VA-08: Republican Murray works to retire incumbent Moran

Cross-posted at the Washington Examiner....

"Retire Jim Moran."

That's the message from a new website in Virginia's 8th Congressional District called Retire Jim Moran.com as Republicans go after the Democratic congressman who was first elected in 1990. Twenty years later, many want a new face representing their district.

That effort was stepped up after Moran was videotaped earlier this month speaking before a group of Democrats making a controversial comment that was reported by the Washington Examiner:

“What [Republicans] do is find candidates, usually stealth candidates, that haven’t been in office, haven’t served or performed in any kind of public service. My opponent is typical, frankly.”

Oh, really?

Jim Moran's Republican opponent is Col. Patrick Murray (US Army-Ret), an Army veteran with 24 years of service. According to Barbara Hollingsworth with the Washington Examiner, he "was deployed to four different combat zones, including Baghdad, as part of the 2007 troop surge under Gen. David Petraeus, and was even shot at by foreign combatants. If that isn’t public service, I don’t know what is."

Indeed.

Moran reportedly also accused Col. Murray of being a hypocrite for demanding more responsible spending by the U.S. government. That is an interesting accusation considering the 8th District is made up of many military veterans who, along with their families, have made sacrifices to defend the freedoms of America.

The comment showing lack of respect for the military is not the first time Jim Moran has said something that raised eyebrows and caused outrage from his conservative constituents, as can be found from this list of his misstatements.

The media are paying attention. The Weekly Standard,  National Review's Campaign Spot, The Other McCain, the Washington Examiner, and others have written about the antics of Moran.

In fact, Bill Kristol of the Weekly Standard said, "If donors step up, and if GOP leaders and committees and independent groups come forward to support the troops and do a good deed for the country--and if there are therefore resources for TV, radio and mail making Moran's slander as infamous as it deserves to be--then we can look forward to lifting a glass to our troops as we bid farewell on Nov. 2 to Jim Moran."

Despite the negatives against Moran throughout the years, the voters of the 8th District continue to send him back to Congress in election after election.

Barbara Hollingsworth reported that Moran was chastised two weeks ago by the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) for wrongly implying in campaign literature that he had been endorsed by that group. She wrote:

On October 11th, the Military Officers Association of America sent a letter to the Moran campaign requesting that the congressman stop distributing a flyer clearly implying that MOAA had endorsed Moran for reelection.

“As a not-for-profit organization governed by the Internal Revenue Code, the Military Officers Association of America is barred by law from participating or intervening, either directly or indirectly, in any political campaign on behalf of, or in opposition to, any candidate for elective public office,” wrote Maj. Gen. Joseph Lynch (USAF-Ret.), MOAA’s general counsel.

“MOAA did recognize Rep. Moran in 1999 with our Arthur T. Marix Congressional Leadership Award. But the campaign flyer implies a more recent and more explicit MOAA rating/endorsement in connection with this campaign that did not occur.”

Patrick Murray responded to Moran's most recent comments ... and Murray supporters are standing up to educate voters in the 8th District about the man they have representing them in Washington, DC.