Bucks, along with the
Courier Times, will co-host a
congressional debate between
incumbent Congressman
Patrick Murphy (D) and his
challenger, former
Congressman Michael
Fitzpatrick (D). The debate
will take place at the Bristol
campus from noon to 1:30 p.m.
on Oct. 21, 2010 and is expected
to be broadcast live to the
Newtown and Perkasie campuses.
The debate should be lively.
The two candidates are in a virtual
dead heat, according to the
most recent polls available as
The Centurion went to press.
This is not the first time that
the two candidates have been
in a close race with each other
for the 8th Congressional
District seat. Murphy unseated
the incumbent Fitzpatrick in
the 2006 election. Out of the
approximately 250,000 votes
cast in the 2006 election, a little
over 1,000 votes separated
the two.
Murphy, an Army Iraq War
veteran, ousted Fitzpatrick by
less than 1 percent of the vote
in 2006. Fitzpatrick, then a
freshman Republican congressman,
was swept out in a
national wave of anti-war and
anti-Bush sentiment. Murphy
became the first Iraq veteran
elected to Congress.
The local race for the House
of Representatives takes on
additional significance as the
current predictions are that the
Democrats and Republicans
look to win and almost equal
number of seats in the House.
If this virtual parity holds on
Election Day, the Murphy-
Fitzpatrick race could determine
the balance of power in
the House of Representatives.
The debate is being organized
by Bill Pezza, Social and
Behavioral faculty member.
According to Pezza, the debate
is planned to run 90 minutes.
Each candidate will have two-
1 minute opening and closing
statements.
The candidates will be asked
a series of questions chosen
beforehand from those submitted
by Bucks students and
readers of the Courier – Times.
The candidates will know the
topics beforehand, but not the
questions. Students should
email their proposed questions
to [email protected].
Pezza will moderate the
debate along with David
Gilmartin, who is, among other
roles, Managing Editor of The
Intelligencer and on the staff of
phillyburbs.com. Pezza
expects that the initial questions
will be asked by himself
or by students.
Gilmartin will ask follow-up
questions if he believes that
either of the candidates have
not completely answered the
questions.
Pezza said that Gilmartin
“has a good sense of the issues
in this campaign from his work
as a journalist.”
Pezza pointed out that students
who are not yet registered
to vote in the election
must register no later than Oct.
6 if they wish to cast their vote
in the November election.
Campus locations where the
debate can be viewed live will
be announced in the near
future.

Additional information
can be obtained
from Pezza at
[email protected]