With All Due Haste
By Mitch Berg
Good news from Pennsylvania; the campaign to expunge John Murtha from Congress seems to get getting some financial traction:
The campaign of Johnstown resident and Republican nominee for Congress Lt. Colonel Bill Russell outpaced incumbent Congressman John Murtha in the second fundraising quarter of 2008. According to campaign manager, Peg Luksik, William Russell for Congress reported raising $637,137 to Murtha’s $113,155 to the Federal Elections Commission (FEC). The combined totals from the first and second quarters of 2008 exceed $900,000.
“The incredible story about Bill’s campaign is that the $15 and $25 contributions are coming in from all over Pennsylvania and every corner of the country,” said Luksik. “This is K-Street versus Main Street. These are patriotic families expressing support for soldiers, sailors and Marines, and people saying they’ve had enough of the old ‘pay-to-play’ culture in the Capitol. That’s what’s fueling this campaign.”
Couldn’t happen to a nicer candidate, or a worse Congressman:
[Luksik] continued, “Bill is currently on active duty with the Army. That means he can’t campaign, he can’t direct campaign activities and simply can’t be a candidate. The ‘Russell Brigade’ is forming around Bill’s personal story and motivation for running. There’s something really special going on in this race.”
…
Lt. Colonel Russell will resume campaigning on August 1st at 12:01am with a marathon, 48-hour campaign tour. Russell and his wife Kasia are survivors of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the Pentagon. He has served in the U.S. Army for 28 years of Active and Reserve service, including six tours in hostile fire zones. His deployments include Operation Desert Storm, action in Kosovo and most recently Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Wow. Don’t they call that “absolute moral authority?”
July 23rd, 2008 at 6:52 am
But the goal posts will move. Suddenly military service is not important. For hte past 7 years we were told that the Bush twins should enlise. But not that McCain has two offspings on active duty, that issue isn’t even mentioned.
July 23rd, 2008 at 12:15 pm
It was great to watch the dems (& the media) ignore the draft-dodger vs. war hero thing in ’92 & ’96 — only to revive it 2004 when it became ‘draft dodger’ GW Bush xs ‘war hero’ JKerry.
July 23rd, 2008 at 2:25 pm
How are the polls coming? Even in a democratic district, I’d have to assume that the veterans don’t look terribly kindly on Murtha’s shenanigans.