Nancy Pelosi may be starting off on the wrong foot with her endorsement of John Murtha for Majority Leader of the House of Representatives.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) gave John Murtha a "Dishonorable Mention" in its report, Beyond DeLay: The 20 Most Corrupt Members of Congress (and five to watch).

You can find the full report here.

You can read their press release regarding Pelosi's endorsement of Murtha here.

This isn't a "swift boat" attack on John Murtha. Melanie Sloan, Executive Director of CREW, is a regular on The Al Franken Show. Of the 25 members of congress in the report, only 4 are Democrats. Finally, this report had been published before Murtha was suggested for the new Majority Leader.

It's an inauspicious start for Nancy Pelosi. She appears to be going for celebrity over suitability when considering who she'll endorse. (I'm assuming anyone who isn't squeaky clean is unsuitable for a leadership position in the current political climate.) At this stage of the game even the appearance of impropriety should be enough to get someone's name off a "short list". Leaving these decisions open to easy attack is the kind of stupidity that will lose both the congress and the presidency for the Democrats in 2008.

John Murtha needs to lean into the strike zone and take one for the team, withdrawing himself for consideration as Majority Leader. And Nancy Pelosi needs to start using her head.

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