Russell is back for another run against Murtha in 2010, but Republicans appear to be pinning their hopes on businessman Tim Burns instead...Burns is independently wealthy and is open to putting some of his own money into the race.
Oh swell. The Pennsylvania Republican Party, run by Murtha crony Robert Gleason, and the NRCC are backing this guy Burns in the Republican primary. How special.
The same Pennsylvania Republican Party and NRCC that didn't lift a finger to help Diana Irey when she challenged Murtha in '06. The same clowns that didn't help Bill Russell in '08 until it was way late in the game and too late to make a difference.
I'm sure Tim Burns is a fine fellow, but since he's independently wealthy, I say let him fund his own primary effort, I'm not buying into it.
Of all the Congressional races this year, why in the world would two Republicans have to battle in a primary.Bill Russell and Tim Burns should unite right now, in a full-throttled assault on John Murtha. Bill Russell, the retired Army Ranger, highly decorated Gulf War veteran, should be the only Republican in the race. If Burns wants to get involved, let him throw his money around on Bill's behalf. Let him stump for the man who was at the Pentagon on 9-11, and whose son is the youngest survivor of that infamous jihadist attack on the Pentagon.
Murtha called the people in his district a bunch of red-neck, idiot, racists (literally) and still got reelected (even with a pretty good Republican candidate running against him.)
The only way he won’t get reelected is if he is physically in jail (unless the law in PA allows you to run for office while in jail, in which case he will still be reelected, sitting in jail or not.)
Amen to that, Smooth and PA Repubs should boot Gleason out if he and the Party don't support Bill Russell as he should be supported.
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We expect a reflexive dismissal of the value of military service to appear in Department of Homeland Security reports, not in a nonpartisan analysis of American politics and elections.
But it has been clear for years that most analysis of House races involves looking at Federal Election Commission fundraising totals and ensuring that candidates fit the narrow template that the pundits have developed for House candidates.
Rothenbergs analysis of Iraq vet candidates is equally superficial and couldnt be more wrong.
Veterans have already demonstrated selfless service to country, a credential sorely missing in Washington, D.C. The current generation of veterans is pure volunteer. They joined up when there was no draft, when military service was the exception rather than the rule as it was in previous generations. Many Iraq vet candidates enlisted after 9/11, knowing combat was inevitable. And each candidate led troops in the most arduous of conditions.
Moreover, Rothenberg is incorrect when he says military service is the only thing on the résumés of Iraq vets running for Congress.
Consider these Iraq vet candidates running as Republicans in 2010:
Will Breazeale: a Boeing 737 airline pilot (North Carolinas 7th)
Kevin Calvey: an attorney who left his seat as a state Representative to serve in the Army Judge Advocate General Corps (Oklahomas 5th)
Wayne Mosley: an orthopedic surgeon with a masters degree in business administration in negotiations (Georgias 12th)
Lee Zeldin: an attorney for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey who now runs his own law firm (New Yorks 1st)
Vaughn Ward: a CIA operations officer and Senate legislative aide (Idahos 1st)
Bill Russell: a retired Army officer and Airborne Ranger who worked his way up from private to lieutenant colonel and helped lead 9/11 rescue efforts at the Pentagon (Pennsylvanias 12th)
Allen West: a retired Army officer, high school teacher and special adviser to the Afghan Army (Floridas 22nd)
Adam Kinzinger: a former McLean County Board member who joined the Air National Guard after 9/11. He saved the life of a complete stranger by fighting off a knife-wielding maniac (Illinois 11th)
When you compare these citizen soldiers seeking to become citizen legislators with other candidates and contrast the military pedigree of honor, service and sacrifice with the typical background of House candidates, the differences are stark.
Strong House candidates usually fall into three categories. First, there are the career politicians. Their primary qualifications are being well-versed in spending taxpayer money for maximum political advantage and toeing the party line so as to advance. Above all they possess a strong sense that they are entitled to represent their community in Washington because its their turn.
Failed New York 20th district special election candidate Jim Tedisco (R) falls squarely within this all-too-common category of candidate. His dismal loss to a 38-year-old upstart, despite a 70,000-person edge in party voter registration, indicates the tide might be turning against the ticket punchers.
Then, there are the my politician-relative is my qualification candidates. In 2008, the daughter of former New Jersey Gov. Christie Todd Whitman (R) sought the GOP nomination for a House seat in the Garden State.
Reporting on her campaign indicated that 30-year-old Kate Whitman was a good candidate and never questioned whether her résumé of cushy public relations gigs, common for political legacies, was adequate qualification.
Finally, there are the rich guys, qualified to serve in Congress because of the size of their wallets. The political class loves these candidates because they are cash cows for pollsters, consultants and spin-doctors.
The National Republican Congressional Committee, out of vision, energy and, evidently, self-respect, openly courted self-funders to run in 2008. The Republicans got what the political world thought was a blue chipper in multimillionaire Sandy Treadwell. He spent $7 million and only mustered 38 percent against now-Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D) in the same GOP district that Tedisco would lose five months later.
Washington prognosticators shallow and lazy analyses affect who receives important institutional support for Congressional campaigns and dramatically affect the viability of candidates and how we get our Congress. Fortunately, voters, not political handicappers, are the ultimate arbiters of who is qualified to serve in Congress.
The perseverance and dedication that turned defeat in Iraq into victory is exactly the type of bold leadership that the country needs to overcome our current economic and national security challenges.
Kieran Michael Lalor, a Marine Corps veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, is chairman of Iraq Veterans for Congress Political Action Committee. He was the Republican nominee in New Yorks 19th district in 2008.