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Murtha and the 12th District

The death of Congressman John Murtha (D-12) has drawn understandable statements of sympathy from across the Commonwealth, together with an equally understandable street-fight to succeed him. Each of these merits a brief comment.

First, Murtha himself. Certainly he deserves admiration for his military background and his defense of his district’s interests. Yet Murtha represented much of what was worst in the state’s political culture. Instead of generating new wealth, he and his policies basically moved it around. It’s not an accident that his district and that of Congressman Bob Brady (D-1), whom I heard memorializing him on Michael Smerconish’s show, are among the least dynamic (and most bizarrely drawn) in Pennsylvania.

The race to succeed Murtha is equally fascinating, although its consequences may be short-lived one (there’s talk of eliminating the district in the soon-to-come redrawing). The kind of people that Murtha represented—rural and suburban, culturally conservative, economically vulnerable—are exactly the kind of people who have been turning against the Democrats in the recent cycle. One way or another, the style of politics he brought to the district—gruff, non-ideological, and never far from a hint of corruption—will likely be buried with him.

February 23, 2010 at 11:11 am

--Michael Livingston

Tags: John Murtha, PA-12

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