In 8th District, another long shot has high hopes

Republican Tom Manion is fighting against time, money in effort to upset Murphy.

By Scott Kraus Of The Morning Call
September 30, 2008

At this time two years ago, Democrat Patrick Murphy found himself waging what most experts thought was a long-shot effort to unseat first-term Republican Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick in the Bucks County-centered 8th District.

In the end, Murphy was elected to Congress in a squeaker.

Now with just over a month to go, Republican challenger Tom Manion is in roughly the same spot, trying to introduce himself to voters in a district where he’s largely unknown.

John McCain’s selection of conservative Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate has helped by firing up the party’s base.

”We are getting a lot more recognition when we are out there,” said Manion, 54, of Doylestown Township. ”We are getting record crowds wherever we go. We started to see it pick up even before the convention.”

The serious, low-key Manion released his first television ad this week, stressing his credentials as a retired Marine, Johnson & Johnson vice president and parent of a son who was killed in Iraq.

Murphy is also on TV with an ad showcasing his work on local issues and giving his stances on the Iraq war and alternative energy.

The open question is whether Manion’s under-funded campaign will have enough time and money to persuade voters in the district, which has tilted Democratic in registration since Fitzpatrick’s narrow 2006 loss, to send Murphy packing.

At the end of June, Murphy’s campaign had $2.2 million in cash, compared with roughly $500,000 for Manion. The campaigns will report their third-quarter numbers in October.

To date, most independent evaluators of congressional races such as Congressional Quarterly and The Hill give Murphy, 34, of Bristol Township, an advantage and have not listed the Murphy-Manion race as one of the most competitive contests.

The two men have agreed to a series of debates starting in October.

The Manion camp thinks a case can be made that Murphy has failed to deliver the fiscal reforms he promised two years ago.

”The way we win is the mood of the country, the Congress’ 9 percent approval rating,” said Manion campaign consultant Jerry Morgan. ”I think Patrick Murphy has not done what the people of the 8th District are looking for, but is more a pawn of [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi.”

Murphy campaign spokesman Nat Binns said 8th District voters will be hard-pressed to find a compelling reason to toss Murphy, Congress’ only Iraq war veteran, out of office.

”I think people here see Patrick, they see him working hard,” Binns said. ”He puts the families he represents first, and he votes with his conscience.”

Binns listed Murphy’s support of a national Veterans cemetery slated for Upper Makefield Township, his push to relieve victims of Delaware River flooding and advocacy of a green energy hub on the site of U.S. Steel’s former Fairless Hills plant as examples.

Manion plans to draw a contrast with Murphy on energy issues by stressing his support for expanded oil drilling rights, and to link Murphy to unpopular national Democrats like Pelosi and New York Rep. Charley Rangel, who faces an ethics committee investigation.

Rangel, whose leadership political action committee has given Murphy $15,000, has admitted, among other things, failing to pay taxes on rental income from a resort condo in the Caribbean.

Binns said Murphy is aware of Rangel’s problems but will wait until the House Ethics Committee rules on Rangel’s troubles before deciding to return any money.

”I think families in Bucks County and across America, they are struggling, and there are a lot of other things, more pressing issues — gas prices, the war in Iraq and the economy,” Binns said.

Philadelphia Democratic political consultant Larry Ceisler said Manion probably lacks the resources or a defining issue to dislodge Murphy.

In 2006, Murphy could use clear differences with the well-liked Fitzpatrick on stem cell research and Iraq to make a case to voters.

”I just don’t think linking him to Nancy Pelosi, a San Francisco liberal, in Bucks County is really going to hurt Murphy that much,” Ceisler said. ”You have smart voters in Bucks County, and I think they look at people as individuals.”

Don’t be so sure, said Republican consultant Charlie Gerow.

Manion will benefit from the GOP’s Palin-energized base, and Murphy could be hurt by Democrat Barack Obama’s poor showing in the April primary among blue-collar voters in Lower Bucks.

”I think that is the critical element. Will they have the financial resources to pull all those elements together?” Gerow said.