group MoveOn.org’s advertisement criticizing the U.S. commander in Iraq — jump on conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh.
 
They said the popular radio personality on Wednesday referred to troops who supported withdrawing from Iraq as “phony soldiers,” prompting their harsh criticism as well as some less than kind words from the White House.

Democratic contender John Edwards (third in national polls) said “there’s nothing phony about the sacrifices being made by any of our troops in Iraq.”
 
A spokesman for second-tier Democratic hopeful Sen. Chris Dodd said Limbaugh “has no idea what the brave men and women of our armed forces are ostensibly fighting for.”
 
The White House also distanced itself from Limbaugh, with White House spokeswoman Dana Perino saying during her daily briefing on Friday that while she had not read his comments,  ”the president believes that if you are serving in the military that you have the right that every American has, which is you are free to express yourself in any way that you want to.  And there are some that oppose the war, and that’s okay.”

The term was “not one that the president would have used,” she said.
 
During his show on Friday, Limbaugh said he was referring to situations like one individual who had falsely claimed to be a soldier, had served in Iraq and was embraced by anti-war groups.

“When I mentioned the term ‘phony soldier’ — and they all know this — I was referring to a genuine phony soldier about whom I had informed this audience the previous day and did so again the following day,” Limbaugh said.

Here’s the full transcript of the Wednesday show, the controversial bit is at the end.