NBC: Hoyer wins battle to become House Democrats' No. 2. Murtha loses.

This may have slipped past you unnoticed, but we may count this as a small victory. Remember how outspokenly opposed to Iraq Rep. Murtha has been?

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NBC: Hoyer wins battle to become House Democrats' No. 2. Murtha loses.

Find out more at http://breakingnews.msnbc.com

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It's a bit of a relief that he won't be the House Majority Leader.

Another important point to this is that the Democrats in the House basically defied their "Speaker-Elect," Nancy Pelosi, by electing Hoyer over Murtha. She supported Murtha for the role of Majority Leader. Does this mean that the Democrats will actually think for themselves over the next two years instead of being pawns of the leadership? One can only hope.

Joe