This Time, It's Personal

In a bit of a surprise move today, the NRCC dumped $465,000 into Pennsylvania's Twelfth Distirct, a blue collar slice of southwestern PA which has been represented by John Murtha since the year "The Godfather II" came out. The NRCC's buy is in response to a smattering of GOP polls showing Murtha in a tight race after he made national news for calling rural western Pennsylvania "racist" and "redneck." The DCCC immediately responded today by dedicating $450,000 into the race.

This is a safe Democratic district with a PVI of D+5. More than that, Murtha is an icon in the region and he hasn't gotten below 60 percent of the vote since 1974. Having met him, he is quite the character. The GOP would not have made this kind of cash commitment so late and with resources so low unless the party felt this race could be won.

That being said, this move goes beyond simple considerations. This is a deeply political and personal move by the NRCC. For those who do not remember, Murtha, a Vietnam veteran, came out early and strongly against the Iraq War, becoming a national name in the process. His biting criticisms of the war, given his personal background and from his perch as the top Democrat on the powerful Defense Appropriations subcommittee had a lot of credibility, and they infuriated Republicans. A challenger to Murtha in 2006 was crushed at the polls, but Republican enmity for Murtha has remained.

With this in mind, beating Murtha, in what is likely going to be a brutal night for the party, would be one delicious saving grace for the folks over at RNC/NRCC headquarters. That is the main motivation behind this buy. I don't see Murtha losing, especially given his enormous power on the Appropriations Committee, but stranger things have happened, and Paul Kanjorski is also facing a hard fight in the Eleventh District.