John Murtha

STATE COLLEGE, Penn.—Hillary Clinton, speaking on the Penn State campus here on Sunday night, once again sought to exploit Barack Obama's declaration that John McCain would make a better president than George W Bush.

She was met with cheers when she told the crowd, "We need a nominee who is going to take on John McCain, not cheer him on."  read more »

Office space in the Rayburn Building is given to congress members based on a mix of seniority and a lottery system.

A DC reader notes that first member of the 1998 class of Congress members to get a nice new office in the Rayburn building is Joseph Crowley. Lucky, huh?

Not sure if this increased his odds, but Crowley was on the winning side of the Steny Hoyer-Jack Murtha leadership race, had Charlie Rangel vouch for his fund-raising prowess, and also happens to be Democratic County Chairman in Queens.

-- Azi Paybarah

While the post-election shoving and shuffling on Capitol Hill sounds dull, parochial and petty to th  read more »

While the post-election shoving and shuffling on Capitol Hill sounds dull, parochial and petty to th  read more »

When soon-to-be House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced her support for John Murtha’s bid for Hou  read more »

It is really no surprise that John Murtha, Nancy Pelosi's favored candidate for House Majority leader, John Murtha, was thumped in this morning's vote by Maryland's Steny Hoyer.

What was surprising was how much political capital Pelosi, the incoming Speaker, had invested on Murtha's behalf in the last two days, considering the almost obvious futility of his effort from the outset.

The question now is whether there will be repercussions for Pelosi.

Had she simply announced her preference for Murtha and stood on the sidelines, Hoyer's win would mean nothing. But by turning up the heat on her fellow Democrats only to lose lopsidedly, Pelosi may have empowered Hoyer, her longtime foe. Should some similar impasse occur in the future - whether over a leadership position or an actual policy item - Hoyer may have considerably more standing in convincing members that it's okay to stick with him against the Speaker.

Pelosi has spent the last three years very effectively marginalizing Hoyer's clout. But before Pelosi entered the fray this week, it did not appear that Hoyer would be a particularly strong Majority Leader. That's probably no longer the case.

-- Steve Kornacki

A D.C. source emails to say, "Rahm wins caucus chair by acclamation."

Right now, Nancy Pelosi is giving a nominating speech on behalf of Jack Murtha, who is running against Steny Hoyer for House Majority Leader.

Results should start coming out in about an hour.

Predictions on who wins, and more importantly, who benefits/loses from the NY delegation?

-- Azi Paybarah

Here's one last take from Steve Kornacki on the upcoming, high-stakes House leadership vote:

Earlier this week, I wrote that Nancy Pelosi would suffer no real damage from today's vote for House Majority Leader.

That was then.

The House 230-some odd Democrats will convene in the Cannon Building this morning to choose between Steny Hoyer, the current second-ranking House Democrat and Pelosi's longtime foe, and John Murtha, who has the incoming Speaker's support.

Just a few days ago, this seemed like a simple little exercise. Hoyer would score a lay-up of a victory while Pelosi, recognizing the futility of the situation, would provide a nominal endorsement to her friend Murtha without lending any real muscle to his cause. In other words, she'd refrain from making Hoyer's - and the Democratic caucus's - life too difficult.  read more »

Like I said, that was then.

It's 11:30 on the East Coast and we know that Nancy Pelosi will be the next Speaker of the House. That's about all we know. We don't yet know how many of her fellow Democrats will constitute the next House majority, nor do we have any clue whom they will select as their new Majority Leader-- Maryand's Steny Hoyer and Pennsylvania's John Murtha will now square off.

We also have no idea which party will control the Senate-- and with the Virginia race now on its way to a recount, it may be several days. The signs, though, point to a reduced Republican majority, with Democrats falling short in Tennessee and Virginia. However, if the Virginia outcome is reversed -- either in the very late returns (13 precincts from Democrat-rich Richmond have apparently not been counted yet) -- and if Democratis then run the table in Missouri and Montana, they'll have their magic six seats.

So for anyone still reading this, the best advise is to head to your living room, flip on MSNBC, keep your finger on the mute button when Chris Matthews comes on the screen, and have some fun watching the rest of the numbers trickle in.

-- Steve Kornacki

From last Friday's Roll Call (subscription required):

"Preparing for a potential Democratic victory on Election Day, House Democratic Caucus Chairman James Clyburn (S.C.) has begun rounding up support for a would-be bid for the Majority Whip's office."

The subtext to Clybrun's move is the question of what Rahm Emanuel, the architect of the House Democrats' campaign strategy, wants out of a Democratic takeover.

No one doubts that he'd like to move into a leadership post, but the politics of it are very tricky for him. Taking on Nancy Pelosi for Speaker would probably be suicidal, and a bid for Majority Leader against Steny Hoyer (the current Minority Whip) and John Murtha (who has announced his intention to run if the Democrats secure a majority) would be impractical.

But Majority Whip, the number three post on the majority side, could be a winnable race - and would position Emanuel very nicely for the future, since the 66-year-old Pelosi, 67-year-old Hoyer and 74-year-old Murtha are all on the back nine of their careers. Hence the pre-emptive maneuvering of Clyburn, who as Caucus Chairman is now the third-ranking House Democrat.

An Emanuel-Clyburn contest could get very ugly, very quickly, though. The 66-year-old Clyburn, a courtly South Carolinian, is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, a key 43-member component of the Democratic coalition whose leaders would almost assuredly demand - loudly - that Pelosi weigh in on Clyburn's behalf. And the would-be Speaker certainly doesn't want an intra-party bloodbath to serve as her new House majority's introduction to America.

-- Steve Kornacki

Jonathan Tasini pulled out the Cindy Sheehan card, using the anti-war mom to record a new radio for his campaign.

"My son was killed in this immoral war. New Yorkers deserve a debate about Hillary Clinton's role in supporting the war and occupation. She should stop dodging the Democratic debate."

I wonder if Sheehan's anti-war message is as effective as Rep. John Murtha's?  read more »

The 30-second Sheehan ad is here.

-- Azi Paybarah

John Koblin stuck around last night's town hall meeting and sends in this dispatch, which begs the question: Does Anthony Weiner like politicking a little too much?

While Yvette Clarke skipped away in the rain and John Murtha ran to catch a flight, Anthony Weiner brought it to the streets after last night's town hall meeting. For the dozens who saw it, the scene on 8th Avenue last night in Park Slope was one of those rare looks at a politician totally unfettered.

"You're all Chris Owens supporters," he said, "and I'm here to support Yvette Clarke -- who is going to win anyway."

The crowd grumbled.

"I'm just baiting you, I'm just baiting you, I'm just baiting you," he said with a giant grin.

He raised his voice - "what, do you just want to flog me!" - but he never lost his cool. In fact, once the audience got bigger, Weiner relished in the sport of it all by repeatedly teasing the audience. "I'm just kidding! Don't get a rise every time I bait you."

The debate lasted longer than the batteries in my digital camera, which died minutes after snapping a shot of Steve Buscemi, who strolled by to check out the scene. [after the jump]  read more »

-- Azi Paybarah

Here is John Koblin's dispatch from last night's town hall meeting in Brooklyn.

Major Owens plopped down in the front-row in a hot, musty Methodist church in Park Slop, inches from Yvette Clarke who hosted a town hall forum in the congressman's district with Rep. John Murtha and Rep. Anthony Weiner.

Weird, but Clarke tried to diffuse any awkwardness.

"We know that a political campaign is going on," she said, "but Congressman Owens has been an outstanding voice when it comes to addressing the Iraq War and our need to bring our troops home and he's been consistent in that voice and I believe it's important to give credit where credit is due."

Then, she invited Owens - who is campaigning against her - to the microphone. He too stepped around the politics of the race to succeed him. "Jack Murtha is the great hope" and he won't "take any minutes away from that."

Murtha had only a few words for Clarke at the town hall. "I appreciate the opportunity to be here with Yvette. When I talked to her, she was one of the first people to talk to me about this war and a number of other things she's been involved with me, like diabetes research and cancer research and those kind of things."  read more »

Rep. John Murtha is disappointed Hillary Clinton isn't more outspoken against the war.

Murtha made the remark while in New York to endorse Yvette Clarke. Her opponents think Murtha's endorsement could backfire in their race for Brooklyn's 11th congressional district.

"We'll take the support of [Attorney General] Eliot Spitzer, [former Mayor] David Dinkins and Brooklyn's teachers over a pro-gun, anti-choice, out-of-state congressman any day," said state Sen. Carl Andrews' spokeswoman Melissa DeRosa...

For that congressional race, The New York Times endorsed David Yassky.

Mr. Yassky is undoubtedly an opportunist, as are most politicians and certainly all those in this race. But far more important is his stellar record on the Council...There are many, many intelligent, hard-working and high-achieving young African-Americans in central Brooklyn who once considered careers in politics and then moved on when the party machine proved unenthusiastic or downright antagonistic. That failure of leadership is reflected in the current race.

Eliot Spitzer is not returning a $50,000 contribution he received in 2003 from a company now seeking approval from the state on a controversial project upstate.

"The contributions were made well before the attorney general's office became involved in the proceedings," said Spitzer campaign spokeswoman Christine Anderson.

Note:The AP killed the story last night. The donation was made by a different company than the one seeking state approval. Liz Benjamin explains.

And Al D'Amato takes on Patrick Moynihan and George Pataki on the West Side.

-- Azi Paybarah

Rep. John Murtha, the military-minded Democrat who is calling for troops to be withdrawn from Iraq, said tonight that Hillary Clinton is "slowly coming around" on the Iraq War issue.

Hillary has come to see the light recently by supporting Ned Lamont in Connecticut and calling for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to resign. But she hasn't said her vote for the Iraq War was a mistake.

Speaking at a town hall meeting in Brooklyn, Murtha said:

"I think the senator from New York is slowly coming around. I believe the senator from New York has begun to see the light I hope. She called me... and I said, 'You can take the lead in this anti-war, this particular war fight.' And she declined. I don't understand what her reasoning is..."

The town hall meeting was hosted by Rep. Anthony Weiner and congressional candidate Yvette Clarke, is here.  read more »

More in the morning.

-- Azi Paybarah

"Metal of Honor," a documentary about 9/11 ironworkers is shown Paramount Screening Room (1515 Broadway, 3rd floor) at 6 p.m.

Yvette Clarke has a town hall meeting with John Murtha and Anthony Weiner at 7:30 p.m.

And the protest to town hall meeting takes place at the same place and the same time.

KT McFarland stops by NY1 (airs 7 & 10:30 p.m.).

C-SPAN looks at a congressional race in Kansas.

-- Azi Paybarah

What did you expect when the son of the rapping congressman ran for his dad's seat? A political rap song, remixed of course. It's hip. Political. And he's probably the best singing politician since...Gifford Miller and Joseph Crowley (Sorry Patrick Jenkins.)

An aide to Owens said the song was released this weekend. So, here is the brand new song from Chris Owens: Love is the Way [link fixed].

I wonder...Think Yvette Clarke will cut a diss track with John Murtha and Anthony Weiner at their town hall tonight?

-- Azi Paybarah

Today John Murtha spoke at the Community Church of New York, at a town-hall meeting convened by Rep. Carolyn Maloney.  read more »

None of this fits any of the tried-and-true formulations in the red-and-blue American playbook.  read more »

Former FishbowlNY editor and Tomato aficionado Rachel Sklar has accepted a position in The Huffington Post's New York office. Working from the company's base in Silicon Alley 2.0 (aka, Soho), she'll be lending a hand as an editor and developing several projects for the site.

Fans of Sklar's unique writing style (featuring show tunes and coinages like "blog synchronicity") have nothing to fear: besides editing, she'll also be joining Larry David, Rep. John Murtha, Katrina vanden Heuvel, and contributors to Arianna's virtual cocktail party. In an email to Media Mob, Sklar reports, "I will also be blogging, which I'm extremely excited about."

—Matt Haber