the smedley log - suburban scrawl

Politicking and re-zoning to honor the dead

First, it’s worth noting to people who live in my Congressional district (PA-08) that the two Democratic challengers, Patrick Murphy and Andy Warren, were on Radio Times yesterday, in an hour-long semi-debate. (Listen via RealAudio)

I had an opinion on this race going in, but now that I’ve heard the debate, I’m not so sure. It’s not like I can vote in the primary anyway, but the likelihood is I’ll be voting for one of these guys in November, so my eye’s still on it.

Meanwhile, amidst a flurry of candidate denouncements of Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, 8th district incumbent Mike Fitzpatrick had a guest opinion published in today’s Bucks County Courier Times. He claims some disagreement with Rumsfeld, but the gist of it is Rumsfeld and the President are the ones who have to decide if Rummy should go. (I wanted to link to it, but as of right now PhillyBurbs editor Karl Smith tells me that editorials and guest opinions are not available online.)

And in other items from the local paper…

there’s this article on the veterans cemetery/Toll Brothers re-zoning controversy:

UPPER MAKEFIELD - In a move to force Toll Brothers to the table — development plans in hand — the Upper Makefield supervisors Wednesday withdrew a land rezoning ordinance that would allow the veterans cemetery and a proposed 210 Toll homes to progress.

Applause from several dozen residents in attendance followed the 4-1 approval. Supervisor Vice Chairman Robert West cast the lone no vote. Before doing so, West urged the board and the residents to stay the course and said that by not doing so, individuals would “make ourselves look rather stupid.” Delaying the process jeopardized the cemetery, West said, because the Department of Veterans Affairs must spend its funding within the fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. …(read the full article)

I understand the citizen opposition to the re-zoning deal Toll Brothers is trying to get. If you grew up here, you might understand it too.

Just curious…what was your opinion before, and what changed it?

I was leaning Patrick Murphy’s way, but in answering a handful of the questions, I noticed a lot of references to the military resume. While I respect the military resume, I don’t think it’s any better a refutation or answer to a tough issue than the blanket response of branding everything a national security issue (a tactic made so fashionable by the White House and its defenders).

I’m not saying it’s a definitive shift in my opinion of either candidate. Perhaps part of it is that I’ve met Warren on a few occasions, and I find his approach (at least in conversational settings) easier to take seriously. But that’s also personality.

And since I’m registered independent, my opinion won’t really matter until after the primary, so I try not to make too much of it.

I’m definitely a Murphy partisan, and although I hear what you’re saying about the military background, I don’t think that should be a reason to discount him. Andy made just as many references to his time as commissioner (leaving out, of course, the part where he made life miserable for Democrats, built “The Pump”, etc.).

Most of Murphy’s professional life has been in the military, and he saw a lot of the world that way. His time at West Point gave him classroom expeirience, and he became, quite frankly, more qualified than, say, Margaret Spellings to understand and interpret the constitution. I’d like to see him be less lawyerly, but that will come. Remember, with everything he’ accomplished in terms of support, endorsements, fundraising, volunteer base, etc, it’s his first time out as a candidate. He’s not perfect, but Andy Warren is a train wreck! He’s incoherent. I heard him say that an impeachment is just a hearing…and that was scary. He doesn’t understand the constitutional responsibilities of a congressman.

And the whole “fresh idea” speech that was nothing more than an attack? LAAAAAAAAME!!

Patrick will continue to grow as a candidate, and he’ll make a hell of a congressman. He’s already come SO far since i first met him last year. Either way, Mike FItzpatrick is in TROUBLE!

My main worry with Andy was summed up pretty well with his answers regarding questions with Gas. We need to change our mindset, we need to carpool more, take the train, etc. We need to create village type living situations and cut people from their dependency on gas.

Now, that’s all noble and a good goal – but this was in answer to a question about what you’d do in the short term and that’s certainly not a short term solution. It’s like creating a new Europe.

Just my 2 cents concerning that short answer int he debate that happened that night at the Intell

BucksDBlue,
The “fresh idea” diatribe was definitely a targeted attack, though, in election season, such things are commonplace – still, it certainly wasn’t a bright spot for Warren.

And Tfols,
Total agreement on the Gas question. I wonder sometimes if the old dog/new tricks generalization is actually true more often than not. It seemed to be in this case. Murphy had more of the right ideas, especially on energy (at least according to what I think).