Bill Russell's campaign has spent the summer buying media, packing the schedule with county fairs and raising money -- everything expected of a congressional candidate laying a foundation for fall.

Now it just needs Bill Russell.

The Republican challenger to political giant U.S. Rep. John Murtha (D-Johnstown) has been absent from his own campaign the past 90 days while serving in the U.S. Army. On-duty members of the armed services are forbidden from any politicking, including even brief phone calls between themselves and their campaigns.

It's his campaign, but for the past three months, he's had nothing to do with it -- even as important decisions were made.

Those choices have instead fallen to Peg Luksik, Russell's campaign manager. She's been tasked with raising money, interest and hope in a candidate many volunteers or residents in the 12th Congressional District haven't yet met.

"Thankfully, he and I have had enough time to get to know each other so that I can feel comfortable knowing this is where he's at and this is where he isn't," Luksik told PolitickerPA.com. "We're being very careful not to take positions he hasn't taken."

"We're just setting up the structure so when he comes back August 1, he can hit the ground running."

Russell's campaign has seven county coordinators and 891 volunteers in the sprawling nine-county district, Luksik said, and the campaign has started investigating what TV and radio ads it should buy. It also unveiled its new Web site last week.

His absence this summer might seem a mortal wound for a campaign already facing a Herculean task. Murtha, after all, is one the country's most high-profile Democrats and won a 17th term to Congress by 20 percentage points in 2006.

Last week's fundraising totals, however, suggests Russell's campaign is more than token. He raised $669,534 in the second fiscal quarter, compared to Murtha's $113,155. Seventy-percent of Russell's donations derived from contributions less than $50, according to Luksik, suggesting large grassroots support. Murtha still holds a significant advantage in cash on hand, however, with $644,243 to Russell's $269,953.

A survivor of the 9/11 attacks on the Pentagon, Russell appears to be channeling anger at Murtha for what he says were the congressman's attacks against U.S. Marines charged with killing innocent civilians in Haditha, Iraq. Murtha's comments, which are highlighted on Russell's Web site, stand in stark contrast to the truth, his campaign says, citing the acquittal of nearly all the marines accused of wrongdoing. 

Russell's vociferous support for those marines is part of his overall candidacy, which stresses heavily his years of service in the military. His Web site has a military theme and is decorated in sandy-brown camouflage colors.

Campaign officials suggest Russell's absence this summer because of his military service only galvanizes that theme.

Russ Rhodes, who co-chairs Russell's Fayette County campaign with his wife, Debra, said his absence has been like the absence a military family feels when a husband, wife, mom or dad ships overseas. The campaign must respond accordingly, he said.

"Say I'm away in Iraq or my wife is, you pick up the missing pieces and move forward," Rhodes said. "You make sure the kids still get to school ... maybe it's a little bit harder work, but when you're family, you do what you need to do."

The response on the campaign trail this summer has been positive, Luksik said.

"People start out by saying, 'Where is he?'" she said. "And when you explain where he is, they say, 'Oh, that makes sense.'"

Russell will start campaigning in the flesh the minute he can -- literally. He's scheduled to start at Rhodes' front porch, or at least in his town, at 12:01 a.m. Aug. 1. From there, he has months full of county fairs and front-porch rallies designed to grow grassroots support for his campaign.

He still faces as difficult a task as difficult as almost any Republican congressional candidate outside a city -- Murtha remains nearly an insurmountable challenge even for a candidate with a story like Russell's.

"I am the enternal optimist, but I'm also a realist," Rhodes said. "I know a lot of things are going to have to fall into place the right way, but that doesn't stop us from trying."

But he is confident of one thing.

"I think he has John Murtha's attention."