Heres the lead from

Here’s the lead from a story out tonight from The Hill …

House Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will ensure that Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) wins his race for majority leader, a key Murtha ally said Monday night.

“She will ensure that they [the Murtha camp] win. This is hard-ball politics,” said Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.), a longtime Murtha supporter. “We are entering an era where when the Speaker instructs you what to do, you do it.”

Pelosi recently endorsed Murtha’s bid for majority leader against House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), but it was unclear whether she would use her clout as the first Democratic Speaker in 12 years to help Murtha win or whether her letter simply expressed a personal preference as a favor to Murtha.

Pelosi’s move was deliberate, Moran said, and she was already leaning on her colleagues to affect the outcome.

“Yes, she’s making calls to people. She is contacting people and letting them know that it’s an unequivocal letter,” Moran said.

Moran isn’t known for being particularly diplomatic or careful with his words. So maybe there’s an overlay of bombast here. But I have a hard time believing he’s totally off the reservation. As Josephine Hearn, the author of the piece, goes on to write …

If Moran’s claims are true, Pelosi is taking an enormous gamble only a week after the election propelled her into the Speakership. If she prevails, she will likely banish her onetime rival Hoyer to the back benches and send a clear signal to her colleagues that she intends to rule with an iron hand. If Hoyer wins, she loses substantial political capital and alerts the caucus that they can successfully oppose her.

I have to confess that I haven’t myself done a lot of reporting on these emerging leadership battles. I’ve had a bunch of other stuff on my plate since the election. But I’m really stunned by this move. Not so much the move itself — I know she and Hoyer are rivals and that she and Murtha are close allies. So certainly she’d prefer Murtha in the role. But she’s doing a lot more than being quietly supportive of an ally. She’s very publicly making everyone takes sides. And in a very specific, unique way. She’s staked her authority and credibility on a Murtha victory. And since she represents the caucus, to a degree she’s putting the caucus’s authority and credibility on the line too, just after the Dems have taken power in the House for the first time in a dozen years. It’s a really bold power-play on a number of levels.

Now, one other thing. Are you reading this post up there on the Hill? Especially on the House side? I want to hear from you. You’re seeing what’s going on up there and hearing what members and staffers are saying. I want to know more about this. So if you’d like to share some of what you’re seeing and hearing, drop me a line.