Ginny Goes A-Gunnin'

I’m still trying to get over the shock of reading this Guest Opinion the Bucks County Courier Times printed yesterday from Ginny Schrader.

Service in Iraq Is No Preparation for Service in Congress

I think it is fair to say that no one wants to see Mike Fitzpatrick out of Congress more than I do. My personal opinion of our congressman does not matter in this piece, enough to say that I want to see a Democratic Congress and an end to one-party rule in Washington.

Now comes the hard part; who is the better candidate to take on Mike Fitzpatrick in November? I have some unique qualifications to answer that question. Not to leave anyone in suspense, I am sure that Andy Warren is the better candidate for the task.

That didn’t come across as the most positive endorsement I’ve ever read, Ginny. You’re “sure” that Warren is the better candidate? Well, I’m “sure” he isn’t.

This time around, some Democrats in Washington have decided that all they need to do is throw an Iraq War veteran at the voters and the deal is done. They are recruiting candidates that don’t necessarily even live in the district in which they are running. Even though this sales pitch has been a terrific boon to national fundraising, in this instance, it is a bad mistake that will come back to haunt them in the general election. It doesn’t sit well with voters that outsiders dictate who the local candidate should be.

Can you provide specifics here to support this charge, Ginny? And by the way, if you’re referring to the “Fighting Dems,” I should point out that they have been primarily supported by The Daily Kos and The Majority Report on Air America radio. The last I checked, Kos was based in California (though diarists contribute from across the country) and Air America broadcasts nationwide. How you can claim that this movement is based in Washington is something that escapes me.

Even though the national polls show a backlash against Bush, with more people in favor of a Democratic Congress, when we drill down those polls to individual districts, a large number of people think their own congressman does not need to be replaced.

What does that have to do with the 8th Congressional district in Bucks County, Pa.?

Unfortunately, President Bush is not on the ballot this time. The congressional election in November will come down to individual qualifications, experience and representation on local issues. In these circumstances, Warren is by far the better choice. He has served his community as a teacher, coach, supervisor, county commissioner and district administrator for PennDOT in the Rendell administration.

“Teacher” and “coach” is nice, but irrelevant. And yes, Warren did serve as a supervisor in Warminster, Pa. and a Bucks County Commissioner (by the way, as commissioner, Warren served with Mike Fitzpatrick, where their votes were identical). And as far as his PennDOT district administrator job goes, Warren would do well to keep his mouth shut about that, since he created or worsened so many fires with inappropriate language.

He has the age, experience, and personality to go up against Fitzpatrick on each issue. His stands are down home Democratic, fighting for the middle class and wanting jobs and prosperity for Bucks County.

Well, he has the age (more boilerplate nonsense).

With Andy against Fitzpatrick, voters will be comfortable that they know each candidate well and bizarre negative ads that are thrown at a novice candidate will not stick. People are much less swayed by negative advertising when they feel they personally know the candidate well.

According to who? You?

Ginny postulates a couple of her theories about political campaigns here, which is actually funny when you realize that she’s either lost every one she’s participated in or dropped out of them. This is the first: that somehow negative ads can only hurt “novice” politicians. I know she’s still smarting from that utterly reprehensible attack ad Fitzpatrick and the Repugs ran alleging that she gave money to Hezbollah, but we know the Repugs will do that stuff to anybody. John Kerry wasn’t exactly a novice when the Swift Boat Lying Liars for Lies slimed him, was he? And we know how much of a difference that made, unfortunately.

Make no mistake Patrick Murphy has a future in politics. He is a quick study and learning how to play the game but his entire candidacy rests on his service in Iraq. My husband’s granddaughter (and mine by love) has recently married a soldier who did two tours in Iraq. Under the present theory, would two tours in Iraq qualify him to run for the Senate?

I had to read that last sentence a couple of times because I couldn’t believe my eyes.

Who the hell does this woman think she is to so quickly discredit veterans who choose to run for office (with these veterans usually – but not always – running as Democrats)? She starts off the paragraph praising Murphy but then sticks him in the ribs, metaphorically speaking, with that last remark about her grandson-in-law (I guess that’s what this guy is).

This is something right out of Andy Warren’s playbook, by the way. Schrader is hardly innocent herself, but it’s obvious that she’s copying Warren’s smarmy tactics.

Being a veteran, even though a wonderful credential cannot be the only credential (sic). Murphy went from college (in Wilkes Barre), to law school (in Harrisburg) to a tour in the military and now to candidate in one fell swoop. He needs to live here, he needs to vote.

This is, again, harking back to Warren’s incredibly tired refrain that Murphy is supposedly an outsider.

Patrick Murphy does live here, and he has ALREADY ACKNOWLEDGED the supposed voting record “issue.” This is more relentless Warren negativity in the face of a bright, promising candidate who has more to offer than Andy Warren ever will.

Having only been registered a Democrat for eight months longer than Andy, he needs to get more familiar with important local issues and get some seasoning. As the saying goes, all politics are local.

Does that explain why you yourself have never served in county government, yet you feel that you’re capable of recommending that path for someone else?

Not all lessons can be learned in seven months as an attorney in Iraq. Most of life’s lessons are taught over years of work, experience and a great deal of listening.

OK, Ginny. Let me ask you this, then.

Would Warren have any clue about proposing revisions to Medicare Part D? What does Warren propose concerning ethics reform in Congress? Any thoughts on Bucks County's poor air quality and the frequent flooding in Yardley?

Patrick Murphy speaks to all of these LEGITIMATE issues at his website, and I can find some boilerplate on the environment at Warren’s site and very little else.

Also, Schrader makes it sound like Patrick Murphy only served in the military as a lawyer (which, by itself, is still commendable), when in fact (from Dana Reddington's Inquirer article available from Murphy’s website)...

"In May 2002, he (Murphy) was sent to Bosnia for four months. Trained as a paratrooper with the 82d Airborne Division, he served in Iraq for seven months beginning in June 2003 as a lawyer with the Judge Advocate General Corps. He handled courts-martial and adjudicated claims by Iraqi families against U.S. troops."

Back to Andy, he has really hit his stride now. I saw him at a debate, and he was terrific.

Would we be able to depend on you telling us he if has ever actually been bad? And, as co-campaign chair (how many does Warren have anyway? I know he has more than two), isn't it part of your job to see him debate?

He has always known the local issues and has real plans for this district. Don’t forget, on May 17th, the day after the primary, we will need independents and moderate Republicans to vote with us to make the change in Congress. Andy is by far the stronger candidate to do this. Andy knows and understands the voters we need and many of them have voted for him in the past.

Specifics? Anywhere in sight? Hello??

And isn’t it just a hoot, by the way, how Warren/Schrader just automatically assume that they’ll win the nomination in a couple of weeks, and somehow as if by magic, these mythical “moderate Republicans” will automatically join them also? Can someone explain to me how a “moderate Republican” would vote for Warren over Fitzpatrick (especially, as mentioned previously, their voting records were identical when they both served as Bucks County commissioners)?

We have only one chance to replace Mike Fitzpatrick. Once a congressman has been elected twice they solidify their power. Only Andy can fight him toe to toe. We may not get this chance again. Please don’t waste it.

This is the second of Ginny’s two imaginary rules about politics. The first, as mentioned above, is that negative campaign ads only work against “novices”. The second is that it is impossible to defeat an incumbent politician who has served more than two terms. Granted, it is very difficult to do that, but it isn’t impossible.

(To be honest, I think it would behoove Ginny to spend more time proofing her copy for grammar and punctuation errors than speculating on things she apparently doesn’t know about.)

Also, I pointed out above that Ginny Schrader basically derides and ridicules not just Patrick Murphy, but every other “Fighting Dem” with her comments. Aside from the fact that her attack is patently unfair (I would even go as far as to call it cowardly), she basically disregards Kos and organizations affiliated with the Democratic party, all of whom have significant presences online and have supported the “Fighting Dems.”

These organizations were critical for Schrader in her campaign against Fitzpatrick in 2004. Granted she lost, but without the money raised online for her, she wouldn’t even have finished as close as she did. In fact, Schrader was receiving money and support and, for a time, she didn’t even know where it was coming from. Attacking those organizations that once supported her two years later is an interesting way to say thanks as far as I’m concerned.

At least The Philadelphia Inquirer did the right thing today and cast its support for Patrick Murphy (link here).

Speaking of newspapers, I want to point out something for us to follow up on pretty quickly.

As I’ve noted in the past, the readership of The Bucks County Courier Times is basically pretty conservative, probably because of the older demographic of the area. Stemming from that (I think), more residents get their information from print media than they do online.

My point is that I’ve seen a lot more letters supporting Andy Warren regurgitating the same stupid pro-Warren boilerplate than I have for Patrick Murphy that could present some of Patrick’s sterling qualifications. This is bound to have somewhat of an impact, unfortunately.

For anyone reading this whole lives in the 8th district, we need to get moving on this. Please write a Letter To The Editor in support of Patrick by noon Wednesday May 3rd. That’s the deadline to ensure publication before the May 16th primary. I will take care of this as soon as I can tonight. Click here to Email your letters; please provide name, address, and home and work phone numbers because you’ll be contacted for verification prior to publication. Thanks.

A final note: I posted last week about my adventures trying to enter a critical comment to one of the posts at Andy Warren’s blog, and I linked to my actual unpublished comment and subsequently linked to other unpublished comments.

What I found out late last week was that not only does Warren have his blog set up for comment moderation, which he is completely entitled to do (even if choosing not to publish critical comments is pretty chicken), his site administrator bans the IP addresses where critical comments originate so that any future comment attempts from that address will be automatically disallowed.

If that isn’t the action of a little tin god enamored with his own delusions of infallibility, I don’t know what is.