Reading Patrick Murphy

Patrick Murphy is running for Congress in PA-08, which includes Bucks County, part of Northeast Philadelphia, and an oddly shaped drop of Montgomery County. When he was a professor at West Point, Murphy wrote a column, called Murphy's Law, for the school paper. By nosing around I found 38 of these columns, from 2000 through 2003. I'm sure there are some that I missed and there are earlier columns that I could not find. But 38 is a good number. Each is between two and three pages long, for a total of about 80 pages or so. You can tell a lot about someone from their writing. Only the most skilled of speech or ghost writers can keep their personality from showing through.

For instance, I have lived in the Delaware Valley for about 15 years now and have managed to avoid learning anything about Philadelphia sports besides which teams play which game (Eagles = football, Flyers = hockey, etc.) Patrick Murphy lives and breathes his Phillies, his Eagles, his Flyers, and so on. He can't put pen to paper without mentioning them, if only in passing. Let there be no doubt that wherever he was stationed his heart and attention were never from from his hometown. I think of the 38 columns I looked at, he mentioned Philadelpia sports in all but something like three of them. He knew the teams, the players, their rankings, their wins and losses. Should you ever meet him and are stuck for a conversation topic, ask about sports.

He likes quotes. There are usually one or two on his web site. He had at least one quote on all but a few of his columns. The sources are wide-ranging, too. He either keeps a copy of Bartlett's Quotations on his desk or he is very widely read.

Initially I wondered if other professors at the college wrote columns and his was one of many, but I didn't see any evidence of that. When Murphy was deployed to Bosnia a few other people stepped in but no one took over temporarily. This leads me to believe that he simply wanted to do it and the powers that be found it to be a good way of distributing information to the readership at large. In other words, he likes communicating and can keep up with a writing schedule. It isn't always fun writing a column (or a blog) on a regular basis and it takes self-discipline, especially over a period of years. If this was in addition to his regular duties, as I imagine it to have been, it shows a strength of character. The columns show a continuity of voice and the tenor of that voice changed when other people wrote while he was away. To me, this is an indication that he wrote all of the columns that appeared under his name. A few times, when dealing with a very specific topic an expert in that area was listed as co-author, but the words themselves were still his.

Murphy writes well. Many of his columns dealt with mundane matters, insurance, taxation, estate plans, identity theft, ethics and rules of gift giving, parking, snow removal, and so on. These topics are important, but not exactly enthralling. These are the kinds of matters that Congress deals with and to be a good congressman you have to really take an interest in such stuff. Murphy presents them in an understandable fashion and always provides phone numbers and/or web sites for follow-up. He says just enough to get the point across but doesn't weigh everyone down with details. I think this would be an important characteristic in someone who has to communicate the happenings of Congress to his constituents and vice versa. He also discusses historical events, encourages charity work, community service and even organ donation! He writes about the heritage of West Point. The breadth of subjects is the sign of an inquisitive mind and a broad education.

There are certain things he said in a few of his columns that I really liked and that resonated with me as a voter. One was his mentions those who worked and served in less than glamorous occupations. Here are two that stood out:

"Often, when looking at the cadets past and present, it's easy to overlook the people behind the scenes who help make this nation's treasure a reality. From civilians who cut the cadet's hair or make their meals, to the 'non-grad' soldiers who patch their wounds and guard their gates -- these are people who also make this institution so legendary." (March 15, 2002)

"It is a team effort here -- with soldiers, cafeteria workers, janitors. teachers, mentors, civilians, fellow cadets, parents and siblings sharing their life with cadets -- and make this a premier leadership institution." (May 30, 2003)

This shows respect for those who may not have a lot of political pull or money to toss around and is another characteristic I would look for in an elected representative.

It is difficult to talk about patriotism without sounding corny, even if your heart is in it. Simply mouthing the words without any meaning behind them has always seemed somewhat blasphemous to me. Murphy writes of patriotism often, in a sincere fashion, and not with the stereotypic military rhetoric that I would have expected. Here are a few examples of this:

"Our nation was attacked because it is a beacon of liberty. Our Constitution and our leadership will not let justice and freedom be compromised." (September 14, 2001)

"More than 270 million Americans who love peace, justice and equality for all is a beautiful thing and something to be truly thankful for. Hopefully we'll continue to come together and learn to put some of our pre-September 11 issues into their proper persepctives. Murphy's Law tips its cap to this great nation and to all the ideals it stands for." (November 21, 2001)

As I read through these columns I was impressed with the breadth of topics he wrote about, his devotion to the Philadelphia area, the sincerity of his writing and the humor he used to explain difficult topics. I was especially impressed with his writings on ethics. For example,

"Because our fellow citizens place a special trust in the military service and federal employment, we are held to a high standard of professional behavior. (December 7, 2001)."

I wish that more of our elected officials felt this way!