William Russell Catching Up To John Murtha

FOXNews.com:

Rep. John Murtha, who recently called constituents in his western Pennsylvania town "racist" because Barack Obama may not win big there, is 4 points ahead of his Republican challenger, retired Army Lt. Col. William Russell, within the Susquehanna Poll's 4.9-point margin of error.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review ordered the poll of 400 likely voters on Tuesday as discussion centered on Murtha's comments. The 18-term Democratic congressman apologized for his initial statement by saying he meant only that skin color will be a factor in the race between Obama and John McCain. Murtha later said many Western Pennsylvanians were "rednecks" until recent years.

Russell, who served in Iraq, is the first challenger to give Murtha a run for his money in years. His campaign told the newspaper it was buoyed by another statistic in the poll -- the 54 percent of voters who said it's time someone else represented them in Congress. Thirty-five percent say Murtha, a Vietnam veteran, should be re-elected.

The poll comes as internal polling leaked from the Obama camp showed the Democratic candidate only 2 points ahead of McCain in the Keystone State, suggesting the race is much closer than the Quinnipiac poll out Thursday that shows Obama with a 13-point lead in the state.

A future without John Murtha in Congress would be a better one for everyone.

Conservatives Must Get Behind William Russell, Rid Ourselves Of John Murtha

Far be it for me to get behind anything the irascible Malkin states, but she's on point here:

Russell’s clear on where he stands. No doubt Barack Obama would label him bitter and clingy. “I am a Conservative,” he says in his defining campaign statement. “I believe in the sovereignty and security of this one nation, under God. I believe the primary role of government is to provide for the common defense and a legal framework to protect families and individual liberty. … I believe that no one owes me anything just because I live and breathe.”

The excitement and buzz around Russell stand in stark contrast to grass-roots disgust on the right with Beltway Republicans who continue to push the party to the left in a brain-dead attempt to “rebrand” the GOP. He has united pro-troops families, social conservatives, fiscal conservatives, Reagan Democrats and Independents fed up with Murtha’s culture of corruption dating back to his Abscam days in the 1980s. Murtha was not indicted in the infamous bribery probe, but he was videotaped entertaining a $50,000 bribe from undercover FBI agents posing as emissaries for Arab sheiks trying to enter our country illegally.

Conservatives have a chance to rid themselves of a man who made a name for himself by slandering our troops while for years, ripping off taxpayers in his own district by enriching self-interest groups to which he granted an earmark (including lobbyist firms headed up by his own brother). Come November, conservatives, in particular Pennsylvanians, have a chance to kick one of the most corrupt members of Congress out of office and into the street where he belongs.

Support John Russell!