There's not much time left in the Majority Leader's race - it goes off tomorrow. Like a lot of you, I wanted a third option. It's too late for that now. Steny Hoyer is far from perfect. But over the years he's worked tirelessly on behalf of the caucus, raising money for his leadership PAC and helping candidates get elected nationwide. Obviously that hasn't been Murtha's style - he's the smoke-filled back-room type. But I saw
this comment in an earlier post and I thought it was worthy of more attention:
I worked on Ellen Simon's campaign in Arizona - it was a DCCC red-to-blue race.
Ellen had a friend who had a connection to Murtha's office. This friend approached Murtha's office for us and asked for a contribution, robocall and/or a trip to the district to campaign with Ellen. A visit from Murtha would have been a big help, since we were still trying to consolidate our base at the time.
Rep. Murtha's people came back and said he could not do anything for us because he is friends with Rick Renzi's (our republican opponent) father. The guy who now wants to be majority leader refused to campagin against a vulnerable republican candidate because he's friends with his father. Lame. It was a disgrace.
Nobody knew at the time that we would win the House. What if that seat had been the seat the would have given us the majority? What if Murtha's appearance could have helped push that seat over to our side? I expect better from someone who wants to be Majority Leader. Democrats better not elect this guy.
I also would add that not only is it Murtha's JOB to support fellow Democrats if he wants a leadership position, but to refuse to do so because he has a relationship with Renzi's father is flatly inexcusable. Remember, Renzi's father is a military contractor and Renzi is under federal investigation for introducing legislation to benefit his father.
No wonder Murtha didn't want to go out to Arizona and draw attention to his connection to yet another ethical problem.
Murtha let his shady relationship with a Republican military contractor prevent him from supporting a Democratic candidate. And he wants to be Leader? Is this the kind of loyalty and support Democratic members and candidates could look forward to from House Majority Leader Murtha?