Murtha's Anti-War Role Could Imperil Him at Home

Human events Online ^ | Jun 28, 2006 | Robert Novak

[Patriot814]

Rep. John Murtha (D.-Pa.) appears to be suffering "Daschle-itis," a figurative disease which makes entrenched incumbents become national celebrities and, in the process, risk alienating the voters that put them in office.

Since seizing his party's anti-war mantle, Murtha has become a great draw for Democratic fundraisers, helping his party boost its prospects for a congressional takeover. Naturally, this helps his party-leadership bid as well.

But at the same time, his outspokenness made him a huge target for the Internet right. His district went for John Kerry with only 51% in 2004. What originally seemed like a long-shot bid by Diana Irey (R.) to unseat Murtha has taken on new credibility as she raises money from the Internet and as Murtha makes more and more outrageous statements.

Murtha's opposition to the war has never been the real issue. His assertion that the U.S. is the greatest danger to world peace is only the most recent and perhaps most striking example of his potentially dangerous venture into the great left. Even more offensive were his statements condemning Marines who allegedly participated in a massacre in Iraq, which gave no regard to the presumption of innocence or the existence of evidence (the Marines involved maintain their innocence).

In fact, by stating that he had high-level confirmation that a massacre occurred, Murtha may have set a trap for himself. As the court martial begins, he is likely to be subpoenaed in the pre-trial hearings to testify to allegations of inappropriate command influence on the trial. He risks having his high-level sources of information exposed, or exposed as flimsy -- or even non-existent.

Irey, who looks quite young, is a bit green, but her handlers see her as great raw material. She has scored a series of unopposed television appearances on Fox News that have helped her raise money, and her message could resonate in what has always been a conservative Democratic district. Murtha was previously known as a pro-life, pro-gun Democrat. He received biennial votes for speaker from Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.), who, until this year, had refused to support any candidate for the position who was pro-choice on abortion. Leaning Democratic Retention.

[blake6900]

That's quite the leap there. I'll still sing Gene Taylor's praises. I'd likely vote for him over a lot of New England Pubbies.

This from the original article:

He (Murtha) received biennial votes for speaker from Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.), who, until this year, had refused to support any candidate for the position who was pro-choice on abortion.

I'm not afan of the RINOs from New England but they did vote GOP for Speaker of the House. In case you've forgotten that controls the entire House agenda. In my view Taylor's occasional foray into the right side of political issues does not overshadow the fact that he voted for Richard Gephardt for Speaker and Nancy Pelosi for Minority Leader. It's obvious the (D) behind his name now trumps any issue, moral or otherwise, in which he may have a conservative position, be it abortion or gay marriage. He supports those that support those and for that I can't support him...and never will.

I don't like liberals, GOP or Democrat, but the Republican liberals at least serve a purpose. To conservatives they are, as Lenin described, useful idiots. The Democratic liberals are simply half that.