So what happened? Why? I admit that I don’t understand the true inside politics of the Democratic party. Who is well liked and why? Who has been supportive of Democratic policies and who hasn’t?
David Corn, Washington editor of The Nation, thinks that he might have the answer:
The vote count is in: Steny Hoyer defeated Jack Murtha 149 to 86 for the majority leader post in the House.
There’s no way to spin this: this was a big loss for incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The vote wasn’t close. Her ally was rejected. This reflects poorly on her. And it will be remembered by her political opponents–particularly those who want to undermine Pelosi’s efforts to enact lobbying and campaign reform–that in this contest she endorsed a fellow who has long been accused of slippery ethics.
Moreover, Murtha, the candidate with the most ardent antiwar credentials, lost–and did so decisively. How will this be interpreted (or exploited) by pundits and politicos who oppose the Pelosi/Murtha call for the withdrawal of troops? Murtha champions did try to turn the majority leader race into a debate on the Iraq war. Can the vote be read as an indicator that many House Democrats don’t support Pelosi all the way on her opposition to the war? more
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David Corn is one of the brightest reporters that I have read. I like his summary. Only time will tell if he was correct.
Jack Murtha has been presented by the leftist press – such as the Nation – as the Conservative voice of reason regarding the Iraq war. Yes, we are liberals and we don’t support this war as one would expect, but even war-wise hard thinking gung-ho types such as Jack Murtha agree with us. If thoughtful converatives are against the war too, the war must be a very foolish idea indeed.
So went the argument for the last 2 years. Week after week, ad nauseum, Jack Murtha’s name was put in front of us. And guess what… we won! Democrats regained the Congress. The mood of the country turned overwhelmingly anti- Iraq war. Thank you Jack Murtha! Oh wait a minute, did I forget to mention something? Murtha is a scumbag. He’s an unindicted co-conspirator in serious bribery scandals. He routinely sells his vote in Congress to the highest bidder. Oh, did I forget to mention we dislike EVERYTHING that he stands for, except the Iraq war? Let’s throw him overboad.
I’m a liberal. But I must say the way that Jack Murtha has been used/abused is disgusting. Either his stances on the war have earned him a very high place in Congress, or his past ethical lapses mean that we should have never quoted him in the first place. To praise him and diss him as it suits our narrow political interests is very … Republican of us. Shame on us.
See my next post on Murtha.
Thoughtful…as usual, O.
[…] So, on the 13th, David Corn published this article to The Nation’s web site which shines a little more light on who Murtha really is (this gives more of a well rounded picture of Murtha more like what O was saying here)- […]
[…] I do discuss the politics of the week. Nancy Pelosi is the new Speaker of the House. I discuss the coverage of Democratic infighting (Murtha out and Hoyer in) and the return of Trent “I support Strom Thurmond” Lott. […]
[…] Nancy Pelosi is the new Speaker of the House. I discuss the coverage of Democratic infighting (Murtha out and Hoyer in) and the return of Trent "I support Strom Thurmond" […]