Observer-Reporter: Looking for a boost

With two weeks to go until the May 18 election and polls as tight as a tick, Democratic congressional candidate Mark Critz called in a heavy hitter Tuesday afternoon to give his campaign a boost.

West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin crossed over into Pennsylvania from his state’s Western panhandle to offer Critz his support before a roomful of media and supporters at the Washington-Greene Central Labor Council on South College Street in Washington.

Critz is engaged in a close race with Republican Tim Burns to fill the unexpired term of Johnstown Democrat John Murtha, who represented Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District for 35 years until his death in February. The special election will be decided on the same day voters cast ballots in the primary, in which both men are also candidates.

Touting his centrist, bipartisan credentials, Critz joked that if he, a devout follower of the Pitt Panthers, could break bread with Manchin, who, not surprisingly, waves the flag for West Virginia University’s Mountaineers, then he could work with just about anybody.

“It’s about looking forward,” Critz said. “It’s about working together.”

That being said, Manchin and Critz are creatures with similar stripes in the political jungle – both Democrats, both pro-life, both pro-gun, both opposed to cap-and-trade legislation. Acknowledging that Murtha would be a tough act to follow, Manchin said Critz was “the definition of a leader.”

He added that if Critz makes it to Capitol Hill, Critz would be “in the majority party, working from within, trying to make things work.”

No mention was made of mine safety or any federal legislation that might arise from the blast at the Upper Big Branch mine in Montcoal, W.Va., last month that claimed the lives of 29 miners.

Edward Friday, a retired steelworker, traveled to Washington from Belle Vernon for the event. “As far as I’m concerned, (Critz) is the Democrat and I’ve always been a Democrat,” he said.

Critz served as the regional director for Murtha’s office until he resigned to run in the special election. He is also on the ballot in the primary election; if he’s the top vote-getter for the Democratic nomination, he’ll compete in the November general election to serve a full, two-year term that will begin in January regardless of whether he wins the special election May 18.

And it looks like Manchin won’t be the last marquee name entering the fray in the Critz-Burns battle – Scott Brown, the Republican who pulled off an out-of-the-clear-blue upset in January to take the Massachusetts U.S. Senate seat once occupied by Ted Kennedy, will be campaigning with Burns in Washington next week, the Burns campaign announced Monday.

Critz has already had Vice President Joe Biden campaigning for him, while Burns has had a fundraiser featuring former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.