Tom Manion v. Patrick Murphy

To new visitors, and there will be many coming in over the next six-eight weeks, thanks for coming. I'm trying to bring this blog to the attention of 500 or so Pennsylvanian movers-and-shakers, so that it might have a real influence on the campaigns. I'm also asking my friends on BlogTalkRadio -- and I have many such friends -- to invite the candidates supported here to appear on various radio shows. I want to do my part to make the candidates famous (and for more than "15 minutes"). If you visit here regularly, tell your friends and family members that I exist! I believe that Patrick Murphy (see below) is sorry that I exist, but you can't please everybody.
Please visit Tom Manion's site -- and offer him your support.

If you want to see a terrific video interview of Melissa Hart (4th CD), well, click on the link following: Watch Melissa's interview with Pittsburgh Post-Gazette staff writer Bill Toland. Melissa talks with Bill about why she will take back the 4th Congressional District. She also discusses several important issues including gas prices and student loans. Melissa's web site is at: http://peoplewithhart.com.


Note: My column "Ted Kennedy: A National Disgrace" is now up at my national blog.


The following a line that every Republican candidate should use in his or her campaign. (It's attributed to former basketball star Charles Barkley (I'm trying to verify that he said it).

"The poor have been voting for Democrats for 50 years, and they're still poor."

A truth you won't hear from Obama or Rep. Patrick Murply: If a political party has a solid hold on a certain voting bloc, the last thing it wants to see is that group somehow disappear (i.e., in this case, have the poor get "un-poor").

THIS WEEKEND I'LL BE WRITING ABOUT TOM MANION V. "MODERATE" DEMOCRAT PATRICK MURPHY IN THE "BUCKS COUNTY" CONGRESSIONAL RACE. A "MODERATE DEMOCRAT" IS SOMETHING LIKE A CAT THAT BARKS. CONGRESSMAN MURPHY'S FIRST ACT IF HE'S RE-ELECTED WILL BE TO VOTE FOR SAN FRANCISCAN NANCY PELOSI FOR SPEAKER. That really tells you all you need to know about Patrick Murphy, one of the Beltway's young-men-on-the-make.

I support Tom Manion, but I do not speak for him. I speak for myself (and, I hope, millions of Pennsylvanians who are disgusted by the kind of cynicism and self-aggrandisement Murphy stands for. )

Tom Manion's son, Travis, was a Naval Academy graduate who died for his country in Iraq. Yes, Patrick Murphy served in Iraq . . . as an Army lawyer. He didn't "fight in Iraq" in any way, shape, or form.

In Congress, Rep. Murphy has joined Barack Obama and other left-wing Democrats calling for a precipitous retreat from Iraq. Murphy may have no grasp on the national security issues involved in Iraq, but he is very good at reading opinion polls.

Tom Manion can't say it, but I can: Congressman Murphy, like Obama, has taken positions on Iraq that inevitably embolden the enemy and thus endanger the lives of American fighting men and fighting women. Can anybody really deny that? Barack Obama did not earn the backing of Hamas' spokesman in America by proposing that the U.S. be tough on terrorism.

As for Murphy, I wonder if his stand on Hamas is as ambiguous and contradictory as Obama's. It's clear Murphy hasn't raised millions of dollars from left-wing groups by taking strong stands on anything that would offend the people at Moveon.org.

There is a way to criticize U.S. policy in Iraq in an honorable manner. But that way is not by offering what's in effect two thumbs-up to insurgents and mass murderers.

Congressman Murphy endorsed Barack Obama for President on August 21, 2007. It was an amazing acts -- and one totally at variance with the Democrats (not to mention the Republicans) in his district. In the 2006, Murphy showed he knew little about Bucks County, and as a certifiable Beltway type, he hasn't learned much more.

On April 22, Bucks County voted for Hillary Clinton by 70,253 to 41,793 for Obama. Hint: Bucks County wants nothing to do with the likes of Barack Obama.

Thus, with his backing of Obama, Murphy has spit in most of constituents' eyes. Any Hillary Clinton voter who backs Murphy in 2008 is joining him in heaping abuse on Mrs. Clinton's campaign. Murphy has clearly joined Howard Dean and other leftists who make up the "Democrat's old boys club" whose main purpose is to deny Mrs. Clinton the nomination.

What does Rep. Murphy think about Barack Obama's sneering comments about Pennsylvanians who supposedly "cling" to our guns, religion, racism, and xenophobia? In fact, as a Pennsylvanian, I know Obama talks about a state that doesn't exist. Murphy has been "strangely" silent. Perhaps he agrees with Obama?

Patrick Murphy is an ambitious man, too ambitious. He has a very bad habit of looking to his own future, rather than that of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, or the nation.

Murphy reflects the kind of cynicism and self-aggrandisement that have completely soured the American people on Congress. He doesn't deserve the votes of residents of the 8th district. Instead, he deserves their rejection.

Former Marine Tom Manion, like John McCain, is a warrior-through-and-through. He's a man with a lifetime of experience -- in contrast to Murphy, who's an individual who's spent a lifetime planning his next career move.

Stephen R. Maloney
Ambridge, PA