[muleskinner]

I remember Hoyer as on of the biggest anti-Reagan mouth-pieces back in the 80's. Murtha is politically much closer to the Blue Dogs than Hoyer.

The question is, how many of Murtha's vote's were an obligation for Pelosi and how many wanted a more conservative democrat, regardless of Murtha's baggage

[Enterprise]

I have to admit that your knowledge of Murtha is much more detailed than mine. He only came to my attention when he began badmouthing the troops. That being said, your observation is interesting. If Murtha is "blue-dog" and Hoyer is an "anti-Reagan" then it might be more philosophically consistent of the Democrats that they chose Hoyer.