Rep. Patrick J. Murphy (D-Pa.) has been one of the most high-profile freshman members of Congress in his first term.

As one of Barack Obama’s most visible supporters in Pennsylvania, he routinely appears as a surrogate to tout Obama’s candidacy. And because he is the only Iraq war veteran serving in Congress, Democrats have turned to Murphy as someone with the credibility to speak out against the war.  read more »

Doylestown resident Tom Manion, long rumored to be considering a run for U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy’s 8th Congressional seat, has scheduled a press conference Tuesday to discuss his political plans for 2008.

Manion, 53, is the father of Marine 1st Lt. Travis Manion, who was killed in April by sniper fire during his second tour in Iraq.  read more »

Pennsylvania’s 2008 congressional challengers share an unusual trait — they’re not state lawmakers.

In fact, few have any political experience at all. Among the state’s 19 congressional districts, less than a quarter of more than 15 declared challengers have been elected to any office.

Traditionally, Pennsylvania’s Capitol Hill candidates emerge from the state Legislature or another elected post. That started to change last year and the pace is quickening now.  read more »

Iraq war veteran Jon Powers sat at a coffee table across from U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy here last spring, picking the freshman lawmaker’s brain about what a political campaign might involve.

A political neophyte considering a run for Congress, the 29-year-old Powers wondered what kind of reaction he would get from those he’d served with. He had no idea how to assemble a staff or how running in his native New York would affect his family life.

The conversation ended with a clear message from Murphy, Powers recalled. ‘‘He literally looked at me across the table, and said, ‘You have to do it.’‘’  read more »

U.S. Reps. Charlie Dent, R-15th District, and Jim Gerlach, R-6th, endorsed a compromise expansion of the popular Children’s Health Insurance Program on Tuesday after opposing a far broader increase in the program in August.

Dent, R-15th District, and Gerlach, R-6th, joined the four Lehigh Valley area Democrats — Reps. Allyson Schwartz, 13th; Tim Holden, 17th; Paul Kanjorski, 11th; and Patrick Murphy, 8th — in supporting the measure.

For both Dent and Gerlach, removing the Medicare cuts appeared to be the deciding factor.

What’s Mike Fitzpatrick doing?

It’s a question on the lips of many Bucks County Republicans as the party maneuvers to take back the Congressional seat Democrat Patrick Murphy snatched from Fitzpatrick last year in one of the nation’s closest House races.

Will he seek a 2008 rematch?

‘‘I’ve asked him two or three times,’‘ said longtime County Republican Chairman Harry Fawkes, who championed Fitzpatrick’s successful 2004 Congressional bid. ‘‘We’ve got to know; time is running out. I think he is thinking about it. He has not given me a solid answer.’‘

By the end of August 2005, four Democrats — Patrick Murphy, Paul Lang, Andy Warren and Ginny Schrader — officially had entered the race against then-freshman Bucks County Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick.

Murphy eventually unseated Fitzpatrick 14 months later. But eight months into his freshman term in Congress, Murphy has no formal opponents lining up to try to unseat him in 2008.

Republican Party officials say they’re considering a few candidates, including Dave Denoon, a college professor from Buckingham, state Rep. Scott Petri, R-178, and Thomas Manion, the Doylestown Township father of Marine 1st Lieutenant Travis Manion, who was killed in Iraq in late April.  read more »

Last month, Congressman Patrick Murphy, D-8, reported he had raised nearly $1.2 million in campaign cash in the six months since his inauguration.

So how did Murphy set this record fundraising pace so early in the campaign?

So far this year, Murphy has raised about $670,000 in donations from individuals. According to an analysis by Congressional Quarterly, nearly $280,000 of those contributions came from Pennsylvania residents. That means that about 54 percent of the contributions came from individuals from other states, according to Congressional Quarterly.  read more »