Pelosi Back Murtha

In a move that surprises me a great deal, Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi has publically declared her support for John Murtha (PA) over Steny Hoyer (MD) for the Majority Leader position in the House. The move is surprising not because of Pelosi's actual support for Murtha - that was expected considering that Hoyer has been a bit of a gadfly for Pelosi - but for the public nature of the announcement. Pelosi's move is a bit risky, because there is a significant amount of support for Hoyer. If Murtha doesn't win the race, Pelosi will have demonstrated that she doesn't have nearly as much control over her caucus as Dennis Hastert (IL) has had since becoming Speaker, and that won't bode well for the ability of the Democrats to present a unified front against President Bush over the next two years. It will be interesting to see how this race comes out on Thursday.