From Eric Dondero:

The headline in The Hill: "Murtha's seat tilts GOP."

A new poll has Republican Tim Burns 6 points ahead. The election is only days away. A win for the GOP here will not only alter the balance in the House, to 179 Republicans, but more importantly serve as a psychological blow to the Democrats. This race is a big bellweather for November.

From The Hill:

Republicans appear to have a real opportunity to take over the seat of the late Rep. John Murtha's (D-Pa.), as another poll shows their candidate in the lead.

The Research 2000 poll for the liberal website Daily Kos has businessman Tim Burns (R) leading former Murtha aide Mark Critz 46-40. It's the biggest lead yet for Burns, who edged Critz 44-41 in a recent Public Policy Polling (D) survey.

The newer poll backs up several key data points from the PPP poll, particularly how unpopular President Obama is in the district. R2000 has Obama's favorable rating at just 38 percent, with 55 percent unfavorable. And Obama isn't just unpopular: Among those 55 percent, more than half say their opinion of the president is "very unfavorable."

It should be noted, that Libertarian Republican contributor Steve Maloney, who lives in Western PA, has been a volunteer with the Burns campaign from the beginning. He's been tireless promoter of the Burns campaign over the internet to bring in campaign contributions. At his self-named blog, Steve recently commented:

The jobs Murtha created were a tiny fraction of the jobs he destroyed. But the millions he received from people he paid off with earmarks were always enough to keep him getting re-elected. John Murtha made out just fine; the 12th district continued its economic nosedive.

Would Mark Critz, Murtha's "deputy director" vote the same way as his old boss? There's no evidence that Critz wouldn't hew the Obama/Pelosi line. In fact, Critz would be one more Democrat disaster for western Pennsylvania.

If the 12th district is to have a future, it must not send another corrupt politician to the House. There is a much better choice: conservative Republican Tim Burns. All the lies the Beltway Democrat establishment tells about Burns can't hide one fact: he knows what's necessary to create jobs; Mark Critz doesn't have a clue.

A Burns win will be especially sweet for Steve. Even though he's a conservative, Burns winning will be a sweet win for Libertarian Republicans, as well.