I was first tipped off to this by the NRCC’s blog: Jack Murtha is going to have a primary opponent. For those who were wondering: Murtha did not have a primary opponent in 2008. Or 2006. Or 2004*. You have to go back to 2002 to see the last time that anybody tried to challenge him, in fact.
From the Post-Gazette’s blog:
Today, former naval officer Ryan Bucchianeri announced he would run against Murtha for the Democratic nomination for the 12th District congressional seat next year. The Monongahela native graduated from Ringgold High School in 1993 and then the U.S. Naval Academy, before receiving a master’s in public policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
Bucchianeri won’t win the primary, of course – the netroots will be the only ones who might give him the money that he needs to make a successful challenge, and they’ll never support an unapologetic war veteran over a man who calls Marines murderers, particularly when the latter is also a crony of the Speaker of the House. But that’s all right. The fact that he’s getting one in the first place tells us that he’s more vulnerable than he’s been. So we go after him next year. If that doesn’t work, 2012. If that doesn’t work, 2014.
Eventually we’ll get him.
Moe Lane
*He didn’t have an opponent in the general election, either.
Crossposted to RedState.