Patrick And The "Concern Troll"

I had not heard from our good and dear friend J.D. Mullane of the Bucks County Courier Times for a little while now (not since he proclaimed his hosannas to Dubya and reported Mikey’s proclamation last May). So imagine my surprise when I saw his column today about Patrick Murphy and the race against Mikey Fitz for the 8th district U.S. congressional seat.

Before I comment on it, I have to say that I think “the four horsemen” may be saddling up, since this is a shockingly sensible column from Mullane (who would have thought it?), though of course it wouldn’t be a Mullane political column without some “winger” shadings here and there (I’m not sure what happened, but I should point that out).

It's a sunny Saturday and Patrick Murphy is working the crowd in Bristol.

Murphy, a Democrat, wants to be the next U.S. congressman from Bucks. He's got a tough fight.

His opponent, incumbent Republican Mike Fitzpatrick, is about $1 million ahead in fund-raising. Fitzpatrick has another advantage: name recognition.

True, Fitzpatrick does have that within the county, and the Repugs will always outspend the Dems out here – we should donate of course, but we should also be realistic. Fitzpatrick also has the albatross of supporting Dubya on Iraq and stem cell research, but Mullane won’t go there of course.

Murphy's out early at the Mill Street 5K Run. He approaches onlookers and launches into a quick autobiography.

“Hi, I'm Patrick Murphy. I'm a Democrat running for Congress. I'm an Iraq war veteran. I was a West Point law professor. I believe we need to change the direction of the country.”

He's not antiwar, but the troops need to be “redeployed” from Iraq.

Am I the only one who doesn’t understand why Mullane put that word in quotes?

“The Iraqis have to get off the sidelines,” says Murphy, who was a captain with the 82nd Airborne.

He's tells me he's pro-choice, but believes in limits to abortion. He and his wife are expecting their first child.

Wonderful news - congratulations!

“Pat,” I tell him, “neither you nor anyone you know will ever refer to your baby as "the fetus.' ”

He agrees, but as a lawyer who taught constitutional law, he believes abortion is a right.

Uh, yeah J.D., it is. Roe v. Wade still happens to be the law of the land (for now anyway).

On the campaign trail, Murphy chats with voters and fills in his life story ... Archbishop Ryan graduate ... attended Bucks County Community College ... lives in Bristol Township ... son of a Philadelphia cop ... played ice hockey at Grundy ... married a Pennsbury girl, but took a Bishop Conwell girl to his high school prom ... bought his wedding bands at Mignoni's Jewelry across the street.

He travels the lower county.

At Middletown Community Day, he buys an Eagles scarf for his dog and talks up the vendor.

At Warwick Community Day, he enlists as a member of a veterans organization, talks to a guy on stilts, and strikes up a conversation with a Tupperware lady.

He has a happy warrior approach to campaigning, and his 100-watt smile rarely leaves his face.

The race for the 8th Congressional District is hot. Murphy says his polling shows he's within six points of Fitzpatrick, excellent for a guy who's never held public office.

In August, the National Journal, which ranks the nation's “most competitive” races, moved the 8th District from 26 to 15.

Murphy says he can beat Fitzpatrick if he's able to appeal to Republican swing voters.

But he needs two things. Money, certainly, but also name recognition. A voter who knows you is more likely to vote for you.

The most reliable way to attain name recognition is through door knocking and introducing yourself to as many voters as possible.

But with only 59 days to the election, can he overcome the odds?

I tell him my take: The Democrats are not serious about winning the district until they bring in Bill Clinton. Bucks County went twice for Clinton. For many, he is revered.

This is actually an interesting idea from Mullane (God, somebody pinch me...). However, I think there are tradeoffs. I think Patrick is right to wage this campaign on his own terms, since if The Big Guy stumps for him, it will look like Patrick needs help (I think that’s part of the reason why we haven’t seen John Kerry here yet; Kerry won Bucks also, though Dubya actually won Lower Makefield – hisssssss…). And you can bet that Mullane will be all over Murphy on that if either Clinton or Kerry shows up (though it’s OK for Dubya to show up and provide more cringe moments to try and help Mikey and Jim Gerlach, you see).

I think bringing Clinton to Bucks would tighten the polls by at least two or three points. Since the event would be widely covered by the media, Murphy would get a boost in name recognition, too.

Clinton is due to visit Philadelphia Oct. 5, but so far has no plans to help out the suburban congressional candidates, where the House will be won or lost.

“I'm working on it,” Murphy said. “Obviously, it would be great to have the president here. But this is my fight and I think I can go toe to toe with Mike Fitzpatrick.”

And to help Patrick in that fight, click here.