'Rednecks' cracks may cost Murtha

POLITICO ^ | 10-26-08 | Josh Kraushaar - Commentary

[smoothsailing]

	'Rednecks' cracks may cost Murtha By: Josh Kraushaar October 26, 2008 09:40 PM EST
Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), is in an unexpectedly tight race for an 18th term after effectively calling the constituents of his Southwestern Pennsylvania district racists and rednecks. Earlier this month, he told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s editorial board that “There’s no question Western Pennsylvania is a racist area” in response to a question about Barack Obama’s prospects in his district. A week after apologizing, he told a local Pittsburgh TV station that “this whole area, years ago, was really redneck.” Both comments were captured on videotape, and replayed constantly on local and cable news. Even Saturday Night Live got in the act, airing a parody of Murtha at an Obama rally making offensive comments. Though Murtha, the influential chairman of the House Defense Appropriations subcommittee, has brought back $160 million in earmarks to his economically-struggling district in the southwest of the state so far this year, he's slipped in the polls since making the comments. Republican William Russell is the unlikely beneficiary of the congressman’s missteps. A retired lieutenant colonel who served in Iraq during the Persian Gulf War and in Operation Iraqi Freedom, he wasn’t even allowed to begin campaigning for the general election until August since he was still on active duty in the military. He is something of an accidental candidate: After failing to get enough signatures to qualify for the primary ballot, he won 3,165 write-in votes to become the GOP nominee. Given Murtha’s stature in the region and the poisonous national environment for Republicans, pundits gave Russell no chance of winning. But a newly-released poll from GOP firm Susquehanna Polling and Research, shows Murtha leading Russell by five points, 46 to 41 percent. Fifty-four percent of the respondents said that it was time for someone else to represent them in Congress, and only 35 percent said Murtha deserves to be re-elected. “Even before he made those remarks, this has been the sleeper campaign of the season. Murtha has been out of touch with the district,” said Russell campaign manager Peg Luksik. “Everyone says the same thing—I have voted for Jack before, but not anymore.” Leading Pennsylvania pollster Terry Madonna said that Murtha has been “erratic lately” and can’t count on coattails from Barack Obama at the top of the ticket in his fairly conservative, rural district. Even so, Madonna said he “would be shocked” if Murtha loses given his record of bringing home the bacon. Murtha’s earmarking, though, has come under fire from Russell. In a campaign ad, Russell derisively describes Murtha as the “king of pork,” accusing him of only divvying out earmarks to companies that contribute to his campaigns. Russell’s campaign also went up with a new, hard-hitting advertisement arguing that Murtha has lost touch with his constituents. It also targets Murtha’s support of the $700 billion bailout package, which has been viewed skeptically back home. “Dear Mr. Murtha. I’ve always voted for you, but not this time,” a woman says in the ad. “You went on TV and accused those Marines of murder but refused to apologize when they were cleared. Then you voted for that $700 billion Wall Street bailout twice. It’s not how I want to be represented in Washington.” The conservative-leaning political advocacy group Veterans for Freedom will also be jumping on the anti-Murtha bandwagon. After endorsing Russell last week, the group will be airing an ad throughout the state condemning Murtha’s comments beginning Wednesday. Russell decided to enter the race because of what he viewed as Murtha’s increasingly anti-war posture. A decorated Vietnam veteran, Murtha made headlines when he called for a withdrawal of American troops from Iraq in 2005. He also drew criticism in 2006 for accusing the military of covering up an investigation into whether Marines killed Iraqi civilians in cold blood. All but one of the Marines charged in the killings were later exonerated, and Murtha was sued by one for slander. That didn’t play well in a district with the largest percentage of military veterans in the Keystone State. Murtha only won re-election in 2006 with 61 percent of the vote, less than his usual overwhelming margin of victory. Compared to other members in competitive races, Murtha’s campaign has been downright quiet. He hasn’t been up with any advertising yet, only sending out mailers touting his legislative record. As of October 15, he reported just $502,000 in his campaign account. Murtha’s campaign said the congressman is taking his re-election seriously. He attended a veterans rally earlier this month, and spoke at all the county Democratic banquets. Another sign of it: the campaign is now attacking Russell as a wealthy carpetbagger who illegally campaigned while on active duty in the military. “Jack Murtha has a distinguished career of serving his country in the military and in public service, a record of creating jobs and working for Western Pennsylvania,” said Murtha spokesman Matthew Mazonkey. “Our opponent is someone who doesn’t live in Pennsylvania, wrote himself a paycheck of $185,000 for the last three months, and is under investigation for illegal campaign work while on active-duty.” A Russell spokesman called the allegations false, and that Murtha is “looking for anything to divert attention from his recent record and outlandish statements.” Luksik argued that Murtha had been vulnerable even before his racially-provocative comments. She said Russell’s internal polling has shown him hovering around the 50 percent mark. But until Murtha made his controversial comments, Russell was unable to fund a sustained advertising campaign on local television. Now with Murtha’s remarks getting national attention, Luksik said that fundraising is beginning to pick up. “This was a grassroots campaign, and we wanted to build the base underneath. We didn’t want to excite the opposition on the other side. We wanted to keep the sleeping giant asleep.” said Luksik. “We chose to build a campaign plan that was designed to peak right before the election.”
© 2008 Capitol News Company, LLC

[smoothsailing]

Bill Russell vs. John Murtha Ping!!!

[scooby321]

I remember Tom Foley losing.

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

Eagerly awaiting the jettisoning of this turd.

[My Favorite Headache]

A Murtha and Obam loss would replace Christmas and my birthday this year.

[gwilhelm56]

Any Pennsylvanian who votes for John “LARDASS” Murtha, Deserve and should receive the IRE, Laughter, and MOcking Ridicule and Scorn from those Pennsylvanians who did NOT.

Those who vote for Murtha, are basicly saying, “Yes we’re Racists and Rednecks, ... so??!!”

[rednekelmo]

I find his remarks highly offensive and hope he gets everything he deserves this election

[gwilhelm56]

**A Murtha and Obam loss would replace Christmas and my birthday this year.**

I’d even throw in New Years Eve, seeing all 3 fall in week/10days or so.

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

“Rednecks” and “Racists” didn’t go over well....

What’s next....”Crackers”...???

[Tribune7]

ping

[jazusamo]

Lets hope Murtha keeps shooting his mouth off, he's the best campaign ad Russell can have and it's free.

Bill Russell for Congress
Dump Murtha, PA 12th District

RussellBrigade.com

Contact me to be added to ping list.

[Enterprise]

Racists and rednecks and crackers, oh my!

[definitelynotaliberal]

Likewise for me. And if Kerry were to miraculously lose to Jeff Beatty, even the 4th of July might be replaced.

[writer33]

Elect Bill Russell:

For Liberty's Sake

[MtnClimber]

The thought of Murtha fighting to keep his wallet from being stolen in the unemployment line is an appealing vision.

[Ugot2Bkidding]

Racists and rednecks and crackers, oh my!

Thanks for the laugh. That was pricless.

[smoothsailing]

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

A classic!!!

[HamiltonJay]

Murtha may finally have jumped the shark with his constituency... finally the folks of his district may realize he’s just too much of an embarrassment to keep around.

[OneWingedShark]

>Murtha may finally have jumped the shark with his constituency... finally the folks of his district may realize he’s just too much of an embarrassment to keep around.

How much is “enough of an embarrassment”?