Democratic incumbent
Congressional Rep. Patrick
Murphy, Republican Tom
Manion and Independent
Tom Lingenfelter did not hesitate
to criticize each other on
various issues during a 90-
minute debate held at the
Bristol Riverside Theater on
Oct. 15.
The debate got tense when
Murphy, an Iraq war veteran,
replied to Manion’s allegation
that Congress has not
accomplished anything significant
during Murphy’s
first term in office.
Manion said that since
Murphy has been in office,
Congress has passed roughly
290 pieces of legislation, a
small number when compared
to other congresses in
history. He added that out of
the 290 bills, 81 of them were
renaming post offices.
Manion concluded by saying,
“We’ve got a do-nothing
Congress.”
Murphy replied by saying
he was proud of renaming
the post offices because one
of them was named after
Nate DeTample, a Bucks
County soldier who was
killed in Iraq in 2005.
Manion, a retired 30-year
marine whose son was killed
in Iraq in 2007, interrupted
Murphy by sternly saying,
“Watch yourself.” Manion
then pointed out that his son
died in Iraq.
Murphy acknowledged the
interruption, saying, ”I
respect his service, and you
should respect mine.”
After the debate, Manion
explained he had gotten
angry because he felt that
Murphy was dishonoring the
deaths of the soldiers who
have died in Iraq by using
DeTample’s name as political
cover.
”We’ve got to stop invoking
these guys’ names; they’ve
done a lot for this country,”
said Manion.
Manion’s press secretary,
Karen Smith, said that
Manion felt Murphy used the
soldier’s name as a means to
defend his work in Congress
and distract people from
Manion’s original point.
Murphy said, ”.post
offices are one aspect of what
our legislators do, and Nate
DeTample’s post office in
Bucks County is something
I’m proud of. It’s the first
post office in Pennsylvania to
be named after an Iraq war
vet.”
Lingenfelter attacked the
two-party system, saying it is
the cause of many problems
and prevents the government
from solving problems correctly.
He also accused both of his
opponents of being obedient
party followers who still try
to distance themselves from
the negative aspects of their
parties.
Lingenfelter said, “You’ll
never hear either of these two
men say, ‘vote for me because
I’m a Democrat,’ or ‘vote for
me because I’m a
Republican.'”
In a comical response,
Murphy said, “I’m Patrick
Murphy. Please vote for me
because I’m a Democrat.”
Murphy’s retort was one of
only a few times that either of
the other candidates
acknowledged Lingenfelter.
While Manion and Murphy
debated each other’s views
and criticized the other over
various issues, they mostly
ignored Lingenfelter.
More than once during the
debate, Murphy mentioned
how he helped complete the
Veterans’ Cemetery and the
construction of a solar-power
park in Washington’s
Crossing. Manion accused
Murphy of exaggerating his
accomplishments, saying that
both projects were started
before Murphy entered office.
Manion presented himself
as someone not previously
involved in politics. He said,
“I’m not a politician, never
been a politician and am not a
part of the Republican Party
locally.”
Murphy also mentioned his
bill passing through
Congress, that allows those
serving their country to be
exempt from being bombarded
with late-fees or negative
credit affects from non-payment.
Murphy promised to bring
change during his next term
in office. He said, “if you
want more of the same, if you
want more of the status quo,
then I’m not your guy, but if
you want something different
from what Bush has been
doing for the past eight years,
than I’d appreciate your
vote.”