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This attack ad was made by the same group who released the controversial attack ad early this week on Fox News Channel, ABC and ESPN that questioned Obama's missing records. The newly formed group is called the 'Conservative Majority Fund' backed by big money out of Arlington,VA. Their recent ad this week caused a uproar with liberals and the media. There are a lot of doubters who disregard the fact that it is no big deal for a American president to be a Muslim, especially in a time of war against people who are Islamic extremist. It's so dangerous that...

Feds eye $10M for Murtha Center Mike Faher The Tribune-Democrat — Less than four months after plans were disclosed for the John P. Murtha Center for Public Service in Richland Township, the proposed facility may be getting another big financial boost. A group of five federal lawmakers has earmarked $10 million for the center in an early version of the House of Representatives’ defense-appropriations bill. If that cash makes it through the legislative process, the federal money would match $10 million in state funds already earmarked by Gov. Ed Rendell...

A Proper Understanding of PA-12May 21, 2010 BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Bill in southern West Virginia. It's great to have you on the program, sir. Hello. CALLER: Hello. What I wanted to talk about was why the Democrats were marginally successful last weekend. And I think they were trying to do a game-changer. They were trying to put as much resources in as few races as possible just so they can say, "Hey, we won." It would be really interesting just to know how many union hours were spent in Arkansas and Pennsylvania, especially on the congressional election. Just up for...

Barack Obama, before a sympathetic San Francisco audience in April 2008, argued that people in small towns — notably in industrial states like Ohio and Pennsylvania — were bitter and “cling to guns or religion.” But one takeaway from Tuesday’s special election in Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District is that Rust Belt rural voters might “cling” to voting for Democrats. Republicans had high hopes that Tim Burns could win the late John Murtha’s seat. Yet Mark Critz, a former top Murtha aide, ended up winning 53%-44%.

The candidate who on Tuesday won the special election in a Pennsylvania congressional district is right-to-life and pro-gun. He accused his opponent of wanting heavier taxes. He said he would have voted against Barack Obama's health-care plan and promised to vote against cap-and-trade legislation, which is a tax increase supposedly somehow related to turning down the planet's thermostat. This candidate, Mark Critz, is a Democrat.

Congratulations to Congressman-elect Mark Critz on his extraordinary victory. Voters in this election responded to Mark Critz's commitment to providing independent leadership that puts Pennsylvania jobs first. This was the only race in the country today where a Democrat faced off against a Republican and the results are clear. Mark Critz focused on creating jobs for middle class families, while Republicans practiced the politics of fear and distortion. For all of their bluster about building a national wave this year, including RNC Chairman Michael Steele's guarantee of victory for Tim Burns, Republican policies were once again rejected when it came...

Republicans who were already planning their Nancy Pelosi retirement galas for November may want to cancel the caterer. The GOP lost the most important election that was held on Tuesday, and if it fails to learn from the experience the party will lose in the autumn too. The GOP lost the one race in which a seat in Congress was up for grabs, the contest to replace the late Jack Murtha in the 12th House district in southwestern Pennsylvania. John McCain had carried the seat with 49% of the vote in 2008, President Obama's approval rating was well below 40%,...

On Tuesday morning, Republicans who were closely watching the special election in Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District — once represented by John Murtha — did not offer ironclad, take-it-to-the-bank guarantees that their man Tim Burns was going to win. But they liked his chances, and expected him to at least run close to Democrat Mark Critz. The final tally wasn’t close: Critz won 53.4 percent to Burns’s 44.3 percent, with all precincts but one reporting. Critz won a bit more than 71,000 votes, Burns a bit more than 59,000. So what happened? Among the arguments emerging late Tuesday night: Critz ran...

Mark Critz, the aide to the late Congressman John Murtha, won a special election Tuesday to fill the remainder of his term which ends Jan. 3. Critz, a Democrat, easily beat Republican Tim Burns, who state GOP Chairman Rob Gleason had tapped over Bill Russell, the retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who ran against Murtha in 2008.

In Pennsylvania’s 12th District, Republican Tim Burns has conceded to Democrat Mark Critz. One reader’s on the ledge: Pa12 is more than a disappointment.  It is a disaster.  You know politics as well as I do (even though I’m probably your senior by at least thirty years).  When there is a political wave the following happens: parties win special elections in normally difficult districts; they win with weak candidates; they win all the close elections. They just win, win, and win.   Burns’s defeat shows, as of now, the Rs will unlikely take the House.  Perhaps they’ll do well; as today’s generic...

WASHINGTON, Pa. -- Bill Steiner had a simple explanation for Tuesday night's result in Pennsylvania's 12th District. "It's Murtha's ghost," said Steiner, about a half-hour after Republican Tim Burns had conceded to Democrat Mark Critz, former aide to the late Rep. John Murtha. "People were afraid to change." Murtha died in February, three weeks after Republican Scott Brown had won the Massachusetts Senate seat held for more than four decades by Ted Kennedy, and the GOP clearly hoped to carry that momentum into the special election to fill the House seat that Murtha had held since the mid-1970s. What happened...

JOHNSTOWN — Republicans today accused Democrat congressional candidate Mark Critz of “illegally campaigning” inside Cambria County polling places. The Pennsylvania Republican Party and the campaign of Tim Burns, Critz’s GOP opponent in the 12th Congressional District, said Critz was witnessed inside polls in Westmont. Critz’s campaign did not deny that he had been inside some polls but maintained that nothing improper or illegal occurred. “Mark did no electioneering within polling locations,” Critz spokeswoman Holly Shulman said. “These are nothing more than desperate attacks which we’ve seen from Tim Burns throughout this campaign.” The Burns campaign circulated a photo purportedly showing...

Democrat Mark Critz has defeated Republican challenger Tim Burns in the special election for the House seat formerly held by the late John Murtha in Pennsylvania's 12th district

We needed Toomey to GOTV but he really had the , if it had been Toomey v Specter I think Burns would have had a much better chance of winning. Turnout was key and having competitive Senate and Governors races helped the Democrats turn out nearly 1 million voters. Burns also has a serious primary challenge by Bill Russell since he ran against Murtha last time out. It would be wild if Burns pulls this out against Critz but loses the primary to Russel, a lame duck unless he can run Independent like Charley Crist.

175 People Double Voted in One Precinct in PA-12 by Mike Roman The Precinct Judge of Elections at North Union 4 in Fayette County says she mistakenly gave 175 people 2 ballots this morning. She claims she thought the Special Election to fill the vacancy in Congressional District 12 required her to give a seperate ballot for the Primary and the Special Election. As of now, it is unknown the partisan breakdown of the 175 voters. Jack Murtha carried the precinct with 62% in 2008. His death in February caused the vacancy in the district. Developing…

In the race to replace the late Congressman John Murtha, businessman Tim Burns (R) leads former Murtha aide Mark Critz (D) by just one point (48% to 47%) in what will probably be the last major poll of the campaign. Leaping into the spotlight of this special election is former President Bill Clinton who stopped by to tell all those bitter Pennsylvanians clinging to their guns and religion that the reason the race is close is that "times are tough and things are all up in the air and people are disoriented."

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. -- Almost four decades after John Murtha stood at the Rod & Wire Division gate and shook enough hands to loosen his arm, Mark Critz's stayed firmly in its socket, a testament to the possibility the 12th Congressional District could soon be in very different hands. "Mr. Murtha told me once, when they're coming out, shake their hand and let them go, because they want to go home. When they're coming in, they'll want to stop and talk," said Mr. Critz, who was awarded the Democratic nomination to Congress after Mr. Murtha, his boss, died three months ago....

A close primary race has divided Republicans in the late Rep. John Murtha's district and has helped Democrat Mark Critz take the lead in the special election to replace him, according to a Susquehanna Polling & Research survey. Critz leads GOP nominee Tim Burns 44 percent to 38 percent with one week to go. Voters on Tuesday will pick between the two to fill Murtha's unexpired term and will choose their parties' nominees for the general election in November. A majority of Democrats back Critz in the primary over challengers Ryan Bucchianeri and Ron Mackell Jr. Burns is locked in...

Remember Candidate Barack Obama's opinion of people in small town Pennsylvania? He made it very clear at a 2008 San Fransisco fundraiser when he said, "You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania...they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion." (source) Call it revenge of the clingers - in eleven days the Obama machine is about to be seriously jammed by those small town Pennsylvanians and one native son who wants to bring real hope and change to the area.

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (AP) -- In what was the late U.S. Rep. John Murtha's western Pennsylvania district - reachable through John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport or John P. Murtha Highway - Democrats watch nervously, hoping his former top aide can hold on to the House seat. Mark Critz, who worked for Murtha for more than a decade in Pennsylvania, including the past three as district director, is in a fierce fight with Republican businessman Tim Burns in the May 18 special election. The national GOP has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to push Burns' candidacy, sensing a legitimate shot of...