Editorials
A Murtha crapshoot?
Majority leader pitch raises questions
Many – some even in his own party – were surprised when U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Johnstown, announced recently his plans to seek the House majority leader post if Democrats gain the majority in the fall.
Murtha’s announcement seemed presumptuous on at least two fronts.
n The Democrats need to win 15 House of Representatives seats to wrestle the majority from the Republicans. That’s assuming the Democrats don’t lose any seats they now hold.
n Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland is currently second-in-command to Nancy Pelosi of California. Pelosi would presumably become speaker of the House if the power shifts to the Democrats, with Hoyer in line ahead of Murtha to become majority leader.
Murtha on Tuesday pulled back a bit from his pitch for the No. 2 House position. He said he would put his bid on hold until after the election.
“I’m encouraged,” Murtha told AP Radio in Washington, “but I’m willing to suspend it if it diverts from my major reason: That’s winning the House back.”
A day earlier, he had defended his push in an interview with The Tribune-Democrat at the grand opening of the Gamesa wind-turbine plant near Ebensburg.
Murtha said his stature in defense, and especially his ongoing battle with President Bush and top Republicans over the war in Iraq, makes him a strong candidate for the House leadership role.
“So much on the national level right now is related to defense that it is a logical step,” Murtha said. “And what we have to do now is show the public that there will be change.”
Some Republicans see Murtha’s war activism and his push for the high House seat as being divisive in his own party.
The GOP’s position: Keep it up, Jack. A divided Democratic Party is good for all Republicans who are running for national offices.
That may or may not prove true. But this is a fact: The Democrats have not had the House majority since 1994.
Murtha himself must fend off Republican challenger Diana Irey, a Washington County commissioner, to keep his 12th district seat.
An Irey upset in November seems unlikely, but is not impossible – especially considering Murtha’s polarizing stance on Iraq.
It will be interesting to see if Murtha’s early pitch for the majority-leader position has a positive or negative effect on his party’s efforts to regain control of the House, or on his own political standing locally and nationally.
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