For Critz, being a ‘legacy’ candidate is a double-edge sword

From the moment Mark Critz got into the Democratic contest to follow his late boss, his staunchest supporters have described him as the natural successor to John Murtha, someone in the best position to carry on the longtime congressman’s work in the 12th District. One person endorsing him even described Critz, Murtha’s former district director, as “the best legacy candidate.”

In a climate hostile to anything resembling political establishment, that could be a perilous message to push, some Democrats agree. It’s something the state party’s executive committee will have to consider carefully when it meets Monday to pick a candidate for the May special election, after Critz won the backing of local Democrats on Saturday.

“You never want to approach an election with a sense of entitlement,” said one Democratic insider. “That doesn’t play well with voters and it rightfully shouldn’t. You don’t have to look further than the Massachusetts special election to see it play out the way it can.”

In that election, some Democrats framed the race as one to hold the late Ted Kennedy’s seat, prompting Republican Scott Brown to defiantly call it “the people’s seat,” a populist message that helped fuel his upset win. It’s a parallel that Critz’s opponent Barbara Hafer is happy to see people draw.

“I just think the idea of running a legacy campaign is stupid,” said Josh Morrow, a top Hafer adviser. “This guy is not Murtha, so the idea that he’ll be able to replicate what Murtha brought in is ridiculous.”

On the other hand, a congressional district is not a state, and it was only partly because of his skill in bringing home earmarks that Murtha had a more personal connection with his constituents than most politicians can ever achieve. As even one GOP consultant said last spring in forecasting the seat as out of his party’s reach, “the problem is he’s done personal favors for just about every man, woman and child over the years.”

One Democratic insider downplayed the dangers of any “legacy” argument.

“In a place like the 12th District, John Murtha’s name carries a greater kind of weight than it would in Massachusetts,” he said. “His legacy has a kind of depth and breadth that’s probably unrivaled any place the country. Say what you will about people’s attacks on earmarks or ethics, he delivered for the people of the district.”

Still, that appeal would surely be tested the first time a Republican loudly proclaims that the 12th District is “not John Murtha’s seat, it’s the people’s seat.”

One high-level Democrat said: “It’s a fair question, and one we’re trying to sort through.”

For his part, Critz also tries to play down the idea of him being a “legacy” candidate, though the perception has certainly been fueled by both his comments and the words of his supporters. Acnowledging the validity of the issue and conceding he doesn’t yet have any “specific strategy” for combating such attacks, he said “I’m not John Murtha, I’m mark Critz. I hope that’s good enough.

“There are going to be people who link me to John Murtha, some will like that and some won’t,” Critz added. “But I’m not him.”

Ed Mitchell, a longtime Murtha aide who’s informally advising Critz, also made the argument that the “legacy” perception has been fueled by others far more than Critz himself.

“Mark’s not making a claim to be the next Jack Murtha,” he said. “Mark has no illusions that he’s going to go to Washington, and in the first year he’ll be able to claim the respect, the funding or any of the stuff Jack was able to do after 30 years in Washington. He’s just saying he knows the people of the district the best.”