From The Miami Herald, 8/17/06:
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/nation/15297516.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Months after making headlines, John Murtha's popularity booming
By Margaret Talev
McClatchy Newspapers
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. -
What a difference nine months makes.
Last November Rep. John P. "Jack" Murtha, D-Pa., thundered onto the
national scene insisting that the U.S. military could accomplish
nothing more in Iraq, could only make things worse.
He called for pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq.
At the time, many of his Democratic colleagues considered his stance
suicidal for their party when they're trying to regain control of
Congress despite having long been seen as weak on national security.
Now, Murtha is one of the most popular Democrats around.
In recent weeks he's raised money for Democrats campaigning in New
Hampshire, Connecticut, New York and California.
In Tennessee, he was former Vice President Al Gore's guest at a
fundraiser for local Democrats.
After Labor Day, Murtha will head back out on the road, helping up to
four dozen of his party's candidates.
He said events had proved him right.
"Everything I said has turned out to be true," Murtha said Wednesday,
taking a break at his campaign headquarters in Johnstown.
"You can't win militarily. Military leaders are now saying it publicly
where they said it only privately before. I get standing ovations
every place I go. The public is looking for a solution to this
open-ended policy, which is killing kids."
Murtha, 74, is an imposing man with white hair and sharp eyes.
A decorated Marine, he was the first combat veteran of the Vietnam War
elected to the House of Representatives.
Long regarded as a hawk on national security, Murtha is the ranking
Democrat on the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.
He's never been seen as charismatic, until now.
On Aug. 9 at the Tavern on the Green restaurant in New York's Central
Park, Murtha appeared at a rally for Eric Massa, a retired Navy
commander who's trying to unseat Rep. John "Randy" Kuhl, R-N.Y.
Massa said Murtha "couldn't speak, the applause and the standing
ovation was so prolonged and intense. He speaks the truth. He's not
deterred by critics. As the failures of the Bush administration in
Iraq have become more obvious, his credibility has significantly
increased."
Murtha said he was too old to consider running for president, but that
he'd try to become majority leader if Democrats gained the 15 seats
they needed to take charge of the House.
"I'm on a mission here, and the mission is to help change the
direction of the country," he said.
Murtha doesn't think there are war-related grounds to impeach
President Bush.
But he likens Bush's weakened status to President Richard Nixon's in
1974 before Watergate forced him to resign.
"He lost all his power in that one year," recalled Murtha, who won his
seat that year in a special election.
"What a limitation there is on the power of a president, or any public
official. When people lose confidence in that official, they have no
power at all."
Murtha's outspokenness has made him a target.
A North Carolina-based group called Vets for the Truth has launched a
"Boot Murtha" campaign, inviting protesters to an Oct. 1 rally in
Johnstown.
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The stinkboats are capsizing.
Harry
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