Published: October 27, 2008 09:52 pm      

‘SNL’ spoofs Murtha in opening skit

John Murtha has faced lawsuits for his comments on Marines shooting civilians in Iraq. He’s been run through on the FOX network for his turnabout on that war.

He survived Abscam.

But can he overcome “Saturday Night Live”?

The popular opening skit on the comedy show skewered Murtha and U.S. Sen. Joe Biden for their recent comments during the presidential race.

The voice-over introduced impersonators as speaking to a rally in Johnstown, “where they attempted to blow the election for Senator Obama.”

Murtha recently referred to racist tendencies in western Pennsylvania, then tried to backtrack by using the term “redneck.” Biden told voters that Obama would be tested on foreign policy affairs early in his presidency.

A Murtha spokesman reacted to the parody Monday by joking that he thought the congressman’s impersonator, Darrell Hammond, needed to be a little taller.

In a more serious vein, Matthew Mazonkey said that, “Right now, we’re concentrating on the issues that matter to western Pennsylvania like creating jobs, reducing our dependence on foreign oil, protecting Social Security and Medicare and taking care of our veterans.

“These are our priorities.’’

The National Republican Congressional Committee wasted no time in pouncing on the spoof.

It e-mailed journalists Sunday saying, “With his careless remarks, Murtha has turned western Pennsylvania into a national joke and made voters there the punch line.’’

The Republicans weren’t so concerned about image, though, as to not include a link to the SNL video clip.

Steve Clark, a spokesman for Murtha’s election opponent, William Russell, said, “It’s not the kind of publicity the area wants or needs.

“It’s unfortunate because that’s not what the district is really like, as everybody knows.”