The Wall Street Journal reports a fight shaping-up for the now-open seat of John Murtha. The gist is that Nancy Pelosi really can't afford another hit to her side's morale as she struggles to save the imploding statist agenda- but America's resurgent Right smells blood in the wake of the Massachusetts Miracle, and has different ideas...
Democrats are mourning the personal loss of their colleague Rep. John Murtha, but his death today at age 77 is doubly troubling for the party that will have to defend his seat in an upcoming special election.
Immediately following the news of his death, election analysts rated the race as competitive for the GOP.
While Murtha has held the seat since 1974 with few re-election scares, the Johnstown-area district outside of Pittsburgh has right-leaning roots, and a special election contest will be targeted by House Republicans. With Murtha’s death, Democrats now control the House by a 256-178 margin.
In the 2008 presidential campaign, Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) won the district by a narrow 1,000 vote margin against President Barack Obama. It was the only district in the nation, however, that voted Democratic in the 2004 presidential race that was carried by McCain four years later.
Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell must set a date for a special election within the next ten days, according to state law. A likely date is May 18, when the state’s primary elections will take place.
The fear in the party is that Republicans will notch up another victory when a special election is held, probably May.
The Democrats have been panicking since losing Ted Kennedy's Massachusetts Senate seat to the Republicans last month...Of course today's shameless -and desperate- Democrats didn't take but a couple hours before they were trying to use Murtha's passing politically... Gateway Pundit has that -here-
His death came on a day that saw Barack Obama's poll ratings fall further. A Marist poll found that only 44% of voters surveyed approved of his job performance, down 2% on December. More alarming for Democratic strategists, 57% of independents disapprove of his performance.
Murtha's death will have a negligible impact on the arithmetic of the House, where the Democrats have an overwhelming majority, unlike in the Senate. But another defeat in the spring would add to the sense of panic among Democrats in the run-up to the Congressional mid-term elections in November...
Smitty at The Other McCain has worked out the reality of the situation created by Murtha's open seat -here-
American Power looks at Burying Murtha -here-
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