Fitzpatrick, Murphy seek center in changing suburbs

LEVITTOWN, Pa. — The outcome of today’s elections may depend on Democrats’ ability to exploit changes in the political landscape in places such as Pennsylvania’s 8th District, where freshman Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick (R) and Iraq war veteran Patrick Murphy (D) are both staking claim to the centrist middle ground in a close campaign.

The district is predominately Republican, but recent voting patterns and dissatisfaction with the Bush administration have created a climate in which Murphy could become only the third Democrat elected to represent Bucks County since the 1930s.

The political sands in the 8th District have been subtly shifting for years, and voters here backed Democratic presidential candidates in 1996, 2000 and 2004. The GOP holds an edge in voter registration in the district, which also includes small portions of Philadelphia and Montgomery County, but that advantage is shrinking, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported last week.

Although the district’s borders have gone virtually untouched for decades, Democratic Philadelphians have been migrating to the increasingly affluent county for years.

Republicans in this district do not necessarily fit the national mold. “There’s a certain type of Bucks County Republican,” said Temple University professor Robin Kolodny, who likened them to “Rockefeller Republicans” from New York and New England.

“There are more independent ticket-splitters in this district than most,” Fitzpatrick said.

Eighth District Republicans are “conservative on economic issues and very liberal on social issues,” such as abortion rights, said former Rep. Jim Coyne (R), who held the seat from 1981 to 1983. These voters also are “very hostile to the religious right in politics,” said Coyne, who now is president of the National Air Transportation Association.

Fitzpatrick noted that the district has a large presence of so-called Reagan Democrats, many of whom share his views on issues such as abortion rights, which Fitzpatrick opposes.

Both candidates sought to burnish their centrist credentials during the waning days of their campaigns.

On Wednesday afternoon in tony Republican Doylestown, a “Republicans for Murphy” event drew about 40 people.

“This election is not about Democrat and Republican,” Murphy said. “This election is about changing the course of the country.”

On a chilly Friday evening on the waterfront in blue-collar, Democratic Bristol Borough, the incumbent addressed about the same number of “Democrats for Fitzpatrick” and stressed that he never introduces a bill without an original Democratic co-sponsor.

The candidates have taken similar approaches on the issues. “Sierra Club Endorses Fitzpatrick” signs dot the landscape, while Murphy talks up balanced budgets and proclaims that he plans to join the conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition if elected.

Not that Fitzpatrick or Murphy have shunned their own parties’ heavy hitters. President Bush and former New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani have stumped for Fitzpatrick. Murphy has hosted former President Bill Clinton and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), who has been a frequent adviser to the 33-year-old political newcomer.

In recent days, Murphy stood with big-name Democrats such as Gov. Ed Rendell, former Vice President Al Gore, Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.), Rep. John Murtha (Pa.) and state treasurer and Senate candidate Bob Casey Jr.

Fitzpatrick, meanwhile, welcomed Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to the district on Sunday.

Fitzpatrick said he knew that he faced a struggle even before Murphy declared his candidacy in March 2005.

“I may have seen it faster than most because I was ready for a real battle here” after succeeding Rep. Jim Greenwood (R), Fitzpatrick said while hurriedly eating a turkey hoagie in his parked car outside a supermarket in upper-middle-class Yardley, where he had gone to greet voters.

But Fitzpatrick may be unable to hold on to the centrist Republican voters who backed him in 2004 after electing Greenwood to six terms, Kolodny said. Fitzpatrick’s positions against abortion rights and federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research are at odds with his constituents, she said.

Fitzpatrick’s position on the stem-cell issue especially sets him apart from the popular Greenwood, who was one of the Republican Conference’s most vocal supporters of funding the research.

Greenwood reportedly favored state Sen. Joe Conti (R) as his successor when he announced his retirement in July 2004, after the primary had taken place. Greenwood, now head of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, declined through a spokeswoman to comment for this article.

“If this was Joe Conti or Jim Greenwood, we wouldn’t be having this conversation,” Kolodny said.

“He’s much too conservative for the district,” said former Rep. Peter Kostmayer (D), who held the seat from 1977 to 1981 and 1983 to 1993 and has been an occasional adviser to Murphy.

“He’s the opposite of Greenwood,” he added.

Murphy has hammered away on the theme that Fitzpatrick is out of step with voters because he opposes federal funding for stem-cell research. “This is one of the defining issues in this campaign,” he said during an interview in the back seat of his SUV between campaign stops.

Fitzpatrick rejects the argument that his positions on these issues disqualify him for the job.

“I was elected in 2004,” he observed. “I’m very honest about my views on the social issues. I think people do respect that I stand for something, even if they don’t agree with me,” he said.

Although Murphy has benefited from what Coyne called “an ill mood,” he nevertheless is running in a Republican district and must overcome concerns that he is not a Bucks County native.

“Bucks County is a fiercely parochial community. It’s very proud of its Bucks County-ness,” said Coyne. “People like to know the people that they’re voting for,” he said.

“It surprises me that the candidate selected was neither from the district nor had any measure of local government experience,” said Fitzpatrick, repeating criticisms that he has made central to his campaign.

Fitzpatrick accused Murphy of district shopping prior to this year’s elections. As evidence, he pointed to a November 2004 item in Roll Call, in which the Democrat said he was considering a bid in either Fitzpatrick’s 8th District or the 13th District, which is currently held by freshman Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D).

Murphy dismisses Fitzpatrick’s charges that he does not understand the area and maintains that his positions, such as favoring stem-cell funding and advocating a phased withdrawal from Iraq, illustrate that he is closer to the voters than Fitzpatrick, regardless of the fact that Murphy’s  childhood home sat a few dozen yards from the 8th District border.