Daily Briefing for April 21st: PA-12 Overview and The Mysterious Case of the Disappearing Conservatives?

 An Oddity, The Pennsylvania 12th Special Primary Election - by Melody Kite (Ed. - RJ)

One of the more unusual twists in a year of fairly stunning political circumstances can be found in the race for former Congressman John Murtha’s seat left vacant by his death earlier this year. Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional district, a seat which was held by Murtha for 36 years.

The winner of this currently open seat may find that he is a lame duck the same day he is elected to office if he does not survive his primary. Weirdly enough although he may win the special election, should he lose the primary even though he is the incumbent he may not run for the office in the fall. Even more bizarre the special election is on the same exact day as the states Primary, May 18th.

From RCP:

A McLaughlin poll (R) from Washington Post reports that it has "obtained" calls the race within the margin of error in the race to replace Jack Murtha between former Murtha aide Mark Critz and Republican businessman Tim Burns. [...]

And on this map it is listed as a toss up.  [Continued]

Editor's note: The Mysterious Case of the Disappearing Conservatives?

Another layer of complexity to the Pennsylvania 12 special election comes from the GOP establishment's treatment of military veteran Bill Russell. Although Russell ran a respectable campaign against the pathologically corrupt late Jack Murtha in 2008, garnering 42 percent of the vote, Russell been frozen out of consideration for funding or endorsement by the Republican committee in charge of nomination for the May 18th special election primary.  This despite his strong polling in mid-February, according to Zogby. Bill Russell will nonetheless be on the ballot against Tim Burns and Mark Critz.

I'm seeing a pattern here.  Conservative candidate threatens status quo.  GOP machine puts kabosh on funding or endorsement, despite grassroots support.  Witness the campaign of outsider Armando Gutierrez in Florida 8, who had raised hundreds of thousands of dollars and acquired numerous endorsements, but nonetheless, after meeting with Republican bigwigs like Rudy Giuliani, disappeared from the political map.  This after rumors that Gutierrez was ruffling feathers in very well-padded GOP nests.

Very suspicious indeed.  I am wagering that some truly conservative upstarts are being paid off or threatened by the powers that be. Nowhere does this smack more than in Alan Grayson's district, not only because of lunatic antics (whether genuine or not) that would hypothetically make him a sitting duck, but because of his apparent showboating against the Fed, which has gotten us essentially nowhere.  Grayson may very well be the perfect fake opposition who is really in the pocket of big banking.  If this is the case, it is really no wonder that Republican candidates continually drop out against Grayson whenever they show that they have a fighting chance.  From The Hill:

Recruiting a candidate to run against Grayson has been a tough slog for Republican leaders, with a casualty list that includes former state Sen. Daniel Webster, Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty, state Rep. Steve Precourt, state House Speaker Larry Cretul and several others.

The corruption runs deep indeed, and it is clear that tea party activists need to take on corruption in the Republican party as much as the political insanity in the Democrat party.  Keep an eye out for cases of disappearing conservatives and tea party activists when getting in striking distance of either Republican or Democrat incumbents.  Many could be taking long vacations from politics to "pursue their dreams" or waking up with withdrawal letters wrapping fish heads.