With just two days before House Democrats elect their next Majority Leader, the fight between Jack Murtha and Steny Hoyer has taken a turn for the worst. Murtha, facing accusations of ethical infractions, fired back. An aide to Murtha told CNN that the origin of the press reports were part of a campaign on Hoyer's part and that Murtha was being swift-boated.
Sayeth Murtha:
"I am disconcerted that some are making headlines by resorting to unfounded allegations that occured 26 years ago. I thought we were above this type of swift-boating attack. This is not how we restore integrity and civility to the United States Congress.
Conversely, neither is ducking questions of corruption. Questions which don't simply stem from Abscam but from more recent actions while Murtha was on the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.
Murtha then took it a step further, changing the subject back to his stronghold (Iraq) and attacked his opponent.
"Of the critical issues we are faced with today, the war in Iraq is the most crucial....The Pelosi-Murtha position on the war is the reason the Democrats are in the majority today. Congressman Hoyer's position has been to stay the course with President Bush from the very beginning and, like Senator John McCain, he advocates sending in more troops."
So much for a dignified race, based on honest debate. Hoyer has supported phased redeployment for some time, albeit his support hasn't been as strong as it could be. But tepid support of redeployment and a call for more troops aren't one and the same. But Murtha knows better than that and is trying to peel away Hoyer's liberal supporters...notably Barney Frank, Barbara Lee, Maxine Waters, Jerrold Nadler, Jesse Jackson, Jr., fellow Maryland congressman Elijah Cummings and many other members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
Hoyer's camp responded:
"Any representation that Congressman Hoyer endorses a `stay-the-course' strategy or advocates sending more troops to Iraq is wrong."
To which Murtha's camp, in kind, responded:
"Instead of uniting with our Minority Leader on Iraq, Steny Hoyer issued a statement one year ago in which he said that the Iraq policy proposed by Jack Murtha and supported by Leader Pelosi would have been disastrous to out national security."
An important detail, which Murtha's people failed to mention. While Hoyer wasn't a co-sponsor of Murtha's original redeployment bill, it is positively Rovian to portray Hoyer's current stance as a Bush rubber stamp when it comes to Iraq and that he supports McCain's call for more troops. His position has evolved over time (like many members), such that he now supports the unified Democratic stance on Iraq of phased redeployment, putting pressure on the Iraqi government to take responsibility and using the international community to bring about stability. There is no question that Murtha speaks with much more leadership when it comes to Iraq but the job of Majority Leader is much more diverse than being the leading critic of the leading issue of the day. It's about building consensus within the caucus and moving the party forward. Equating fellow Democrats as Bush rubber stamps doesn't do any wonders for fostering that sort of consensus.
As The Hotline notes:
[Pelosi supporters] see her endorsement as an experiment, of sorts, to test just how strong a hold she has over her caucus.
I tend to agree. Above all else, Pelosi's backing of Murtha over Hoyer is about loyalty (Murtha's support for Pelosi is well-documented) and getting the caucus to support her guy above all else. But what increases Pelosi's power isn't necessarily good for the party at-large and if Murtha does come out victorious then Pelosi will have to mend the resulting strain with Hoyer's backers. If Pelosi loses, then her influence is questioned just a little over a week after the Democrats' wave to power.