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Months after making headlines, John Murtha's popularity booming
Knight-Ridder, McClatchey Newspapers ^ | August 17. 2006 | Margaret Talev

Posted on 08/17/2006 3:04:02 PM PDT by Dane

Posted on Thu, Aug. 17, 2006

Months after making headlines, John Murtha's popularity booming By Margaret Talev McClatchy Newspapers

Rep. John Murtha, (D-PA), ranking member on the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. - What a difference nine months makes.

Last November Rep. John P. "Jack" Murtha, D-Pa., thundered onto the national scene insisting that the U.S. military could accomplish nothing more in Iraq, could only make things worse. He called for pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq.

At the time, many of his Democratic colleagues considered his stance suicidal for their party when they're trying to regain control of Congress despite having long been seen as weak on national security.

Now, Murtha is one of the most popular Democrats around. In recent weeks he's raised money for Democrats campaigning in New Hampshire, Connecticut, New York and California. In Tennessee, he was former Vice President Al Gore's guest at a fundraiser for local Democrats. After Labor Day, Murtha will head back out on the road, helping up to four dozen of his party's candidates.

He said events had proved him right.

"Everything I said has turned out to be true," Murtha said Wednesday, taking a break at his campaign headquarters in Johnstown. "You can't win militarily. Military leaders are now saying it publicly where they said it only privately before. I get standing ovations every place I go. The public is looking for a solution to this open-ended policy, which is killing kids."

Murtha, 74, is an imposing man with white hair and sharp eyes. A decorated Marine, he was the first combat veteran of the Vietnam War elected to the House of Representatives. Long regarded as a hawk on national security, Murtha is the ranking Democrat on the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.

He's never been seen as charismatic, until now.

On Aug. 9 at the Tavern on the Green restaurant in New York's Central Park, Murtha appeared at a rally for Eric Massa, a retired Navy commander who's trying to unseat Rep. John "Randy" Kuhl, R-N.Y.

Massa said Murtha "couldn't speak, the applause and the standing ovation was so prolonged and intense. He speaks the truth. He's not deterred by critics. As the failures of the Bush administration in Iraq have become more obvious, his credibility has significantly increased."

Murtha said he was too old to consider running for president, but that he'd try to become majority leader if Democrats gained the 15 seats they needed to take charge of the House.

"I'm on a mission here, and the mission is to help change the direction of the country," he said.

Murtha doesn't think there are war-related grounds to impeach President Bush. But he likens Bush's weakened status to President Richard Nixon's in 1974 before Watergate forced him to resign.

"He lost all his power in that one year," recalled Murtha, who won his seat that year in a special election. "What a limitation there is on the power of a president, or any public official. When people lose confidence in that official, they have no power at all."

Murtha's outspokenness has made him a target. A North Carolina-based group called Vets for the Truth has launched a "Boot Murtha" campaign, inviting protesters to an Oct. 1 rally in Johnstown.

Organizer Larry Bailey is a retired Navy SEAL who said he was driven not by Murtha's stance on troop redeployment but by the congressman's assertion in May, before a thorough investigation, that Marines in Haditha had killed innocent Iraqi civilians "in cold blood."

"I have some misgivings myself about what's going on in Iraq," Bailey said. "Until May 17, I wasn't the least bit interested in the 12th District of Pennsylvania."

Murtha said bad acts by soldiers hurt the military and should be aired. "I've supported the troops my entire political career," he said. "I don't think there would have been an investigation if I hadn't said something. You have to make it public."

The identity of his southwestern Pennsylvania district has long been entwined with the catastrophic flood that tore through Johnstown in 1889 and with the steel industry, which abandoned it over the past few decades. It has a conservative bent, with a constituency older and more heavily veteran than average. Democrats outnumber Republicans.

Until his emergence last fall as a foe of the Iraq war, Murtha had operated largely behind the scenes. To counter a local unemployment rate that he said hit 24 percent in the 1980s, he used his appropriations post to send home lucrative dollars for defense contracts, medical research, flood-related tourism and infrastructure.

A local airport is named for him. So is an institute for the study of neuroscience and pain. A breast-cancer center bears the name of his wife, Joyce.

Murtha is expected to win re-election handily. Even Diana Irey, his Republican challenger, acknowledged in an interview this week that she's facing "an uphill battle."

But Irey added: "The war issue has made people raise an eyebrow ... and given us an opportunity to tell people who he really is." She mentions Murtha's opposition to a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage: "Jack Murtha acts more like he's representing liberal San Francisco than conservative southwestern Pennsylvania."

Some voters are listening to her.

David Gray, 45, a Republican accountant, said Murtha hadn't been able to replace the steel industry with anything similarly big or permanent.

"It's all a lot of little things. As soon as Murtha's gone, they're all gone, these defense contracts. What good is that?"

More seem to stand by Murtha.

"People said Johnstown will never come back," said Jack Ray, 57, a Democrat and a clerk at a clothing store. "I think Johnstown is coming back. And he's been involved in most things that have happened."

Helen Davis, 76, a Republican whose late husband worked for Bethlehem Steel, agrees with Murtha's stance on Iraq.

"I don't think we're accomplishing anything there, and I hate to see these young men sacrificed for people who don't even want us there," she said.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Government; Politics/Elections; US: Pennsylvania
KEYWORDS: demented; election2006; irey; mediabias; mlb; murtha; pos; scumbag; treasonalert
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To: kinoxi
He's thinking bigger than PA I think.

LOL. Too bad for him he's the only one thinking in those terms.

41 posted on 08/17/2006 5:14:12 PM PDT by johniegrad
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To: saganite
Yes. I've been following this race for months now. I know what I'm talking about. You, however, strike me as someone who is just looking for a reason not to get involved, rationalizing why the underdog can't win. Perhaps I'm wrong, but...
42 posted on 08/17/2006 5:15:45 PM PDT by Coop (No, there are no @!%$&#*! polls on Irey vs. Murtha!)
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To: Architect Howard Roark
...OR a decent manager.

HA! Now YOU'RE stuck with that idiot Tracy and his dopey sidekick Colburn.

Dodger fan schadenfruede. {;^)

43 posted on 08/17/2006 5:17:47 PM PDT by Henchster (Free Republic - the BEST site on the web!)
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To: Coop

Jeez. I asked a simple question assuming you were local and could give me an answer. Your non answer and your unjustified accusations are ridiculous. Get a grip and try not to piss off folks who are sympathetic to your position.


44 posted on 08/17/2006 5:25:33 PM PDT by saganite (Billions and billions and billions-------and that's just the NASA budget!)
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To: saganite

My non answer? LOL.


45 posted on 08/17/2006 5:35:02 PM PDT by Coop (No, there are no @!%$&#*! polls on Irey vs. Murtha!)
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To: Coop

One can only hope you are not actively campaigning for Irey with direct access to her voters. If you are it's hopeless. Good luck with your crappy attitude.


46 posted on 08/17/2006 5:38:38 PM PDT by saganite (Billions and billions and billions-------and that's just the NASA budget!)
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To: saganite
Waaaaaahhhhh!!!!!!

I have a feeling the Irey people would MUCH prefer what I've done for them to what you have not nor will ever do for them.

Waaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!

47 posted on 08/17/2006 5:46:05 PM PDT by Coop (No, there are no @!%$&#*! polls on Irey vs. Murtha!)
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To: saganite

Yes -- and no...

The largest city is Johnstown (28,134 in 2000 census)...but that's only a small portion of a district that's almost 600,000 in population.

I posted a map of the 12th district some time ago...I pointed out that apart from metro Johnstown, there's a string of communities basically along US 119 from Indiana PA to Uniontown PA....

Then there is another string of communities along the Monongahela River, from Forward Twp. to the WV line.

There's one more string of communities northeast of Pittsburgh...I guess you'd call that the Allegheny Valley...

Finally you may want to count I-79 as well....Washington PA and Waynesburg....
The TV markets are Pittsburgh and Johnstown/Altoona.





48 posted on 08/17/2006 7:08:38 PM PDT by scrabblehack
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To: Dane
The old local villain but national hero trick by the same washed up MSM. This is one of the oldest political tricks in the books, when the MSM's favorite politician is down in their own district they try to put the impression on the districts citizens that they're wrong because "look at what the rest of the nation sees".
49 posted on 08/17/2006 7:29:11 PM PDT by tobyhill (The War on Terrorism is not for the weak.)
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To: Coop
Go back and read post 37. Your reply to an "either/or" question was "yes"(a non-answer.)

Good luck to you and Irey. A win would be huge.

50 posted on 08/17/2006 10:23:10 PM PDT by Once-Ler (The rat 06 election platform will be a promise to impeach the President if they win)
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To: scrabblehack

Thanks for an intelligent reply.


51 posted on 08/18/2006 3:08:45 AM PDT by saganite (Billions and billions and billions-------and that's just the NASA budget!)
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To: Once-Ler
I'm quite familiar with the question and my answer, thank you.
52 posted on 08/18/2006 3:46:47 AM PDT by Coop (No, there are no @!%$&#*! polls on Irey vs. Murtha!)
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To: saganite

Waaaaahhhhhhh!!!


53 posted on 08/18/2006 3:47:05 AM PDT by Coop (No, there are no @!%$&#*! polls on Irey vs. Murtha!)
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To: Coop

What are you, about 9 years old? Mentally I mean. Give it a rest.


54 posted on 08/18/2006 3:58:27 AM PDT by saganite (Billions and billions and billions-------and that's just the NASA budget!)
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To: saganite

He DID answer the question!


55 posted on 08/18/2006 4:08:01 AM PDT by Toby06 (True conservatives vote based on their values, not for parties.)
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To: saganite

56 posted on 08/18/2006 4:27:07 AM PDT by Coop (No, there are no @!%$&#*! polls on Irey vs. Murtha!)
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To: Coop

LOL! Childish as expected.

But seriously, while I'm here I do have a serious question for you. What do the latest polls say about the Murtha/Irey race. Is it close?


57 posted on 08/18/2006 7:44:28 AM PDT by saganite (Billions and billions and billions-------and that's just the NASA budget!)
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To: Toby06

Scrabblehack answered my question and did a fine job.


58 posted on 08/18/2006 7:45:51 AM PDT by saganite (Billions and billions and billions-------and that's just the NASA budget!)
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To: saganite
Scrabblehack answered my question and did a fine job.

And said the same thing I did, Einstein. Quit your incessant whining and do some reading, instead of pestering people about this race you have no real interest in.

59 posted on 08/18/2006 7:59:57 AM PDT by Coop (No, there are no @!%$&#*! polls on Irey vs. Murtha!)
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To: Coop

Here's my question:

(Hope you're right. Is that district amenable to a door to door campaign or is it part of a major media center requiring lots of money to get your message out?)

Here's your "answer":

(Yes)

And here's scrablhack's answer:


(Yes -- and no...

The largest city is Johnstown (28,134 in 2000 census)...but that's only a small portion of a district that's almost 600,000 in population.

I posted a map of the 12th district some time ago...I pointed out that apart from metro Johnstown, there's a string of communities basically along US 119 from Indiana PA to Uniontown PA....

Then there is another string of communities along the Monongahela River, from Forward Twp. to the WV line.

There's one more string of communities northeast of Pittsburgh...I guess you'd call that the Allegheny Valley...

Finally you may want to count I-79 as well....Washington PA and Waynesburg....
The TV markets are Pittsburgh and Johnstown/Altoona.)


Maybe it's just me but I see a vast qualitative difference between those 2 answers. If you think your reply is as good as scrabblehack's you need some lessons in comprehension.

I also note you didn't bother to answer my last question about poll results. So, what are the poll numbers?


60 posted on 08/18/2006 8:11:53 AM PDT by saganite (Billions and billions and billions-------and that's just the NASA budget!)
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