Tomorrow the Bucks County Democrats meet to decide whether or not to make an endorsement in the 8th congressional race. As you might imagine, things are getting tense.
Yesterday I reported on an editorial in the Intelligencer criticizing Andy Warren for criticizing Patrick Murphy. One item in particular was Warren's comment that Murphy running in the 8th district was opportunistic because he had not lived there long. This is also referenced in an article on the phillyburbs website, dated yesterday. Here are three excerpts from that article (Scheid, Brian, "Candidate counters residency criticism," March 2, 2006 8:49 AM) :
In 2004 a profile on Murphy appeared in Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper that covers Congress.
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At the time Murphy was an Army captain who had just returned to Pennsylvania from a tour in Iraq and was recruiting veterans to vote for Sen. John Kerry for president, an effort the profile delves into.
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In the article, Murphy also claims Democratic Party officials had approached him to run for Congress in either Pennsylvania's 8th District, which is made up mostly of Bucks, or the 13th District, which is made up of Philadelphia and Montgomery County.
In the article, Murphy never says he's definitely running for Congress, but he also says that party officials wanted him to run in one of those districts depending on how Democratic candidates did there in 2004 races. In the 8th, Republican Mike Fitzpatrick won, while in the 13th, Democrat Allyson Schwartz won.
This is what Warren has to say in a press release on his website:
Your editorial chastised me for calling Mr. Murphy an “opportunist.” The exchange happened when it was revealed by a reporter that on Election Day 2004, Mr. Murphy told “Roll Call Magazine” he would decide where to move based on the election outcomes in the 8th and the 13th Congressional Districts. I was asked if this could be described as ‘opportunistic.’” I answered—and would still answer—“YES.”
Look closely at the wording in the newspaper article: party officials approached him to run in either district. It doesn't say what he felt about it. I have tried to track down the original Roll Call article but archives are available only to subscribers and I don't have access. All I have to go on is what I can currently find and that indicates solely that he was approached. If either candidate has excerpts from the Roll Call article that would clear this up, I would be delighted to see them.
Also included in Warren's press release is this paragraph:
Contrary to your Editorial, Mr. Murphy has NEVER lived in this district until last year: he lived in the 3rd District in Northeast Philadelphia as a child and moved away long before the neighborhood became part of the 8th Congressional District. I never said Mr. Murphy wasn’t registered because of his military deployment. What is true is he was registered “No Party” for 12 years in Lebanon County from 1992-2004, with a less than 25% voting record, and admits to voting for George W. Bush in 2000. To claim to be a life-long Democrat is at best “opportunistic”. This “life-long Democrat” has been registered Democratic in the 8th Congressional District exactly one year.
Warren clearly states that the area Murphy lived in is now indeed part of the 8th district -- it simply wasn't at the time. Splitting hairs. In regard to the registration in Lebanon County from 1992-2004, Murphy says on his website that he was born and raised in Northeast Philadelphia and started Bucks County Community College in 1991. Assuming he took four years to graduate (from King's College in Wilkes-Barre), that would be 1995. He went to law school in Harrisburg. That's at least another three years. At one point, he was a legislative aide for Democratic Representative Thomas Tangretti, perhaps while a law student. There aren't dates associated with many of his accomplishments so it is difficult to track exactly where he was when. I know from my own research that he was at West Point for about 4 years before going to Iraq, say 1999 to 2003. In between he worked for the district attorney in Philadelphia. Many people in college or the military keep their address of record at a parent's or other relative's house to make sure their mail is received and cared for. College students move frequently and if the military sends you new orders you can't get away with saying your old roommate tossed it. In some of his West Point columns (reviewed in-depth here) he discussed the importance of the address of record. He also wrote more than one column on the military regulations regarding political activity by military personnel. These were very specific. There was nothing in them about party registration but, as an instructor at a military college, he may have wanted to avoid the appearance of favoritism or of politicing among his students. I don't know.
The nuances of language can be very prejudicial in situations like this. I do know that Warren's words are inflammatory. He also glosses over his own admission that if he had been selected for office two years ago to fill in for either Jim Greenwood or Mike Fitzpatrick he would still be a Republican. And that means a lot more to me than where Patrick Murphy kept his shaving kit and his books while he was in college.
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4 comments:
FYI, Murphy responded with the following:
There’s a name for people who attack Democrats based on half-truths and misinformation during a heated election.
We call them Republicans.
For the past week, Andy Warren has tried to distort my record rather than confront his own. He has spread lies and distortions in a last-ditch effort to stop change the outcome of tomorrow’s endorsement meeting. It’s exactly the kind of thing we would expect from Mike Fitzpatrick—not from somebody who hopes to represent our party, our district, and our country.
You see, Andy Warren and Mike Fitzpatrick are peas in a pod.
When Andy Warren and Mike Fitzpatrick were Republican County Commissioners together, they voted together 100% of the time. Yes, 100% of the time. Had Harry Fawkes uttered Andy Warren’s name in stead of Mike Fitzpatrick’s in 2004, we’d be endorsing a candidate to run against Andy tomorrow. Now, with his Republican career stymied, blocked, and over, he seeks to resurrect it by cloaking himself in our party’s flag.
I have learned by watching men and women of real commitment, a real sense of duty, and a real sense of courage, what it takes to stand behind your values and your country. Those who seek to lead this country and to represent the people of the 8th Congressional District should have some sense of that same commitment.
When I was younger, I didn’t vote as often as I should have—but I came back from Iraq with my eyes opened; I have not missed an election since I got back to Pennsylvania, and I never will miss one again.
I am running for Congress to represent all of the citizens of the 8th Congressional District—because we need a change in direction in Washington.
Of course, I saw with my own eyes the mismanagement of the war in Iraq, but more importantly, when I came home and started talking to people, I realized how bad things are at home.
We need to fix the health care crisis in this country, including the disaster that they call Medicare Part D.
We need to fully fund education to ensure that America remains competitive as the world economy becomes more globalized.
We need to wean ourselves from foreign oil and invest in alternative energy sources.
We need to protect our environment—including an improvement in Bucks County’s air quality, a flood mitigation plan to help protect us from damage when the Delaware River floods, and we need a plan to preserve open space.
These are the issues you should expect your congressional candidates to address. These are the issues that your next Representative in Washington will face. These are the issues that Democrats care about. These are the issue that I care about.
As a child, I spent my summers fishing in Tyler State Park. I played hockey in Bristol, and I began college at Bucks County Community College. And when I returned from the military, I chose to make my home in Bristol.
Tomorrow’s endorsement meeting is about choosing the best Democrat to take on Mike Fitzpatrick in November, and it is important that we do endorse a candidate. If we fail to do so, our Democratic candidate will emerge from the primary without the momentum necessary to defeat Mike Fitzpatrick.
I have appreciated the support given by so many of you over the past several months. I look forward to representing the Democratic Party in this election, but more importantly, I look forward to representing you and our families in Congress when we win in November.
FYI, Bucks County Community College is a two year school. They only give an associates degree.
Regardless, Murphy's right: Warren does a piss-poor job of changing his republican stripes.
Dr. Doom,
On his site, Murphy tells where he completed his undergraduate degree. It was late and I forgot to include it -- King's College in Wilkes-Barre. I was just trying to account for his time and whereabouts during the years Warren cites.
Jane
P.S. Love the green cape.
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