'I Am Not a Traitor' and Other Statements Your PR Advisor Would Rather You Avoid

Uh, let's see: 'I didn't beat my wife, ' and 'I am not a crook,' are generally considered unconvincing rhetorical approaches to re-framing a difficult discussion.

'I am not a traitor,' certainly introduces an unambiguous level of gravity to the discourse but might not offer the requisite closure.

Especially, when, as is in this case, the Iranians are reported (jokingly) to have offered to mediate the conflict between Republicans and  President Obama. JL

Laura Clawson comments in Daily Kos:

When a story doesn't go your way: one newspaper having a screaming headline calling the people you've gotten to sign your letter to Iran "traitors," a #47traitors trending Twitter hashtag, and a Bloomberg headline "Tom Cotton says Republicans are not traitors for letter to Iran."
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) is learning what it looks like when a story doesn't go your way. Specifically, it looks like one newspaper having a screaming headline calling you and the people you've gotten to sign your open letter to Iran "traitors," a #47traitors trending Twitter hashtag, and a Bloomberg headline that "Tom Cotton says Republicans are not traitors for letter to Iran."
With all that going on, Democrats don't even have to lead the charge calling Cotton to account. But Senate Democrats are piling on:

"I don't believe the Republican leadership was thinking clearly," [Sen. Dick] Durbin said. "Though many cannot accept it, here in this chamber, [President Obama] is the president of the United States, and he deserves our respect." [Sen. Debbie] Stabenow called the letter "shocking, dangerous, and deeply troubling."
"When war hangs in the balance, and specifically nuclear war hangs in the balance, should members of the United States Senate be in the position of publicly undermining the United States president?" she asked. "It is shocking, dangerous, and deeply troubling to me that 47 members of this body decided ... to stand on the side of the ayatollahs and the most extreme voices in Iran."

And even though—let's not forget for one minute—Cotton's letter to Iran was signed by the vast majority of Senate Republicans, including leadership, there aren't a lot of voices defending it.