Obama supporter, John Murtha, clings to House seat

Posted October 23rd, 2008 under Headlines Tags: bitter, cling, guns, murtha, obama, pennsylvania, racist, redneck, religion

Pittsburg Tribune Review:

Democratic Rep. John Murtha leads retired Army Lt. Col. William Russell by a little more than 4 percentage points, within the Susquehanna Poll’s 4.9-point margin of error. The poll of 400 likely voters was conducted for the Tribune-Review on Tuesday, amid uproar over Murtha’s statement that some of his constituents are racist.

Stanley Shemanski, 67, a retired meat cutter who lives in Apollo, said he’s undecided about the congressional race. He doesn’t know much about Russell, but he’s upset with Murtha’s comment that racism in the district could hurt Democrat Barack Obama’s chances.

“I didn’t like that at all. He shouldn’t have said it,” Shemanski said.

…

Murtha, 76, a decorated Vietnam combat veteran, apologized for the racism remark, saying he meant to say that skin color is a factor in the battle for the presidency between Obama and Republican John McCain. Trying to add context to his remarks, Murtha later said many in Western Pennsylvania were “rednecks” several years ago.

Russell, 46, a Republican who served in the Iraq war, jumped on the remarks. McCain, in a campaign stop Tuesday in Moon, said he “could not disagree with those critics more,” without mentioning Murtha by name.

About 54 percent of voters among those polled say it’s time for someone else to represent them in Congress. About 35 percent say Murtha deserves to be re-elected.

UPDATE: Michelle Malkin reporting new poll shows Russell up on Murtha 48-35

John Murtha Greatest Hits

Declares US troops murderers…

Calls constituents racist…

Apologizes for calling constituents racist, calls them rednecks…

Obama calls Murtha constituents ‘bitter clingers’…