Majority Leader Murtha?

Until last year John Murtha (D-PA) was a relatively low profile, long standing member of Congress known primarily for his pro-military views. He is an old school Democrat, a remnant of an era when common wisdom had Republicans as the ones wearing spats and tophats and Democrats representing the working people in the country, before we went through the looking glass and bought into the farce that making rich people richer is somehow better for people making minimum wage. Murtha rose to prominence last year when he became an outspoken critic of the Iraq war and began calling for a wholesale withdrawal of US troops from the region. Despite pathetic attempts to "swift boat" Murtha his military credential remain unsullied, and when he talks about military matters people continue to listen.

Murtha made another surprising move today however, no longer content to remain one of the rank-and-file Democrats in Congress, he will be running for majority leader in the fall if the Democrats manage to regain control of the House of Representatives.

In a letter that he circulated on the floor during a series of votes, Murtha said he is eyeing the No. 2 position. "If we prevail as I hope and know we will and return to the majority this next Congress, I have decided to run for the open seat of the Majority Leader," Murtha wrote.

The presumed favorite for that job had been the current No. 2 House Democrat, Steny H. Hoyer (Md.), with whom Murtha has long had testy relations. Hoyer, like many of his political colleagues, greeted Murtha's announcement with annoyance and exasperation, given that the election remains five months off and a Democratic victory is by no means assured.
[...]
Murtha did not explain the timing of the letter or why he was suddenly itching to climb the leadership ladder. Were Democrats to win House control, Murtha would be second in line to become chairman of the Appropriations Committee, one of the most powerful jobs in Congress.

He issued a brief statement to reporters that reiterated the two-sentence letter to his colleagues: "Our goal is to win the House back, and if there's an open seat, I'm the candidate.
Murtha may be jumping the gun a bit here, as a Democratic takeover of the House this fall is anything but guaranteed. And he may upset the party leadership by refusing to defer to Hoyer, a party moderate who has clashed on Murtha over the Iraq war in the past. But there may be more to Murtha's announcement than a sudden aggrandizing desire to become a party leader, it might be smart politics for the party.

One theory is that Murtha's candidacy could provide midterm voters with a tougher, more conservative contrast to the liberal minority leader, Nancy Pelosi (Calif.). A decorated Marine combat veteran, Murtha is strongly pro-military. But his call last year for a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq was a pivotal moment in the war debate, emboldening many Democrats to speak out forcefully against the conflict.

Despite their ideological differences, Murtha and Pelosi have been close for years. The Pennsylvanian managed her successful campaign for whip in 2001 against Hoyer, and the two have worked closely on Democratic national-security strategy.

Several senior Democratic aides, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said Pelosi was aware of Murtha's decision, and while she did not encourage him, she did not request that he stop, either.
Republicans are jumping at the chance to tar the Democratic party by holding "speaker of the house Pelosi" over the country's head as a spectre of radical leftism ready to dominate the country. Murtha provides a useful foil to help ground those concerns; if he were voted in as majority leader military supporters could rest assured that funding for the armed forces would continue and the world would not collapse in some liberal, San Francisco inspired orgy as Republicans would have us believe.

web address: http://suicidegirls.com/news/all/16657/Majority-Leader-Murtha/