Archives » Tuesday, October 21, 2008
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David Botti
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Oct 21, 2008 01:04 PM
Earlier this month I took a look at how veterans are getting involved
in supporting both sides of the presidential campaign through TV
advertisements. With so much attention focused on the national
campaigns, it's easy to forget all the Congressional districts
throughout the country holding elections. In some of these districts
you'll find veterans of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam running for
office and, in same cases, against each other. The Associated Press recently took a look at Pennsylvania's eighth district where Democratic Rep. Patrick Murphy (the only Iraq vet now serving in Congress) and retired Marine Col. Tom Manion who lost his Marine son in Iraq, are competing.
Manion
opposes a specific timeline for troop withdrawal from Iraq, arguing
they should be in the country as long as it takes to achieve
stability. Murphy, on the other hand, supports drawing up a
timetable.
Part of Manion's campaign features short videos profiling his fallen
son, 1st Lt. Travis L. Manion. Here is an introductory video:
According to the AP, Manion has drawn some criticism for the videos:
Manion, 54, said he was inspired by his son's death to seek public
office. His Web site, though, has drawn criticism for its focus on his
son's life rather than on his qualifications.
"Just who is running for Congress: the father or the son?" asked an editorial in the Bucks County Courier Times.
At
a recent forum in Langhorne, there were signs Manion might be having
trouble connecting with voters on issues other than Iraq. Questions on
topics including Iran, North Korea and funding for Medicare and Social
Security yielded answers with few specifics.
Joe Linus, a
Republican unhappy with both Murphy and the Bush administration, said
he thought Manion's presentation was lacking but expressed optimism
that the challenger would crystallize his platform.
Because the economy is dominating the political scene over Iraq
these days, Murphy has sought to draw attention to how much the war is
costing American taxpayers. Additionally:
He said the United States has essentially played "referee" for more
than five years in a religious civil war while neglecting Afghanistan.
He favors a 16-month phased withdrawal, with redeployment of some
troops to Afghanistan to help train that country's army and secure the
border with Pakistan.
Here's one of Murphy's campaign ads:
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