Word: murtha
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Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi failed in her campaign to elect her ally John Murtha as House majority leader [Nov. 27]. But why should anyone have been surprised by Pelosi's decision to support the populist Murtha? The Democrats' gain in the election was primarily driven by dissatisfaction with the Republican Party, not support for left-wingers. I'm not sure, however, that either party deserved to win. The constant bickering by both parties is appalling and discouraging...
Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi, who stumbled badly last week when she publicly backed the failed candidacy of Rep. John Murtha for majority leader, could be headed for another political tumble if she presses ahead with long-standing plans to elevate Rep. Alcee Hastings, a senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, to the panel's chairmanship...
...Democratic aide says Pelosi has not decided whom she will name as chairman of the intelligence panel, but that she was leaning against the current top Democrat, Rep. Jane Harman. Her preferred nominee has long been Hastings, but like Murtha he has his own ethically challenged history. And while the broad outlines of that past are well known, the grimy specifics are only now emerging...
...Pelosi has for quite some time put out signals that she will replace Harman as the top Democrat on the panel in order to maintain a traditional rotation in the spot. But Democratic insiders say her motivation is far more personal - as was Pelosi's support of Murtha against her nemesis of several years, incoming Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. Harman defenders say Pelosi's complaints either stem from an unworthy catfight among leading California congresswomen; Harman's close relationship with Hoyer; or Harman's efforts to seem bipartisan on controversial issues such as the Administration's controversial domestic warrantless wiretapping...
...that Hastings' seniority entitles him to the position. But some aides have also rumored that there might be another solution: installing a former panel member, Georgia Rep. Sanford Bishop, who is also African-American, in place of either Harman or Hastings. Whatever happens, one thing is clear: after her Murtha debacle, Pelosi - and the Democrats, for that matter - cannot afford another misstep so early in her tenure...