Former Republican congressional candidate Patrick Murray has sent an email to supporters blasting Rep. Jim Moran (D), the man who defeated him in last year’s mid-term election.
On Thursday, Moran started taking heat for comments that he made to a U.S. government-sponsored Arab TV network regarding Americans’ attitudes toward having an African American president. Now Murray is piling on, calling Moran’s comments “wildly inaccurate” and “un-American” in the email reprinted below (after the jump).
Murray, a retired Army colonel who Moran defeated by a 24-point margin, has been lying low since November, but he has maintained his email list and recently set up a new web site. The latest email suggests he may be relishing a rematch against Moran, who he accuses of denigrating his military service.
Reached by phone this afternoon, Murray confirmed that he’s “leaning toward running again.”
“I’ve left the campaign open for a reason,” Murray said. “I’m inclined not to give up after one run, but it’s too early to say.”
“I haven’t ruled anything out for 2012,” Murray added. “I’m committed to this area, I’m committed to the political process, and I’m committed to the Republican party.”
Murray quashed rumors that he may be interested in running for state Sen. Patsy Ticer’s seat this fall.
“It’s too soon after this last campaign, I think,” Murary said, adding that he would support the Republican candidate in the race.
Ticer is widely expected to retire this year. Three Democrats — Del. Adam Ebbin, Arlington School Board Chair Libby Garvey, and Alexandria City Council member Rob Krupicka — have all said they would seek the seat if Ticer declines to run for another term.
See Murray’s email to supporters, after the jump.
Last Tuesday after the State of the Union address, Congressman Jim Moran (D-VA) told an international audience on the Arab television network Alhurra that the results of last November’s election were because most Americans are racists who “don’t want to be governed by an African-American . . .” This latest outburst, coming as we know all too well on a long history of Moran outbursts, is not only wildly inaccurate, it is un-American.
I do not support many of President Obama’s policies because I do not think they are good for our country. To wit:
· I do not support “Obamacare,” which despite what was promised does not cover everyone, will force many people to have to change coverage, piles on billions of dollars of additional debt and countless layers of bureaucracy, and robs one half trillion dollars from Medicare.
· I do not agree with President Obama’s energy policies that keep us reliant on foreign oil by denying American companies the ability to produce energy (and thus creating jobs)here at home.
· I do not support President Obama’s $850 billion “stimulus” package, pitched as the way to create jobs and keep unemployment under 8%. The only thing it seems to have stimulated was the unemployment rate, while piling on more debt that will eventually have to be paid for by our children and grandchildren.
· I disagree with President Obama’s decision to cut Army and Marine Corps troop levels by almost 10% while we are fighting our nation’s wars abroad.
The vast majority of Americans who voted for change in Nov 2010 did so because of these and other fact-based and policy-related reasons. But political views aside, as an American I am very proud that in 2008 we elected an African-American to be our President; in my view it reinforces our creed that all of us, regardless of race, gender or orientation are entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I believe it is also a tangible reminder of how far we have progressed as a nation in which slavery was once an institution. We aren’t perfect, but we have come a long way. Moran’s rant, particularly given as it was to an international audience, dismisses this progress and casts us all back to our regrettable pre-14th Amendment past.
Over the years Northern Virginia and indeed most of America has become accustomed to Mr. Moran’s mean-spirited verbiage and his aggressive behavior, including a pattern of making arguably anti-Semitic comments: (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2007/09/14/AR2007091402171.html).
However with this latest statement Moran outdoes himself, going beyond insulting just one ethnic group or political party. His offensive comments as a sitting U.S. Congressman made to an international audience demean all Americans regardless of religion, political affiliation or ethnicity. It was a staggering lapse of judgment, divisive and un-American. Jim Moran should correct the record with Alhurra, and he owes an apology to his fellow countrymen and to this nation.
Honor and Courage,
Patrick Murray