Pelosi endorses Murtha for majority leader
Allahpundit

What better way to assuage fears about Democrats being too dovish and anti-military than to back America’s foremost spokesman for cut and run — who once famously pronounced Haditha a case of murder “in cold blood” while the investigation was still ongoing?

We’re off to a good bipartisan start here:

“Your strong voice for national security, the war on terror and Iraq provides genuine leadership for our party, and I count on you to continue to lead on these vital issues,” Pelosi wrote Murtha Sunday in a letter obtained by The Hill. “For this and for all you have done for Democrats in the past and especially this last year, I am pleased to support your candidacy for majority leader for the 110th Congress.”…

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House Majority Leader John Murtha?!
Michelle Malkin

They can't be serious, can they? Oh, yes they are.

The Hill newspaper reports. You deride:

Speaker-in-waiting Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) threw her support behind Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) for majority leader Sunday, giving a significant boost to Murtha in his race against Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.).

"Your strong voice for national security, the war on terror and Iraq provides genuine leadership for our party, and I count on you to continue to lead on these vital issues," Pelosi wrote Murtha Sunday in a letter obtained by The Hill. "For this and for all you have done for Democrats in the past and especially this last year, I am pleased to support your candidacy for majority leader for the 110th Congress." ...

And more from Roll Call, which notes that Hoyer's gonna put up a fight:

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), in line to become Speaker in January, is throwing her support to Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) in the race for Majority Leader, a move that will be an early test of her influence and will weigh heavily on Murtha's contest with Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) for the post. ...

*** Update and bump. Original timestamp 2006.11.12.19:02

The Politics Of The Personal
Ed Morrissey

Nancy Pelosi surprised political analysts by injecting herself into an intraparty fight over the House leadership position. Despite Steny Hoyer's efforts to win the midterms as Minority Leader, Pelosi endorsed John Murtha to replace him in the majority. Her first effort as Speaker-elect gives a preview of Pelosi's leadership style and the importance of personal relationships over political pragmatism:

House Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) endorsed Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) yesterday as the next House majority leader, thereby stepping into a contentious intraparty fight between Murtha and her current deputy, Maryland's Steny H. Hoyer.

The unexpected move signaled the sizable value Pelosi gives to personal loyalty and personality preferences. Hoyer competed with her in 2001 for the post of House minority whip, while Murtha managed her winning campaign. Pelosi has also all but decided she will not name the ranking Democrat on the House intelligence committee, Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) to chair that panel next year, a decision pregnant with personal animus.

It's a mistake for Republicans to consider this a battle between liberals and moderates. Murtha wants an immediate withdrawal from Iraq and has the backing of the netroots, but he supports gun rights and opposes abortion. Hoyer wants to keep the Democrats from being the party of retreat, but he supports the more liberal planks in the Democratic platform. Ideology has much less to do with this than personal ties between Pelosi and Murtha, which seems to have trumped the normal detachment that Speakers at least attempt when it comes to party politics.

That personal relationship springs from Pelosi's own bid for party leadership, but isn't limited to it. Murtha ran her campaign for Minority Leader, lending her his prestige and his legendary power gained through years of work in the Appropriations committee. That power also gave Pelosi a more substantial remuneration, as Roll Call noted last year (via The Astute Blogger):

[...]

In other words, Pelosi owes Murtha for the boost to family fortunes. She's merely repaying the debt. This should raise eyebrows on both sides of the aisle, especially since Pelosi successfully ran an election by decrying the "culture of corruption" in Republican ranks. The power of earmarks to distort American politics raises its ugly head once more, and voters who somehow thought they elected a cleaner government will understand that they put porkers in charge of the trough once again. ...

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CREW blasts Pelosi over Murtha endorsement
Allahpundit

Now that the election’s safely won, they’ve stopped rubbing themselves over the Foley e-mails and turned their attention to more important matters. Like urging an immediate redeployment of Grandpa Simpson back to the House rank and file:

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) questioned soon-to-be House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) commitment to eradicating corruption with her endorsement of one of the most unethical members in Congress, Rep. John Murtha (D-PA), to be Majority Leader of the House of Representatives…

“Future House Speaker Pelosi’s endorsement of Rep. Murtha, one of the most unethical members of Congress, shows that she may have prioritized ethics reform merely to win votes with no real commitment to changing the culture of corruption,” Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW said today. “How can Americans believe that the Democrats will return integrity to the House when future Speaker Pelosi has endorsed an ethically-challenged member for a leadership position? Rep. Murtha is the wrong choice for this job.”