look at jack murtha's record. he was pro-life and pro-gun, against campaign finance. he was a blue-collar democrats, and that is what this guy ran on. with health care, he said he would have voted against the health care plan. but how about appealing it? jim burns said he wanted to repeal it. he said he -- mark critz said he would not. >> when you run a national campaign in this atmosphere as a republican, you win. it is if you nationalize it. that is what happened in virginia and massachusetts. those were statewide elections. but in that election, there was an new york house race, new york 23, where it was also run as a local election, and the democrats waon. if you want to win as a democrat, you run on local issues. you stay away from barack obama and nancy pelosi, and you will win. >> 23 new york, the difference was the tea party candidate came in there and messed it up for the republicans. as far as what happened in pennsylvania, this is a true blue certified democrat. he was running against an nancy pelosi in that district. nancy pelosi is not an issue. >> the cu

. >> yes, but he was jack murtha's top aide. on social issues, he is trying to say i'm with you, but he is a democrat. >> this is a total canard that has been used against mark critz. sean hannity was saying it on election night, and a number of commentators as well, that he ran at pro-life, pro-gun. jack murtha's record, 36 years in the house, he was pro-life and pro-gun and against campaign finance. he was a blue-collar democrat, and that is what this fellow ran on. on health care, he said he would have voted against the health care plans, but repealing it? tim burns said he was going to repeal it, and mark critz said no. >> when you run a national campaign in this atmosphere, as a republican, you win. that is how you win, even nationalize it. in massachusetts, virginia, new jersey, those were statewide elections. but new york 23, which also ran as a local election, the democrats won if you run a ground game election as a democrat, local issues, you don't nationalize it, you stay away from barack obama and nancy pelosi, you ca

because i truly love jack murtha. he was [applause] and every -- and in every me except when we played golf. [laughter] plastic driver and we were playing at congressional country club one time and i out drove home, we were talking about him being in the water. he was so wound up that he hit over the green and into the water. he was over 60-years old at the time. it is good to have a guy like that on your side. of the most important members of congress in my lifetime and he delivered for you. he would want us all to be here to make sure that the work he did continues. [applause] the third reason i am here and by far the most important today is that i like mark critz and i think he will be a good congressman. i have another reason to be for him today. you expect his wife and children to show up. you expect his mother to show up. when i started running for president in 1992, my mother was could win. hillary and chelsea were still undecided. [laughter] his mother-in-law showed up. [laughter] a guy you can get his mother-

this moment is bittersweet for me because i wouldn't be here right now if jack murtha hadn't left us o soon. i thought about the many lessons congressman murtha taught me. he always said to me it's always about the work. it is. and i'm going to work tirelessly every day in congress for the families of concern pennsylvania. the people of western pennsylvania just like so many across the country are struggling right now. the challenges we are facing are unprecedented. my priority is to put western pennsylvanians and families across the country back to work. and i am going to fight every day moving forward to do my part to help create good-paying jobs. good-paying american jobs. i know all of us share this commitment of giving our country back to work and i'm optimistic we can all come together to make this a reality on behalf of all of our constituents. jack murtha spent his life to bring jobs to our community. that was his fight for 36 years and our mmunities are far better becau of it. while nobody can fill his shoes, i now have the extraordinary honor of continuing his fight for jobs

frustrated the republican establishment in kentucky, and democrats managed to hold on to congressman jack murtha's seat in the pennsylvania 12th district. what does this tell us about the conventional wisdom on the 2010 elections, mark? >> don't seek the endorsement of the political establishment, don't run as an insider, and it is better to be younger and newer than older and more familiar. >> if you are a republican, beware the hubris we experienced on january 19 when the republicans won massachusetts. the most important race this week was the one that democrats won by a large margin, a house seat, where the guy ran a local campaign to any republican who thinks is a slam dunk that able in the house is wrong. >> the worst case that an incumbent can be this year is in an election. >> nina? >> try to remember that all of these races, except to the one in the john or the district, were primaries. richard nixon still had the support of 25% or 30% when he was nearly impeached. there is always a hard-core people who will nominate and do god knows what. >> democrat mark critz beat republican tim burns i

he was the congressman who had died , jack murtha's ex-aide. the republican on paper was an outsider as a businessman, and the democrats did a very good job of actually turning the tables and making the businessman in and his views on issues like outsourcing the issue. the republicans tried to make nancy pelosi the issue, and when it came down to it, the outsourcing one. >> lehrer: somebody didn't read the script. >> apparently not. >> lehrer: dan, amy, thank you both. >> thanks, jim. >> lehrer: still to come on the newshour, the political uprest in thailand's capital, mexican president called rope at the white house, and dangers on the job for medics in juarez. but first, the other news of the day, here's kwame holman in our newsroom. >> holman: taliban militants in afghanistan attacked a giant u.s.-run nato base killing a private u.s. security worker and wounding nine american troops. 10 of the insurgents died as well. the predawn raid targeted baghram airfield north of kabul. it touched off firefights with u.s. forces that went on for eight

. >> paul: which is a very important seat because if republicans can pick that up, jack murtha, who died in office. >> yeah. >> paul: democratic congressman trying to be succeeded by high school former, by his staffer. >> right. >> paul: and up against a republican businessman. if republicans win that seat which democrats have about a 60,000 voter edge, that will be a very big signal that maybe we are seeing a wave coming here this year. all right, when we come back, the president's pick. what elena kagan would bring to the supreme court and what a selection says about the obama agenda. [ male announcer ] what is performance? 0 to 60? or 60 to 0? [ tires screech ] how a car performs in a quarter-mile? [ engine revs ] or a quarter-century? is performance ab the joy of driving? or the importance... of surviving. to us, performance is not about doing one thing well. it is about doing everything well. because in the end... everything matters. perfornce without compromise. that is what drives us. perfornce without compromise. boss: come on in, i had some other things you can tell people about

. >> paul: which is a very important seat because if republicans can pick that up, jack murtha, who died in office. >> yeah. >> paul: democratic congressman trying to be succeeded by high school former, by his staffer. >> right. >> paul: and up against a republican businessman. if republicans win that seat which democrats have about a 60,000 voter edge, that will be a very big signal that maybe we are seeing a wave coming here this year. all right, when we come back, the president's pick. what elena kagan would bring to the supreme court and what a selection says about the we didn't see it coming. but women have made olay regenerist #1. though not surgical results, regenerist is the #1 serum, night cream, and moisturizer. not drastic. just fantastic. get younger-looking skin with regenerist. ♪ [ ry ] ahh! fresh. minty. ready! hi. oooh, minty. [ sniffs ] so, what do you think? fresh. [ female announcer ] for a fresh breath feeling that lasts up to 5 times longer, there's scope outlast. we tag it... so you can cut it... till it... dig it... and haul it. ♪ just don't miss it. the best deals

this moment is bittersweet for me because i wouldn't be here right now if jack murtha hadn't left us too soon. i thought about the many lessons congressman murtha taught me. he always said to me it's always about the work. it is. and i'm going to work tirelessly every day in congress for the families of concern pennsylvania. the people of western pennsylvania just like so many across the country are struggling right now. the challenges we are facing are unprecedented. my priority is to put western pennsylvanians and families across the country back to work. and i am going to fight every day moving forward to do my part to help create go-payingobs. good-paying american jobs. i know all of us share this commitment of giving our country back to work and i'm optimistic we can all come together to make this a reality on behalf of all of our constituents. jack murtha spent his life to bring jobs to r community. that was his fight for 36 years and our communities are far better because of it. while nobody can fill his shoes, i now have the extraordinary honor of continuing his fight for jobs

in terms of some of the other issues, he reflected the district as jack murtha had. he described himself as a pro- life, pro-gun democrats. he took the same position. he focused on the economy and jobs and the republican candidate had nothing to offer except the same kind of economic agenda that got us into this mess to begin with. i think that is what we're going to find in these collections. when voters say to the republican candidate, what are you going to do about the economy? all have to offer is the same old economic policies that created the mess to begin with. nothing more. they have been standing on the sidelines for 18 months while we have been working hard to get the economy out of the ditch. people do not want to go back to the policies that created that mess to begin with. one thing that did seem to come clear in tuesday night in democratic primaries in pennsylvania -- you had joe sestak, a challenger to our inspector, and 80-year-old, 30- year incumbent. people seem to go with a new generation of leadership message that joe sestak was promoting. there a

there are three candidates running for the late jack murtha's seat. democrat, republic can and libertarian. why is this being watched so closely. >> many are watching to see does this fall into the pattern of general anger and distrust of washington that will lead to a victory. we are talking about a special election. we'll have two elections in this same seat. one is a special election to complete this turn. the other is a primary ee lection. >> why is this race important, do you think? >> it's important at a couple different levels as i said earlier as a bench mark to see what the state of people's thinking is to be closer to the democrat. what's going on here? that's why tonight's event, we have a debait, thads why this event is so important. that's why what the candidates do say and what they spend their time with is so important. right now, it's a neck and neck race. talk about the legacy of the 12th district. one of the underlying themes of the campaign of what happens now goes forward locally, he was the chairman of the defense appropriations c

. >> paul: which is a very important seat because if republicans can pick that up, jack murtha, who died in office. >> yeah. >> paul: democratic congressman trying to be succeeded by high school former, by his staffer. >> right. >> paul: and up against a republican businessman. if republicans win that seat which democrats have about a 60,000 voter edge, that will be a very big signal that maybe we are seeing a wave coming here this year. all right, when we come back, the president's pick. what elena kagan would bring to the supreme court and what a selection says about the [ male announcer ] looks clean. but look below the surface. your mouth is no different. just brushing leaves germs behind. adding listerine® antiseptic cleans deeper. [ boom! ] to penetrate and kill more germs. [ exhale ] [ male announcer ] listerine®. clean deeper. get healthier™. boss: come on in, i had some other things you can tell people about geico - great claims service and a 97% customer satisfaction rate. show people really trust us. gecko: yeah right, that makes sense. boss: trust is key when talking about ge

jack murtha will be of their smiling down on us and it will be better off.[applause] thank you. ♪ >> a rally for the republican noncandidate, tim burns,. friday. >> make some noise. the thing i need you to do is making as much noise and being as loud and obnoxious as you can possibly be. let's give it one trial run. for when they get here. that is perfect. without further ado. we will start this event. it is my pled -- pleasure to introduce the chairman of the allegheny and republicans. >> this is a beautiful crowd. i cannot wait to see what we look like. if you can join me in the pledge of allegiance. "i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands: one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." thank you. one other gentleman i would like to introduce today. he is behind me. give him a warm welcome as well. >> how are you doing today? i am chairman of firearms owners against crime. weapon working hard for 25 years and i want to ask each of you a question. you have come here tod

people are affected by these changes, especially what happened with jack murtha.alk about immigration and the digging you've done. you've read "the new york times" poll on immigration. what is your take away from all that as to whether the immigration law in arizona is actually a threat to republicans or actually could hurt -- could help republicans and hurt democrats? >> well, andrea, i really think it's both those things. people really have been focused largely on the threat, the long-term threat that the immigration issue poses for republicans because hispanics are a growing voting block. this makes them -- measures like this make them hostile to republicans. but in the near term, jonathan martin took a good look at this this morning, in the near term the evidence is it helps republicans. various polls put this well over 60%, in some cases approximately 70% in the districts that are really most at play in the south and the midwest in 2010. so short term, and i think people have overlooked this, it's potentially a big political plus. >> a big political plus in t

that is from congressman jack murtha, july 16, 2009. i would ask my colleagues to support the competitive engine program and defeat the amendment. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from ohio yields back the balance of his time of the the gentleman from new york. mr. arcuri: i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentlelady from maine reserves the balance of her time and she has 10 1/2 minutes remaining. the gentleman from florida is recognized and he has 12 3/4 minutes remaining. mr. diaz-balart: i yield two minutes to my friend from michigan, mr. rogers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan is recognized for two minutes. mr. rogers: thank you, mr. speaker. we have been lucky. lucky over the skies of detroit, lucky times square, but we will not be lucky forever. we need to be proactive in our ability to gather intelligence and prevent terrorist attacks before they even get started. watching somebody on the plane going back to pakistan after they have delivered an e

jack murtha will be thank you, and -- will be better off. thank you.republican byrnes. scott brown campaigned for burns on friday. outside the courthouse, in pennsylvania. ♪ ["right now" plays] >> good afternoon, everyone. let me make sure i have everyone's attention. first, i want to thank you for coming out on this wonderful afternoon to welcome tim burton's and senator scott brown. make some noise. [applause] the biggest thing i need you to do in welcoming these gentlemen to this stage is making as much noise and being as loud and obnoxious as you can possibly be. that is what i like to hear. let's give it one trial run. 1, 2, 3. [applause] that is . we are going to start off the right way with the pledge of allegiance, and it is my pleasure to introduce staff sergeant dan garcia of the united states air force, and he is also the chairman of the young republicans. [applause] >> i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

bringing the bacon home right now does not have the same sort of political guarantee -- host: jack murtha a closely watched race. the democratic candidate. tim burns, the republican nominee. let's go to melissa joining us from new york on the republican line. good morning. caller: good morning, and thank you for taking my call. as far as elena kagan goes, it does not matter to me what her sexual orientation is, if she is gay, or if she is straight. what matters to me is in sheik uploads the law and looks to president. you can have an opinion when you are giving is stammen -- what matters to me is that she upholds the law and looks to president -- precedent. you can have an opinion when what you're giving is statements. it seems that whenever some disaster hits, they want to say, "oh, this is what we inherited. barack obama was a united states senator before he became president. he was well aware of all of the issues going on, so to say that he was completely dumb struck by what is happening is an excuse, to me, and when 9/11 happened, if i am not mistaken, george bush did not blame bill c

in the last months, two colleagues, charlie wilson and jack murtha, have died. both were 76. for me, that is only four years away. at the end of this term i will have served in the house longer than all but 18 of the 10,637 men and women who have ever served there. the wear and tear is beginning to take its toll. given that fact, i have to ask myself how i want to spend the time i have left. frankly, i do not know what i will do next. all i do know is that there has to be more to life than explaining the ridiculous, accountability destroying rules of the senate to confused, angry, and frustrated constituents. [laughter] i absolutely believe that, after the economy returns to a decent level of growth, we must attack our long--term budget deficit. but, perhaps i expect too much because, in addition to an attack on the federal budget deficit, i also want to see an equal determination to attack the family security deficit, the family income deficit, and the opportunity deficit which also plague the american people. i am, frankly, weary of having to beg on a daily basis that both

. -- jack murtha. will the democrats back him, specter, in the primary on tuesday? we will check-in on those primary states, pennsylvania, kentucky, and arkansas. democratic leaders in that race putting ellsworth in. he will face dan coates, the republican nominee to take back that seat in the u.s. senate. good morning to you, republican line. caller: thank you for taking my call. i do not think we have much to learn from england. i think the way the transition is a very smooth. at the same time, we have a unique system where we are able to control who gets into our federal seats, where england and everyone is from the same party, so it is typically tougher. we have that opportunity to vote against that. it is a unique opportunity. host: our guest on c-span's newsmaker program is new hampshire republican senator judd gregg, who will preview the debate that continues this week with votes continuing in the u.s. senate as early as 530 tomorrow. -- 5:30 >. this bill is getting worse rather than better. it will end up undermining our ability as a nation to be competitive

in the last month, it two colleagues, charlie wilson and jack murtha, died.r me, at their age of this -- to be there at age is only four years away. the wear and tear is beginning to take its toll. given that fact, i have to ask myself how want to spend the time i have left. frankly, i do not know what i will do next. all i do know is that there has to be more to life than explaining the ridiculous accountability destroying rules of the united states senate to confused and angry and frustrated constituents. [laughter] i absolutely believe that after the economy returns to a decent level of growth, we must attack our long-term budget deficit. perhaps i expect too much because in addition to an attack on the federal budget deficit, i also want to say an equal determination to attack the family's security deficit, the family income deficit, and the opportunity deficit which also plays the american people. i am frankly weary of having to beg on a daily basis that both parties recognize that we do no favor to the country if we neglect to make the long term investm

in pennsylvania's 12 district on may 18, the special election for jack murtha's seat couldn't be happeningn a worse district for democrats or at a better time for republicans. republicans need a shot in the arm to prove that they can actually win these special elections after losing two very close ones last year. but those two elections last year in upstate new york where several callers have called from were in district that were carried in 2004 by george bush and 2008 by barack obama, so they're moving in a pro-democratic direction. it's heading in the total wrong direction for democrats. democrats have nominated a gentleman by the name of mark who is on john murtha's district staff. republicans have nominated a first-time candidate and a complete outsider who is the first candidate of the cycle that i met last year named tim burn. and polls show the race close but i think the democrats have a tougher route to 50%. this is a cold district, a gun-owning district. and right now democrats are sending a bit of a mixed message by nominating a candidate who has to take positions against the he

in the last month, two colleagues, charlie wilson and jack murtha have died, both were 76. for me that's only four years away. at the end of this term, i will have served in the house longer than all but 18 of the 1,637 men and women who have ever served here. the wear and tear, believe you me, is beginning to take its toll. given that fact, i have to ask myself how i want to spend the time i have left. frankly, i don't know what i will do next. all i do know is that there has to be more to life than explaining the ridiculous accountability destroying rules of the united states senate -- [laughter] >> to confused, angry and frustrated constituents. [laughter] >> i absolutely believe that after the economy returns to a decent level of growth, we must attack our long-term budget deficit. but perhaps i expect too much, because in addition to an attack on the federal budget deficit, i also want to see an equal determination to attack the family security defendant, the family income deficit, and the opportunity deficit, which also plagued the american people. i'm frankly wary to