John Murtha
AGE: 74
OCCUPATION: Congressman
NUMBER OF TIME COVERS: 0
PREVIOUS APPEARANCES ON THE TIME 100: 0
PRO: A Democratic Representative from Pennsylvania, and long an authoritative voice on military affairs. Murtha initially voted for the invasion of Iraq but in November 2005 declared "the U.S. cannot accomplish anything further in Iraq militarily," and became a leading proponent of redeploying U.S. troops from the country. Murtha is now the chairman of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee.
CON: Despite the support of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, his record on ethics — including recent charges that he used his position on the subcommittee (while in the Congressional minority) to steer government funds to clients of one lobbying firm that employed his brother, and to those of another founded by a former staffer — cost him the post of House Majority Leader after Democrats won control last year.