Jack Murtha sure did pick a good year to insult his constituents.

Despite calling the people in his district racists and rednecks, multiple news outlets have now projected Murtha the winner against GOP candidate William Russell. With 56% of precincts in for Murtha's Pennsylvania district, Murtha has 58% of the vote to Russell's 42%. Whatever problems Murtha made for himself, the year's fundamental Democratic wave was more than enough to put him over the finish line.

This was Murtha's first real race in decades -- and it was itself created by his last-minute unforced error. With this whole mess behind him, he'll probably have a lot less to worry about in future cycles.

Jack Murtha, whose once-certain re-election has now been put in serious danger after he called his constituents racists and rednecks, has brought out two new weapons in his campaign: Bill and Hillary Clinton, who remain popular after they campaigned throughout the region for the Dem primary, and have recorded robocalls for the embattled incumbent.

Here's the Bill call:

Click To Play

"Jack has been a tireless worker for Western Pennsylvania and indeed for our whole country," Bill says. "His leadership is critical in this time of grave economic uncertainty because he's got a proven track record of creating new jobs and promoting economic development in his district and in a way that's good for everyone."

And here's the Hillary call:

Click To Play

"Jack Murtha knows Western Pennsylvania; Jack's a true leader," Hillary says. "He fights everyday for you, for our troops, and our veterans, just as he fought for me. I ask you please to support Jack Murtha on November the 4th."

Meanwhile, both parties are fighting hard in this seat. The NRCC's FEC papers from yesterday show they spent $465,000 in last-minute advertising yesterday for the race against Jack Murtha, whose once-safe re-election is threatened by him having called his constituents racists and rednecks. The DCCC also made their own massive buy of $450,000 in TV time, phone banking and mailing.

Here's today's run-down of the Congressional races:

GOP Ad: "We Know John Murtha Doesn't Respect Us"
Here's the NRCC's new ad against Jack Murtha, replaying the video of Murtha calling his constituents racists and rednecks:

The latest polls show the once-safe Murtha now locked in a tight race with his unknown GOP opponent. If Murtha loses, this will end up being remembered as the Democratic version of a "Macaca Moment."

Dem Ad: Bachmann's Claims About Financial Regulation Are Literally Laughable
The DCCC has this new ad against the notorious Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), featuring video of her getting laughed at by a debate audience when she said the financial crisis was caused by too much regulation of Wall St.:

Bachmann was well on track for victory before her McCarthyist rant on Hardball, but the DCCC really smells blood in the water -- the latest FEC filings showed them buying up over half a million dollars in advertising against her.

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Here's tonight's run-down of the Congressional races:

Another Poll Shows Tight Race For Murtha
A new poll from the Las-Vegas based Dane & Associates, commissioned by GrassrootsPA.com, shows Jack Murtha with a bare lead of 46%-44% over GOP opponent William Russell, within the ±3% margin of error. GrassrootsPA.com is a right-wing site, but it should be noted that Dane is a non-partisan firm that has done polling work for politicians of both parties from across the country.

New Mahoney Ad: He's A Jerk, But Look At The Other Guy
Rep. Tim Mahoney (D-FL), whose sex scandal has probably doomed his bid for re-election, has this new ad in which constituents admit he's been a personal disappointment, but his opponent's positions on the issues would damage the country:

One line in particular seems poorly written for a politician in Mahoney's situation: "He (Rooney) doesn't have Congressman Mahoney's experience."

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Here's today's run-down of the Congressional races:

Right-Wing Group Jumps In Against Murtha
The right-wingers smell blood in the water in the wake of Jack Murtha's comments calling his constituents racists and rednecks, and now Vets For Freedom is going in with this ad buy of more than $50,000 against Murtha:

This ad avoids the "racist" comments, but instead features Marines saying that Murtha, a veteran of the Vietnam War, smeared and betrayed American troops when he said civilians were killed in cold blood at Haditha: "I expected to be attacked by the insurgents -- not from Congressmen at home."

DCCC Airs New Ad Against Murtha's Opponent
The DCCC is now having to come to Murtha's defense, as well, running this new ad attacking Murtha's opponent William Russell:

The DCCC has not yet disclosed the exact size of the ad buy, but it will be more than the $84,000 that the NRCC has put into advertising on this race.

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Here's today's run-down of the Congressional races:

GOP Releases Excerpt From The Kentucky Voice Recorder
The Kentucky voice-recorder saga -- involving a criminal complaint by the NRSC that the campaign of Dem Senate candidate Bruce Lunsford allegedly erased content from a voice recorder they secretly planted at his podium -- just keeps getting weirder. The NRSC has released this piece of audio recovered from the recorder after its return, of what appears to be an angry Lunsford telling his staffers not to give the recorder back:

This has got to be one of the most bizarre allegations of a dirty trick ever: That a campaign secretly planted a bug on an opposing candidate, then complained when the bug was not initially returned and may have been erased.

Murtha's Opponent Blasts Him On Racist/Redneck Comments
Check out this new ad from William Russell, the GOP candidate against Jack Murtha, hammering Murtha for referring to his western Pennsylvania constituents as rednecks and racists:

Murtha is usually a safe bet for re-election, but this gaffe may have landed him in serious trouble. A recent Susquehanna poll shows Murtha just edging out Russell 46%-41%. A fun part of this ad is its use of a computer interface to show videos of Murtha -- as if to say that the people of western Pennsylvania do in fact know how to read and use a computer.

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Here's today's run-down of the Congressional races:

Dems Throw Over $12 Million Into House Races
The DCCC launched a massive financial assault on the Republicans yesterday, with over $12.6 million in spending for over 50 races in the latest set of FEC filings. The single biggest expenditure was $643,000 against Rep. Jon Porter (R-NV). Six-figure amounts were spent on an astonishing 40 House races. By contrast, the NRCC only spent $1.07 million in the latest filings.

Poll: Murtha Now In Tight Race
A new Susquehanna poll shows that Jack Murtha could be in trouble in his usually-safe seat in the wake of his public comments about his constituents being racist rednecks. The numbers: Murtha 46%, retired Army Lt. Col. Bill Russell (R) 41%, with a ±4.9% margin of error.

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His name is William Russell, and he's a Republican and career military man, reports the Tribune-Democrat of Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

Given that Murtha has a history of larding his district with the fattiest pork out there, that the district is dominated by Democrats, and that Murtha's new challenger's primary issue is arguing in favor of the Iraq War, it's safe to assume that DCCC chair Chris Van Hollen isn't too worried about this one.