On Feb. 6, Rep. Patrick J. Murphy stood in the Senate television gallery amid the glare of bright lights and the whir of digital cameras with Sen. Barack Obama (D., Ill.) to introduce legislation that would redeploy U.S. troops out of Iraq.

Attention was focused on Obama, but the event was far more significant for Murphy, a Bucks County Democrat barely a month into his congressional career who, as an Iraq veteran, would become a go-to spokesman for his party.

Fresh-faced, apple cheeks gleaming in the lights, a thin film of sweat on his forehead, Murphy looked every bit the acolyte. Though Obama’s junior by 13 years, Murphy seemed far younger and the gap in political experience wide. Twice Obama visited Bucks to campaign for Murphy, and now the younger man followed his lead, tracking the tall, regal senator with his eyes as Obama spoke.

After the news conference, Murphy read to reporters from a letter he had received from a Morrisville man whose son had been killed in Iraq in August 2005. The man, Glenn DeTample, urged Murphy to act on principle, even if it was unpopular.