Murtha used then dropped:‘Concern’ in Murtha camp-Josephine Hearn, Hill News.com
Liberal House Democrats are not lining up behind Rep. Jack Murtha’s (D-Pa.) leadership candidacy in the numbers he had hoped despite his outspoken stance against the Iraq war.
Murtha’s failure to line up staunch opponents of the war could prove a blow to his hope of denying the majority leadership to Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (Md.) if Democrats gain the required number of seats in the House.
Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.), a friend of Murtha who has been helping him with the race, said tepid support among some progressives was a worry to him. “It does concern you when people you think are going to be with you turn out not to be. Some of that’s cultural issues, guns and abortion,” he said. “But we still have the votes.”
Liberal Reps. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Barney Frank (D-Mass.), Bill Delahunt (D-Mass.), Tom Lantos (D-Calif.), John Lewis (D-Ga.), Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Calif.), Diane Watson (D-Calif.) and Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) are all backing Hoyer even though many admire Murtha’s stance on the war. All but Lewis opposed Hoyer in a 2001 leadership race against House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
Some liberals believe Murtha’s record on social issues is too conservative, especially on such topics as gun rights, gay marriage and abortion. Others avow that they are happy with Hoyer’s performance as minority whip and want to maintain the status quo in their leadership.
Until now, many liberals had been wary of giving Hoyer a promotion. Many took a dim view of him in previous leadership races, opposing his failed campaign against Pelosi in 2001 and voting against his chosen candidate in the caucus vice-chair race earlier this year.
Some saw him as harboring a continuing desire to undermine Pelosi even years after their race, while others were upset when he sided with party centrists on such legislative issues as the 2005 overhaul of bankruptcy laws. Murtha, meanwhile, has been a key Pelosi backer in spite of their ideological differences.
Waters, a nationally known liberal who founded the Out of Iraq Caucus in 2005, said she was supporting Hoyer but declined to comment further. She serves as a chief deputy whip in Hoyer’s whip operation but was appointed to the post by Pelosi. She was so opposed to Hoyer in 2001 that she served as a nominator for Pelosi.
Waxman pointed to ideological differences as his reason for backing Hoyer.
Both sides acknowledged that the race was shaping up far differently than Hoyer’s 2001 contest against Pelosi.
Rep. Artur Davis (D-Ala.), an ardent Hoyer ally, said Hoyer had support among the progressives and among his usual base of Blue Dog centrists.
“Steny’s support is broader than ideology, broader than region. That’s the problem from a tactical perspective for John Murtha. Where does he find his base? This is not a Pelosi-Hoyer race.”
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