Murtha's followers: marching towards defeat
An article in today's New Hampshire Union Leader says Rep. John
Murtha's followers are "marching towards defeat." Why the concern in
New Hampshire about Pennsylvania's Congressman John Murtha?
Because Murtha's to New Hampshire this Sunday to headline a fundraiser
for NH congressional candidates -- a situation that has NH Democrats
uncomfortable:
[EXCERPT from
UnionLeader article:]
All of this comes up as New Hampshire Democrats prepare for the
arrival next Sunday of Rep. John Murtha, D-Penn., the decorated former
Marine. Murtha favors immediate withdrawal. But the more he speaks the
crazier his position becomes.
Last month he said he favored pulling troops out of Iraq and
redeploying them to Okinawa. He said the South Pacific island more
than 6,000 miles from Iraq could be the launching point whenever the
United States needed to deploy quickly to the Middle East.
Shea-Porter was the only New Hampshire candidate for Congress to back
Murtha's position on Iraq. The others have more shrewdly opted to keep
their distance. Will this hurt Shea-Porter? In a state Democratic
Party that has officially called for impeaching President Bush, maybe
not — even if Murtha's ethics become better known.
Murtha was an unindicted co-conspirator in the Abscam scandal of 1980.
Seven members of Congress were convicted of taking bribes from a fake
Arab sheik in exchange for political influence. Columnist Robert Novak
reported last month that the FBI caught Murtha on video "declining to
take cash but expressing interest in further negotiations, while
bragging about his political influence." When the House Ethics
Committee exonerated Murtha of wrongdoing, its special counsel
resigned in protest.
No
matter how many medals Murtha earned in the service of his country,
they are no replacement for good judgment. That is something Democrats
considering whom to back in the primary ought to consider.
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