William Russell, Heather Wilson: Excellence

San Franciscan Nancy Pelosi Arrives in Johnstown, PA to Endorse John Murtha

Bulletin: If you want to support our troops -- and all of you do -- please be aware of the veterans who are running for Congress, including William T. Russell, Eric Egland, and Duncan Duane Hunter (the presidential candidate's son). Please be good enough to go to their web sites and offer them any assistance you can.

http://williamrussellforcongress.com/
http://ericegland.com/
http://hunterin08.com/

It's clearly time to send people to Congress who actually have first-hand knowledge of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Russell, Egland, and Hunter do.

Air Force veteran and former Rhodes Scholar Heather A. Wilson of New Mexico is running for the U.S. Senate seat in New Mexico. She's the only female veteran ever elected to Congress. Heather is a staunch supporter of the military and an expert on foreign affairs, especially in the Middle East. She's exactly the kind of person we need to improve the quality of government in DC. You can find her site at:
http://heatherforsenate.com/.

Every conservative in America needs to look in the mirror, and then reach into his or her wallet and contribute to these fine individuals.


A Vets4Russell web site will be appearing soon, and I urge everyone to visit it. Veterans are a critical constituency for Murtha opponent William T. Russell. There are approximately 50,000 veterans in Russell's 12th Congressional District of PA. We won't get all of them, but we will get the vast majority of them. The damage Murtha has done with his irresponsible comments about Haditha is incalculable.

I'll be one of the contributors to the site.

I also urge everyone to visit the Web site of the only female veteran ever elected to Congress -- Air Force Academcy graduate and Rhodes Scholar Heather Wilson. She's running for the New Mexico Senate seat to replace Sen. Pete Domenici. You can find her at: http://heatherforsenate.com/.

The absolute best way we can "support our troops" is to elect quality people like William Russell and Heather Wilson. Contributing to these fine people is the best step we can take to improve the quality of our government. Please do so today!
steve maloney
http://camp2008victorya.blogspot.com/
http://stevemaloneygop.blogspot.com/

The absolutely critical challenge in the Russell Campaign are how to "detach" conservative Democrats from the Murtha column. In the 12th District, there are twice as many registered Democrats as Republicans.

However, many of those Democrats -- up to 45% -- have shown themselves willing to vote for Republican candidates. In 2004, President Bush -- not the most popular figure in PA -- got 49% of the vote against John Kerry. In fact, Bush won Murtha's home county (Cambria).

Murtha's recent statement that "The Surge is working" reflects the fact that he's feeling the "heat" from the Russell Campaign. Many veterans in the district look at Murtha's disgraceful statements about the Haditha Marines and wonder, "Gee, what's wrong with good ole John?" The Russell Campaign needs to convince such people that Murtha has "lost it," that he's more concerned with preserving his own political power than protecting the troops. Many Democrats are beginning to recongize that but they're not quite willing -- yet -- to vote against Murtha.

Of course, Murtha gets conservative votes because many people in the District believe "He brings home the bacon!" As I've pointed out previously -- using Bureau of Labor Statistics data -- Murtha DOES NOT bring home the bacon.

Yes, he does use taxpayer dollars to bring some "captive jobs" to the Johnstown area. However, most of the District remains economically depressed. The median household income in the 12th is one of the lowest in the state -- about the same as inner-city districts in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

Do conservative Democrats in the 12th know these things? A growing number do, but a majority still believes that Murtha has done great things for the District.Murtha's focus in the 21st century has been to raise huge amounts of cash for his campaigns.

Until the year 2000 -- and you can find this in OpenSecrets -- his campaign funds were about average, even though he rarely even had any opposition. He's had strong opposition only once in this century, but every two years he raises Brobdinagian funds that are double the congressional average.

In other words, if you want tens of millions in federal handouts ("earmarks") from John Murtha, you'd better be prepared to pony up with huge "donations." Apparentely, the funds get distributed back to various supporters, including his former aide Paul Magliochetti (of the PMA lobbying Group). Magliochetti makes millions from Murtha's actions -- and returns hundreds of thousands in campaign gifts. The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) has received tens of millions in federal dollars via Murtha.

UPMC, also the former employer of Rep. Jason Altmire, is known for wildly overcharging patients and their insurers. This supposed "non-profit" generated a surplus (i.e., profit) of $460 million in the first nine months of 2007. UPMC has given more than $300,000 to Murtha in this century -- including $100,000 in 2007.

Are most conservative Democrats aware of the strange goings-on with campaign funds?

Apparently, very few of them are. The notion that Murtha is "a good guy" is one of the abiding myths in the 12th District. But grown-ups eventually stop believing in myths.

There are real opportunities here for the Russell Campaign. Murtha's past electoral successes are based on illusions about who he is and what he does.

JOHN MURTHA: NOT INVINCIBLE, NOT GOOD FOR AMERICA

I've cross-posted this at another site: http://murthamustgo.blogspot.com

For reasons known mainly to themselves, many voters in the 12th congressional district of PA have a sentimental attachment to John Murtha. Of course, many well-heeled lobbyists have an attachment to Murtha that has nothing to do with sentiment -- and everything to do with money.

As one group after another -- conservative, moderate, and liberal -- has pointed out, Murtha is to political corruption as a pig farm is to bad odors.

There should be consequences -- ranging from bad publicity to boycotts to federal investigations -- for every company that contributes to John Murtha's campaign. It should start with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center -- UPMC -- which gave nearly $200,000 last time and is preparing to do the same in this election cycle. People who believe in good, honest government should have nothing to do with UPMC

Like every congressman on the take, Murtha prefers to run unopposed, which is the usual situation in his district. In 2006, my courageous friend and political ally, Diana Lynn Irey, ran an excellent campaign against "The Prince of Pork." By getting nearly 80,000 votes, Diana heroically established the foundation for a future victory.

Well, the future is now -- and the candidate who can beat Murtha is Lt. Col. William "Trower" Russell. If he's not well-known to you now, he will be soon. Go to his web site at: http://williamrussellforcongress.com.

Of course, one way to beat a political opponent is to outspend him. That won't happen this time. When Murtha puts his votes up for sale, they don't go to the lowest bidder. In his last campaign, he raised nearly $3 million -- and spent about $3.25 million. Those are figures that would impress even Hillary Clinton, who spent less per voter in her last New York Senate campaign than Murtha did in his race against Diana.

Yes, the lobbyists believe that Murtha is the best congressman money can buy. To beat Murtha, William is going to have to outwork him (which isn't too hard given congressman's penchant for laziness) and to outsmart him.

I've urged William to follow the example of Christine Todd Whitman, who almost beat the much-better-known Bill Bradley in a 1990 New Jersey Senate race. He spent more than $11 million, while she spent $900,000. He won by two percentage points, a dismal showing that ended his aspirations to run for President.

Bradley spent about $5 million on TV ads, while Mrs. Whitman spent almost nothing on such commercials. She relied mostly on a much less expensive medium, radio.

A candidate like William will have a strong core of supporters, about 35%-40% of the voters in the 12th district. He should win almost all the Republicans -- and a solid majority of the independents.

I've discussed how William can establish that Murtha is NOT a Western PA Democrat, but rather someone who panders to the Pelosi-wing of the Party.

Yes, some Democrats will vote vote for Murtha out of habit. But many Democrats in the 12th District will be very uncomfortable with a man -- Murtha -- who shares few if any of their values. Democrats for Russell.

Frankly, most Democrats in America (81% according to polls) want America to win in Iraq. In contrast, 19% of them want our country to lose -- and, by all appearances, Jack Murtha is one them.

His disgraceful accusations against the Haditha Marines prove that the congressman cares more about his standing with the Pelosi Democrats than he does about our country's standing in the world. He's obviously more interested in winning re-election than in winning a crucial war.

Russell supporters must NOT be inward looking. In other words, we must do more than talk to one another. We need to reach out -- to family, friends, and acquaintances. For example, active military and veterans will back William in large numbers, but they need to promote his campaign to friends, family members, and acquaintances.

We need to keep talking, e-mailing, and blogging about the need to back William Russell.The goal is to make the name William "Trower" Russell a household name. In the Irey Campaign, I saluted the efforts of two young people, Josh and Amanda, who -- in just one day -- made 500 phone calls on Diana's behalf.Give William 500 people like Josh and Amanda, and he will win this race.

I hope each person who reads this will make a decision to be a "Josh" or an "Amanda." If we keep promoting William's candidacy, one year from now -- on Election Day -- we will have accomplished something of great importance to our country.

steve maloney
ambridge, pa

Afterthoughts

I'm a fan of "political multiplication," a form of what's sometimes called viral marketing. When two people tell two others about William's values and history, he will have four supporters. If all of them keep on telling others, then sooner or later, tens of thousands of people have been "told" about William's merits.

The hard part, of course, is keeping it up -- as Josh and Amanda kept making one phone after another. If there's a great core of people -- and William is getting such a core -- the advocacy of his candidacy will take on a life of its own.

To put it in it plain talk: yes, William wants the support of every member of the American Legion in the 12th District. But beyond that, he wants the support of everyone around them.

Telling many others about William's efforts -- and his lifelong commitment on behalf of America -- truly can be one of those "gifts" that keeps on giving.