Jules Crittenden: Murtha vs. Hoyer: Sit Back And Enjoy

Today offers the kind of spectacle that is a small consolation prize for a party out of power: the victors pummeling each other over the spoils. The election having been lost, today's majority leadership race is a win-win. If Pelosi wins, she exalts John Murtha, an extreme anti-war zealot with a "Kick Me" sign taped on his back. This will clearly define the stakes in one of the most critical issues Americans face today. Our place in the world. A Murtha win the day after Gen. John Abizaid told Congress the United States needs to maintain troop levels and boost advisors and training for Iraqi forces should send a clear message to American voters what their narrow, fickle majorities have wrought. Murtha brings the added benefit of a right-leaning record on issues such as abortion and gun rights. Combined with a lot of harumphy codgerness, that may offset the San Francisco agenda but, we can only hope, will drive a lot of his rank and file crazy.