Stop! Hoyer time

Matt Yglesias points us to this rather useful report in The Nation on how the Murtha/Hoyer race went down. In the end, it looks like it's rather less of a big deal than, say, Christopher Orr would suggest. At least as things are currently. Here's what the article concludes:

Democrats from both camps contended that while Pelosi may have miscalculated in backing Murtha so aggressively, the entire race will be forgotten in a week. "She's a very smart woman who made a mistake in judgment," said Barney Frank. "But it's a one-off thing." Added David Obey, the 68-year-old incoming chair of the Appropriations Committee: "I've seen a lot of bigger fights. This was mild by comparison."

This is probably right, at least for now. In the end, this was a gentleman's duel, and not even to the death, rather than a steel cage match. But if Pelosi's leadership runs into trouble again--especially if opposition is led by Hoyer (or appears to be)--the more dismal interpretations of the majority leader race will return, and this will be used as evidence that she was "weak from the start." In other words, she can probably carry this one, but adding weight this early could be trouble if the ice turns out to be as thin as some suspect.