Calling Your Constituents "Racists" Could Cost You Your Seat

John Murtha's lead in his congressional reelection race is down to just over 4 points. Looks like calling his fellow Pennsylvanians "racists" and "rednecks" has proven to be an unwise campaign strategy:

Two veteran warriors battling to represent the 12th Congressional District appear locked in the closest race in the district in years.

Democratic Rep. John Murtha leads retired Army Lt. Col. William Russell by a little more than 4 percentage points, within the Susquehanna Poll's 4.9-point margin of error. The poll of 400 likely voters was conducted for the Tribune-Review on Tuesday, amid uproar over Murtha's statement that some of his constituents are racist.

Stanley Shemanski, 67, a retired meat cutter who lives in Apollo, said he's undecided about the congressional race. He doesn't know much about Russell, but he's upset with Murtha's comment that racism in the district could hurt Democrat Barack Obama's chances.

Given that Murtha has previously accused Marines of atrocities and has generally acted the fool on Iraq, tossing him out of Congress would be a rare treat in what's looking like a tough year.

UPDATE: A new poll just out shows Murtha losing 48%-35%. Murtha is toast.