From a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee e-mail making the rounds on behalf of someone named Mark Critz, we have the ultimate in left-wing projection – James Carville using the word “reptile” to describe political opponents:

First there was Sarah Palin. Now we can add another Republican reptile from the past trying to help the GOP win House races this year – former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum.

Last weekend, Santorum whipped up a crowd of thousands of tea party extremists over the upcoming May 18th special election for the Pennsylvania House seat that was held by the late, great Congressman Jack Murtha.

Even worse, national Republicans just dropped a whopping $247,000 to spread lies and fear-mongering attack ads in this race. I need your help to fight back so we can keep this critical House seat blue. He needs just another $25,000 more for his rapid response efforts before Monday to keep pace.

Contribute $5, $10 or more to help Democrat Mark Critz win the critical special election to succeed the late Congressman Jack Murtha in PA-12.

Support Mark Critz for Congress

We need your help in the next 48 hours so Critz can fund his rapid response before it’s too late.

Ever since all those fire-breathing tea party nut jobs scored their upset win in the Massachusetts Senate election, they’ve been looking for a new race to target.

Santorum and his fellow nut jobs on the right-wing lunatic fringe know that another Republican win in a special election like this will send the media into a tizzy about how it’s all over for President Obama’s agenda and how the GOP has all the momentum this year.

We can’t let it happen.

Contribute $5, $10 or more to help Democrat Mark Critz win the critical special election to succeed the late Congressman Jack Murtha in PA-12. We need your help in the next 48 hours so Critz can fund his rapid response before it’s too late.

The DCCC knows a thing or two about winning special elections. Thanks to you, they won five big ones in a row where Republicans put up a fight. But the stakes are even higher in this one.

We can’t let the Republicans elect another big-bank protecting, millionaire-supporting, tea-party loving member of Congress to help them bring back the failed agenda of George W. Bush.

Jack Murtha stood with us when we took back the House in 2006. Let’s not let those tea party extremists take his seat here in 2010.

Contribute in the next 48 hours so we can respond to their latest round of attacks and win this fight for Jack.

Thanks,
James Carville

P.S. Rick Santorum and the rest of the tea-party extremists are trying to help the Republicans repeat what they did in the Massachusetts Senate election so they can claim the momentum this year. We can’t let it happen. Contribute in the next 48 hours to help Democrat Mark Critz fight back against the latest Republican attacks before it’s too late so he can win the special election to succeed the late, great Congressman Jack Murtha in PA-12.

“The late, great Jack Murtha” all by itself is a pretty pungent phrase. What was great about him? ABSCAM? Defaming the Haditha Marines? Building monuments to himself with our money?

One wonders if in his dotage Carville, who in truth was past his prime in 1994 (and is proving it with his ridiculous stewardship of Charlie Melancon’s moribund Senate campaign), hasn’t grown exceedingly contemptuous of Democrat voters. The letter comes off as slapdash and half-hearted, with boilerplate generic rhetoric about “Republican lies” and “fear-mongering” and “tea party extremists” and “nut jobs” designed to freak out every union capo and LGBT stormtrooper across the fruited plain – and an exhortation to give $5 to Critz.

$5?

If it was really so crucial for Critz to beat back the Republican nut jobs and tea party extremists, wouldn’t $50 be more appropriate than $5? Or does Carville just think all the Democrats are broke? And if so, isn’t that an admission that his party’s performance with respect to the economy ought to disqualify them from holding seats like the one Critz is running for against Tim Burns?

According to a survey this week by Public Policy Polling, a Democrat outfit, Burns leads Critz 44-41 in a district which is 55 percent Democrat. The special election in May 18.