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Murtha Wins; Wicker May Leave SASC

By Colin Clark Wednesday, November 5th, 2008 11:52 am
Posted in Policy

Rep. John Murtha, who looked wobbly for a few days after calling his constituents rednecks and racists, won with 58 percent of the vote last night.

Although I was looking forward to some change on the House Appropriations Committee should Murtha lose and clear the way for Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.) to take over the defense subcommittee, it looks as if we will get a somewhat chastened Murtha instead,

Don’t expect any policy changes to result from Murtha’s resurgence, unless it’s to show a bit more respect for the people who elect him — or at least to exercise restraint when discussing their attributes or failings.

In other election news of interest to the defense community, several GOP members of the Senate Armed Services Committee who looked vulnerable last week appeared to hold on to their seats. Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) was in a dead heat against challenger Tom Martin. but Chambliss came back last night and appears to have won by more than four percentage points. With 99 percent of the precincts reporting, Chambliss had 50.3 percent of the vote. His apparent victory faces the challenge of Georgia law, which requires victory by at least 50 percent or a run-off is required. Sen. George Wicker (R-Miss.), the most junior Republican on the SASC, fared much better than Chambliss. He was virtually tied with former governor George Musgrove. Wicker roared back and won convincingly last night, by 10 percent.

SASC member Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) lost big time to Kay Hagan, 44–53 percent. However, Chambliss and Wicker’s wins don’t necessarily mean they get to stay on the committee. The Democrats’ gain of five Senate seats means that the GOP presence on the SASC will almost certainly shrink. It is a brutal but simple fact that parties apportion committee seats according to their numbers and the majority gets to pick the numbers.

The numbers and the people to get those slots will be negotiated by SASC Chairman Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Ranking Member Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). Currently, there are 25 senators on the committee, 13 Democrats and 12 Republicans. Dole’s departure helps. Wicker, the most junior Republican on the committee, seems to be the likeliest member to get whacked from the SASC.

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	John November 6th, 2008 at 4:27 am Shows how stupid those folks in Pa. are! Really can no tbelieve tha tthey would put his sorry sack of excrement back in Congress
	LTCSTAN November 6th, 2008 at 9:18 am Amazing how low politicians will stoop that even a white one will use the race issue. People in PA are really stupid and uninformed.
	Mary November 6th, 2008 at 9:29 am I’m from PA. I would suggest that those who lump all people together and call them stupid simply because they are from the same state are not on the right track. Not all of the people in PA had the chance to vote or not to vote for Murtha. Only the people that live in his district had to make that decision. Did you know that or are you, LTCSTAN, just uniformed?
	Michael November 6th, 2008 at 11:00 am I actually live in Murtha’s district and voted for him. I don’t think you realize what the choice was there. There really was no alternative. This area is ready for a change and will definitely go that route when a worthy candidate runs.
	Dewey November 6th, 2008 at 11:31 am I’m also from PA, and I don’t believe he was re-elected. BTW, I DID NOT VOTE FOR HIM, and I do live in his district. Maybe we are rednecks, but he should not have shot his mouth off about it. Us “rednecks” covered his ass in Vietnam, and it seems he forgot about that. Ditto with the slur about the “killers” in Iraq or Afghanistan, he shot his mouth off before they went to courts martial, and as I understand, they were found “not guilty”.
	Jennifer November 6th, 2008 at 12:04 pm Its Not George Wicker, or George Musgrove — its Roger and Ronnie respectively. I live in Roger Wicker dist. and know him well he is an honorable and decent man. He will do well on any committee he is put on.
	rob November 6th, 2008 at 2:09 pm Michael, you ARE stupid. You are just as stupid as Murtha said that you are. You are just the stupid person that Murtha was depending on that would pick a fat,liberal, socialist over a dedicated conservative veteran. bye bye coal jobs!!!
	Eric, PA November 6th, 2008 at 3:13 pm I can believe entirely Murtha won, I’m in his district, voted against him. But you see, a great percentage of the people around here wouldn’t vote for a Republican if it was Jesus Christ himself. They just won’t period, that’s not made up, that’s a quote from my own Uncle that retired from the coal mines in the area. They talk about wanting change, but they really don’t want it, and then they wonder why people are constantly leaving for other states and taxes get jacked up even higher. There are places in this state you’d probably be taking your life in your hands if you walked around badmouthing democrats, they’re so welcoming~
	David George November 6th, 2008 at 10:41 pm And we continue to wonder why it’s politics as usual. What’s the chance that Obama can bring about change when the people that Murtha called stupid and challenged can’t change their minds? This man who has vilified our troops and the president and his own constituents wins and someone above says there was no choice? In the words of that famous tennis player: “You can’t be serious.”
	the colonel November 7th, 2008 at 10:49 am I married a Pennsylvanian and my deceased mother’s roots are from Johnstown. In fact, my Grandfather was a coal miner. I never considered either my wife or deceased mother redneck or racist. Both are and were,in my mother’s case,intelligent and patriotic. However,I must admit that the blind loyality to the Democratic Party amazes me. Murtha’s special interest earmarks which do little to improve the general welfare of his constituents seems to have a hold on common sense in the 12th District. The voters had an opportunity to elect a proven former military leader who had the background and common sense to really make a difference and the 12th district decided to take the mindless low road to poverty and pain. It is difficult to feel sorry for people stuck on stupid.
	Michael November 7th, 2008 at 6:58 pm rob you say “bye bye coal jobs” really? I’m not aware of this being a coal town in any way. If there are coal jobs I do hope they go away as it’s an environmentally unfriendly disaster. Picking Murtha over someone who had no qualifications was a nobrainer.
	the colonel November 7th, 2008 at 9:59 pm To bad that your philosophy did not work in the Presential race,Michael. But, then again there are many “nobrainer” voters out there. Murtha may have more congressional experience but I guarantee you his opponent had better leadership and management ability and did not view his constituents a racist and rednecks who cling to there guns and bibles. In other words he was not an arrogant washed out congressman who needed to retire for the good of PA and the country.
	rob November 8th, 2008 at 1:02 am Couldn’t have said it better myself. Do you think Murtha will fight for all of the coal jobs that Barack said he will bankrupt? Noooo
	ParaTed2k January 22nd, 2009 at 5:35 pm Whoever voted for him voted against the US Marines! How can anyone be worse than the piece of trash who played judge, jury and executioner against the US Marines in Haditha? Has the maggot feces apologized to them? Does America’s only Ex Marine even care that they were all acquitted, and the ONLY evidence against the Marines were known terrorists? Jack Murtha hates the US Marines, but loves terrorists.