This morning, the Washington Post reported that incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will throw her support behind Representative John Murtha in the race for House majority leader. While current Minority Whip Steny Hoyer was previously seen as a favorite for the position, Pelosi’s support of the antiwar Murtha is expected to significantly boost his stature and should test the influence of the new speaker.
In a personal letter sent to Murtha, Pelosi discussed the veteran from Pennsylvania’s strong stance on the Iraq war as essential in garnering support during the midterm elections.
“With respect to Iraq in particular, I salute your courageous leadership that changed the national debate and helped make Iraq the central issue of this historic election,” wrote Pelosi. “Your leadership gave so many Americans, including respected military leaders, the encouragement to voice their own disapproval at a failed policy that weakens our military and makes stability in that region even more difficult to achieve.”
Afterwards, a number of liberal bloggers backed the Democratic leadership and its growing concern over the Iraq war.
“On Iraq, no one is better at explaining what needs to be done than Murtha,” writes Taylor Marsh. “His closeness with the majority of the military is another huge plus in our favor.”
“All this being true, I come to this knowing that there are complications with Murtha when you start going down the list of other things to be done, other issues to be addressed,” he adds. “We disagree on many other issues. But when people are dying by the dozens, it focuses the mind.”
Noting Murtha’s controversial political maneuvering and increasingly polarizing status, others found themselves less excited about his prospects.
“Steny Hoyer should become the donkey’s House majority leader,” writes the Bull Moose. “He is being challenged by John Murtha who has become the darling of the antiwar left in the House and nationally. While Murtha is a patriot, he now represents the old guard of ideological polarization. A Murtha victory would be viewed by the media as a triumph for the left. It would be welcomed by the right which is desperately looking for some good news.”
Conservative pundit Booman Tribute writes, “Murtha has made his career in the minority by using his powerful ranking position on the Appropriations Defense Subcommittee to trade Democratic votes to the Republicans in a game of extortion. If you are a Democrat and want to save that Air Force base in your district, you better find a vote to give to Murtha that he can sell to the Republicans. It’s an ugly business and Murtha does it well. It makes me sick.”
While not every blogger was feeling so queasy, at least one was starting to question the value of the discussion itself.
DownWithTyranny! writes, “Murtha’s stand on Iraq was good, but his relationship with military contractors is not so clean. Hoyer is equally problematic. I think we are best served by making noises about committee chairs and leaving the majority leader arguments to the folks on the inside because, in this instance, fighting for either candidate in a really public way taints the person making the argument.”
And so at least one blogger has asked for what appears to be a little more restraint from his fellow commentators in voicing their opinions on an issue. Truly, a strange day in the blogosphere.
Andrew Bielak was a CJR intern.