Republican Candidate’s Presenting a Real Challenge in 8th District

Bryan Schwartzman, Staff Writer
August 07, 2008

Less than a week after Tom Manion’s congressional campaign had moved into its Doylestown office — a storefront recently converted from a home-improvement shop — the space clearly remains a work in progress, with a large map of the 8th District hanging on otherwise blank walls in a front room with only a few desks and chairs.

The 54-year-old Republican candidate’s own office and desk are also bare, except for a photograph of his son Travis, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy who became a Marine Corps officer.

Travis Manion was killed on April 29, 2007, while on patrol in Iraq’s Al-Anbar provence. It was his second tour of duty there.

In the months that followed his son’s death, Manion — a former Marine Corps officer with zero political experience — decided on a run for Congress. The major spoke of his platform is working to ensure that the U.S. government supports the war effort until Iraq is fully stabilized.

He has even posted videos on www.YouTube.com about Travis’ life, and the relationship between father and son.

“I had no interest at all in politics. It really wasn’t until my son gave his life over in Iraq that I really started thinking what my purpose is,” said Manion, who grew up in West Philadelphia.

Manion works as an information technology executive for Johnson & Johnson, and is still putting in plenty of hours at his day job.

The man he is challenging is U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-District 8), the lone Iraq-war veteran elected to Congress, who has been one of the most vocal proponents of a timed withdrawal of American troops. In an election year in which concern about the economy and gas prices will likely trump foreign-policy issues, debate over Iraq may still play a large factor in this race.

“If you leave Iraq before you stabilize, then it all falls apart, and Iran comes in and Al Qaeda comes back,” said Manion.

The 34-year-old incumbent holds a different view. Murphy advocates a 16-month troop-withdrawal plan, along with sending in about 7,000 troops to the Afghanistan-Pakistan border to stabilize the region and attempt to pick up the search for Osama bin Laden.

Said Murphy: “We continue to take our eye off the ball by refereeing a religious civil war for over five years in Iraq and not focusing on our No. 1 enemy — Al Qaeda — where they are most strong.”

So far, little daylight has emerged between the candidates regarding Israel. Both said that they favored U.S.-sponsored talks between Israel and the Palestinians, as long as there is no undue pressure put on the Jewish state to make concessions. What talks there are have grown more uncertain with the news that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is stepping down next month.

Manion said that he supported American diplomatic engagement with Iran, but that the military option should be kept on the table.

Murphy, who in his first year in office sponsored a House resolution condemning the British academic boycott against Israel, declined to answer whether he favored U.S.-Iranian talks — arguing that it’s a question for presidential contenders — but said that preventing Iran from achieving nuclear capability is one of his top priorities.

One-Issue Candidates?
These issues are sure to come up at a candidate’s forum scheduled on Oct. 12 at Shir Ami-Bucks County Jewish Congregation in Newtown.

The political landscape has shifted since the 2006 mid-term elections, widely viewed as a referendum on the war. July saw the lowest casualties of any month since the American invasion; even President George W. Bush has talked about the prospect of troops coming home earlier.

Neither the challenger nor the incumbent wants to be viewed as a one-issue candidate.

“We’ve spent $3 trillion in Iraq — that’s $3 trillion that we can’t spend for lower gas prices, for tax breaks for middle-class families, for property tax relief and for green energy,” said Murphy.

For his part, Manion, a small-government, pro-life Republican, has attacked Murphy for opposing the expansion of off-shore drilling. Murphy had instead voted to stop filling the strategic petroleum reserve.

Murphy won one of the closest races in the country in 2006, edging then U.S. Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick by 1,500 votes out of a little less than 250,000 cast. So far, Murphy’s got the fundraising edge; as of June 30, he had raised nearly $3 million as compared to $664,817 for Manion.

The Democrat has another edge: In 2006, registered Republicans outnumbered Democrats in Bucks County, which comprises the majority of the district. But, as of April, Democrats have the edge 185,417 to 181,938. Across the state, tens of thousands of voters registered as Democrats or switched parties to cast a vote in the historic Democratic presidential primary.

The Rothenberg Report, a nonpartisan political survey that rates candidates and races, had listed the 8th District as competitive, but now has downgraded it, saying Murphy will likely prevail.

“We think the mood of the cycles strongly favors Democrats,” said Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the report. “The Republicans in [Washington, D.C.] are not talking the race up.”

But Murphy isn’t taking anything for granted, and said that he’s expecting a tough race, noting that “these are the same jokers who said I didn’t have any chance to win last time.”