Bucks
Pat Murphy Congress
Dear Friends,
Good
morning. “I’m going to win,” Congressman
“Not so,” counters Pat Murphy, his opponent. “He’s [Fitzpatrick] desperate!”
After hearing pollster Terry Madonna predict that any Republican congressman will have an uphill battle to win reelection next week, the eighth congressional district election next week promises to be a nail biter. Madonna was in Quakertown last week explaining, why it doesn’t pay to be a Republican in 2006.
“It’s about Iraq,” Madonna told his audience. “Voters are unhappy with the war in Iraq and President Bush. Anyone close to the President is in trouble. That’s why Senator Rick Santorum trails Bob Casey in the polls.”
The $64,000 question is simple. Can Pat Murphy ride the coattails of a popular Democratic Governor [Ed Rendell] and capitalize on the unpopularity of President Bush?
Madonna claims that it’s no surprise that many opponents of Republican incumbent congressmen come from the military. Congressman Curt Weldon lags behind his opponent in Delaware County. His challenger is retired admiral Joe Sestak. Pat Murphy is a paratrooper and army lawyer who served in Iraq as a captain in 2003 and 2004. Murphy was deployed to Bosnia in 2002 as well.
Murphy is only 32 and has a boyish look. His mother is a Republican and works for State Senator Joe Conti. His father is a retired Philadelphia policeman. Murphy makes a point of the unfavorable comparison between Philadelphia and Baghdad. According to Murphy, the two cities have the same populations but Philadelphia has twice as many cops on the beat as there are in Baghdad.
Can a Democrat win in Bucks County, I asked?
Murphy is not afraid of the Republican edge in voter registration. “Democrats won 66 percent of the local municipal and school board races in 2005,” he answered. “And we’ll do better this year. Bucks will reelect Governor Rendell,” Murphy predicted, “Bob Casey will beat Rick Santorum, and I’ll win.” Murphy also expects Bucks Democrats to capture one state senate and four state representative seats but wouldn’t reveal names.
Murphy told me that his wife Jennie used to be a Republican. “I didn’t leave the Republican party,” she told her husband. “The Republican party left me.” Murphy also needed her to switch her party so she could vote for her husband in the Democratic primary against former county commissioner Andrew Warren.
Murphy sounds like a middle of the road Republican. “I’m a moderate,” he says. “I believe in a balanced budget amendment. I’m for a tough immigration policy. We should crack down on employers of illegal immigrants. I’m against amnesty and I’m for closing the borders. We need more border agents and we need to use hi tech surveillance systems to keep the illegals out.
“What are
the differences between
“I want a 12 month time line to reduce our troops in Iraq. Fitzpatrick is in lock step with the President. I’m for federal funding of embryonic stem cell research and a woman’s right to an abortion. Fitzpatrick is not.
“I’m for fiscal responsibility,” Murphy concluded. “Fitzpatrick raised property taxes six times during his ten years as a county commissioner. Under President Bush, America’s debt has grown to $8 trillion…that’s $28,000 for each man, woman, and child in Bucks County,” Murphy added. “I’m against privatizing social security.
“And remember,” Murphy quipped, “Fitzpatrick’s first vote as a congressman was to weaken the ethical standards in order to protect former House [Republican] Majority Leader Tom Delay. The number of lobbyists has doubled under President Bush.
“Fitzpatrick knows the truth about me but he still lies about it. Why,” Murphy challenged? “Because he’s desperate.”
Referring to his days as a teacher at the West Point Military Academy and its famous honor code, “People have lost their faith in the congress,” Murphy suggested. “We need a permanent office to police unethical congressmen.
“It’s not about Democrats versus Republicans,” he offered. “It’s about the direction of the country.”
In any event, pollster Terry Madonna promises that the congressional election in Bucks County will be razor thin. Stay tuned.
Sincerely,
Charles Meredith