Thursday, October 23, 2008

Murtha's Grip Loosening?

Based on this article in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, it's apparent that John Murtha's steely grip on PA-12 has substantially loosened. Mike Wereschagin and David Brown do a great job of finding people that likely would've voted in virtual lockstep for Rep. Murtha. Now, many are either undecided or voting for William Russell.

Democratic Rep. John Murtha leads retired Army Lt. Col. William Russell by a little more than 4 percentage points, within the Susquehanna Poll's 4.9-point margin of error. The poll of 400 likely voters was conducted for the Tribune-Review on Tuesday, amid uproar over Murtha's statement that some of his constituents are racist.

Stanley Shemanski, 67, a retired meat cutter who lives in Apollo, said he's undecided about the congressional race. He doesn't know much about Russell, but he's upset with Murtha's comment that racism in the district could hurt Democrat Barack Obama's chances.

"I didn't like that at all. He shouldn't have said it," Shemanski said.

Most of all, the national economy concerns him. "I'm retired, but my daughter, she works for the bank, and I'm worried about that."

It's my opinion that, if this race were decided on policies and/or ethics, Murtha would've been defeated ages ago. He's a walking corruption zone. Until now, people were willing to overlook the corruption because he brought home the bacon.

While it isn't time to write Rep. Murtha off, it's certainly time to contribute to Russell's campaign. Think of it this way. Your contribution might buy the advertising that breaks the porkster's back and sends him into involuntary retirement.

Murtha's racist/rednecks comments haven't endeared him to his constituents. It's time to defeat him when he's most vulnerable. That's right now. It's unlikely that Rep. Murtha will be more vulnerable than right now. That's why it's important to go for the electoral juglar. It's time to put him out of our misery.

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