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September 25, 2012 Pennsylvania: GOP Poll Shows Tie in 12th District Race Shira Toeplitz A new GOP poll shows a dead heat between Rep. Mark Critz (D) and attorney Keith Rothfus (R) in southwestern Pennsylvania.Both candidates scored 38 percent in the survey paid for by the National Republican Congressional Committee and the GOP nominee. Twenty-four percent of respondents reported they were undecided.Party committees, candidates and outside groups have barraged the airwaves in the district. But in the past few weeks, Democratic groups accounted for more airtime.Republicans say Rothfus improved his position in the race despite the Democratic ad campaign. In...

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...

Talking to an NRCC guy who’s looked at last night’s numbers extensively, he concludes that the polls and expectations in Pennsylvania’s special election were thrown off not merely by the competitive Democratic Senate primary, but particularly by Joe Sestak’s surge in the final two weeks. Committee strategists worried about the effect of the Senate primary at first, but as they started getting polling numbers back, they suspected the special election would be the chief driver for turnout in this part of the state. Until the beginning of May or so, that seemed to be the case. But in the final...

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%,...

You really need to keep checking our 44 blog for reports on the special election in Pennsylvania's 12th District from Sandya Somashekhar, who's been on the ground with the candidates. (I'm in Washington, monitoring everything in the big four primary states today.) Democrats can really afford only so many anecdotes like this one, of Democrat Mark Critz working the trail. "I don't want to interrupt you, I just wanted to say, 'Hi, I'm running for Congress,' " he told two men in trucker hats and work shirts, who took his hand politely. Both Democrats, one acknowledged later he'd be voting...

Mark Critz, a former aide to the late John Murtha and the Democratic nominee to replace him, has pulled out to a 6-point lead in the special election for Pennsylvania's 12th district, according to a new Susquehanna poll. Critz leads Republican Tim Burns 44%-38% with less than a week to go. The Johnstown-based district in southwestern Pennsylvania has swing potential, despite the overwhelming Democratic registration advantage and Murtha's dominance in the district for the last 36 years. It's the only district that voted for both John Kerry and John McCain. Critz is running as a continuation of Murtha -- a...

ANTI-TROOP ACTIVISTS TRY TO RAISE MONEY ON JOHN MURTHA’S ANTI-WAR LEGACY Move America Forward   The liberals bankrolling Mark Critz’s campaign to succeed John Murtha in Pennsylvania’s 12th district are shamelessly using John Murtha’s liberal anti-war, anti-military legacy to desperately raise last-minute cash. In a fundraising email sent out last night, also posted on the Nancy Pelosi controlled DCCC website, Joyce Murtha pleads for donations and recall’s her husband’s shameful l conduct. In 2005, my husband, Congressman Jack Murtha, courageously spoke out against the war in Iraq and you stood with him when he was outrageously accused of cutting...

While some try to rehabilitate the corruption laden reputation of the late Congressman John Murtha (D-Pennsylvania) by naming a Navy ship in his honor, voters in his district are poised to rehabilitate their representation in Washington. The latest poll shows Republican businessman Tim Burns leading his Democratic challenger in the May 18 special election former Murtha aide Mark Critz 46% to 40%. And in typical 'Desperate Democrat' fashion, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has responded with one of the most misleading political ads you'll ever see.

The democrats are pulling all the stops to win the PA12 special election on May 18th. PA12 background, this district is very interesting. Even though there are more democrat voters than republicans,however there are more conservatives and moderates than a very few liberals. The people here are older and just used to voting democrat. With this said, Pelosi and Obama have low approval rating, even among democrats. Plus, the health care bill is very unpopular here. If interested you can see more poll results here Moving on, Critz who is in a very tight spot as a democrat this year,...

Video linked http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lt1_lMswja0

After Republicans nominated businessman Tim Burns as their special election candidate in the 12th Congressional District, state party chairman said he hoped that military veteran Bill Russell would get behind the GOP’s candidate. But Russell, ever the anti-establishment candidate, is sticking to his guns. He’s continued to criticize the process by which Burns was nominated. He’s preparing to go up against Burns in the May primary to be held the same day as the special election. And he says—only half-jokingly—that he won’t even vote for Burns over Democrat Mark Critz in the special election, opting instead to write himself in....

LATROBE — Tim Burns will represent the Republican Party for the special election to pick John Murtha’s successor after a group of GOP conferees Thursday night voted for him over his chief rival, former Army officer Bill Russell. The vote total was 85 votes for Burns, 46 for Russell. Burns will now face Murtha’s former district director, Mark Critz, in the May 18 special election... ...Although some Republicans thought Russell had an outside chance to win Thursday’s nomination, Burns was the solid favorite for the nod. Although Burns defeated Russell Thursday night, he will face him again on the May...