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Interesting that Kerry's margin in the district was so narrow when Murtha always wins overwhelmingly. I see he was first elected in 1974, the year of the big Demo tidal wave following Nixon's resignation. In the previous election, the GOP incumbent won by a large margin. He did not run for reelection and Murtha succeeded him.

It would be great if Irey could beat him. It sure would look bad for the defeatist crowd.

"Interesting that Kerry's margin in the district was so narrow when Murtha always wins overwhelmingly."

Before the 2002 redistricting, Murtha represented a district that had given President Bush 53% in 2000; when Murtha was redistricted in with Frank Mascara, the new CD had given Bush just 44% in 2000. President Bush improved to 49% in 2004, since blue-collar areas in Western PA keep trending Republican.

So Murtha has always gotten Republican votes, which is not that surprising given his pro-life, pro-gun views. But he may have jumped the shark when he said we could not win in Iraq, and this race should be interesting.