Posted on 08/04/2008 8:43:59 AM PDT by jazusamo
Moments after Army Lt. Col. William Russell ended his 28-year military career, the Iraq war veteran revved up his Harley-Davidson and set out on an improbable journey.
In his first political outing, Russell is trying to topple a political giant.
The 45-year-old Republican this weekend kicked off his campaign against U.S. Rep. John Murtha, 76, of Johnstown, a powerful Democrat and decorated Vietnam War veteran seeking a 19th term.
"Murtha has a lot of issues on his hands, in terms of keeping his seat this November. There are chinks in the armor," contended Russell, who rode a motorcycle to greet supporters at a rally in Uniontown. The event at 12:01 a.m. Friday marked the start of Russell's civilian life and the end of military restrictions on his campaign.
(Excerpt) Read more at pittsburghlive.com ...
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Retired Army Lt. Col. William Russell (right) is running against longtime U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Johnstown. Russell, 45, recently kicked off his campaign with a tour of Fayette County, including a visit to Atlas Energy Resources. Robert Hirtz (left), the drilling company's general manager, and Scott Kohne, land manager of operations, show him the warehouse. S.C. Spangler/Tribune-Review |
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Marine veteran Tom Manion (left), a Republican, is trying to unseat Democratic Rep. Patrick Murphy in the 8th Congressional District. Manion's son, Travis (right), was killed by sniper fire last year in Iraq. Submitted |
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These are the guys who need to get our campaign funds, since I suspect the national Republican party officials won’t bother to fund them in their races against the old Dems occupying these seats.
You betcha, there are many that are sending donations directly to the candidates and I believe that’s the way to go.
They've got mine: Wm. Russell; Alan West; and Josh Mandel (NE Ohio). Any others?
Russell, the Republican trying to oust Murtha, opposes a timeline for withdrawal.
"The enemy will just wait out a timeline," Russell said.
Russell said he adopted Johnstown as his residence about a year ago because he and his wife consider Pennsylvania a good place to live. He said the decision was not because he wanted to run against Murtha.
But he added that his decision to run "was very much driven" by Murtha's comment in 2006 that a Pentagon probe into the death of Iraqi civilians in the Iraqi city of Haditha would show Marines "killed innocent civilians in cold blood."
Russell chided Murtha for not apologizing for the remark although seven of the eight Marines charged in the killings, including one who lives in the district, have been cleared and "fully exonerated."
"When it comes to supporting our troops and their families, Congressman Murtha takes a back-seat to no one," responded Murtha spokesman Matthew Mozonkey. "His distinguished 37 year career in the Marine Corps is well documented, and his 35 years in Congress is well known.
There's eight Haditha Marines and their families that will vehemently disagree with Mozonkey on that and Murtha should have been forced to take about 20 years out of that 35 year career in Congress for a federal prison sentence.
"You could write an entire book on what he has done for our military," Mozonkey said.
Well, I'd say that book is being written right now by all of us who have and continue to expose Murtha for the corrupt fraud he is and prove his disrespect and disregard, even outright slander of US Marines and the military Mozonkey would have us believe Murtha cared about.
Mozonkey would have been more accurate if he had said;"You could wtite an entire book on what he has done TO our military".
That's exactly how it should have been written. This Mozonkey is as lame as Murtha.
At least the Trib got him to comment but I guess that's a given since Scaife is one of Murtha's biggest supporters.
I was surprised that David Smith got Russell's comments past the editors. For the Trib to allow much in the way of unflattering reporting on Murtha may represent a shift of sorts.
It's interesting to note that of the 6 candidates the story mentions, half are Democrats.
It would be great if Manion would knock off Murphy.
While I don’t mean to sound like I’m belittling Murphy’s service because he was in Iraq he was a lawyer in the JAG Corps,
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