The voters in his district be lovin that pork. The state may have gone Palin/McCain by 12 in ‘08, but the voters in PA-12 went for the bloated Pinko by 16%.
But see, since whomever fills the seat will have NO pull to bring in tons of tax $$$, nor will this person head a single leadership post, they no longer have any obligation to pull the lever for the Democrat.
Murtha was only as useful as the depth of his wallet.