Anti-War Congressman Still Making News

Rep. John Murtha (news, bio, voting record)'s stock is rising in the Democratic Party right alongside his public profile.

The once-camera-shy Vietnam veteran who rattled Washington last month by calling for the removal of troops from Iraq seems to be popping up everywhere, making TV appearances and being cited by reporters as a leading Democratic opponent of President Bush's war policy.

On Wednesday he delivered the House Democrats' response to Bush's speech on the war. He appeared paternal as he chastised the administration's plans for Iraq, even rhetorically asking of the president, "What has he said that would give him credibility?"

Murtha, 73, of Johnstown, Pa., made headlines last week when he appeared at a fundraiser in Boston for the opponent of Texas Rep. Tom DeLay, the indicted former House majority leader, and he's become a darling of the morning television talk shows.

Murtha's background as a largely behind-the-scenes Democratic hawk with Pentagon connections makes him an ideal anti-war poster boy because opponents can't argue he is weak on defense, Democratic operatives say. Even some Republicans acknowledge he's difficult to attack.

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