“Total Crap”
149-86.
Steny Hoyer beat back a challenge from Jack Murtha for House Majority Leader today. This was a much wider margin than expected given that Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi endorsed Murtha over her once (and future?) rival.
But the dam probably broke when Murtha’s ethics resurfaced in the press, and then told a bunch of Democrats that their top ethics reform bill, something Pelosi is championing furiously, was “total crap”.
But I wonder how much she actually agreed with him on this priority being crap. After all, is it ethical to strong-arm congressmen, especially congressmen-elect, into picking your guy for Majority Leader? Is it ethical to promise better or threaten worse committee seats based on one’s vote for ML?
This was a disaster for Pelosi. She would have been better off staying out of the contest. Now she’s a Speaker that’s political bruised by her own caucus.
Yeah, I agree with you. Pelosi would have been better off staying out of the race (at least publicly), because all she’s managed to do is provide very public proof of a rift between House Democrats. I understand Murtha’s her boy, but there’s a lot Pelosi could have done behind the scenes to help his candidacy without making her support public.