Putative Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has given the GOP a win/win situation with her endorsement of Jack Murtha (D-PA) in a letter to her fellow Democratic representatives. N.B. Murtha was a key supporter of Pelosi's successful bid for Minority Whip in 2001 against Steny Hoyer (D-MD). The Hoyer/Murtha battle for the second most powerful Democratic post in the House pits an Abscam-tainted anti-war Murtha and stalwart Pelosi ally against racially insensitive moderate Hoyer and one-time rival of the first woman, Californian, and Italian-American slated to win the Speakership. If Hoyer wins, Pelosi loses credibility and clout if she fails in her first attempt to publicly exercise power over her colleagues. If Murtha wins, the Dems appear even more dangerously dovish on Iraq and the war on terrorism.
Cf. http://www.rollcall.com/issues/1_1/breakingnews/15974-1.html.
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