send to a friend | print | comment

Fitzpatrick cruises in the 8th; sets eyes on Murphy

DOYLESTOWN—Mike Fitzpatrick is ready to face the man who took his job four years ago.

The former congressman easily won the Republican nomination in the 8th District Tuesday, capturing more than three-quarters of the vote in the four-way field. Local committeewoman Gloria Carlineo was a distant second with about 15 percent of the vote, after running a campaign fiercely critical of Fitzpatrick and his shifts on a plethora of issues. In the end, Fitzpatrick’s superior name recognition, fundraising and party support proved to formidable.

At the local GOP’s headquarters here, Fitzpatrick rallied supporters around the idea of a rematch, and set out to frame incumbent Democrat Patrick Murphy as part of the Washington establishment.

“Patrick Murphy is a liberal, tax-and-spend, big-government, Washington politician,” Fitzpatrick said.

Murphy, for his part, was quick to respond to Fitzpatrick’s widely anticipated win, sending Fitzpatrick a letter challenging him to at least eight public debates. Murphy’s campaign also picked up on Carlineo’s favorite term for Fitzpatrick’s changed stances on issues like labor law and environmental policy: “FitzFlops.” Murphy’s campaign has also set up a Wednesday morning conference call in which he will be endorsed by former Fitzpatrick supporters.

“In the name of fundamental fairness,” Murphy wrote, “I would hope that before we debate you could clarify some glaring inconsistencies in your record so I know which Mike Fitzpatrick I will be debating:  Former Congressman Mike ‘Top 25 Most Liberal Republicans’ Fitzpatrick or Mike ‘Tea-Party’ Fitzpatrick.”

In an interview with pa2010.com, Fitzpatrick said he was ready to debate as early as next week.

“This election is about the people, not Patrick Murphy,” Fitzpatrick said. “This is about the future, who has a better plan to shrink government and shrink the national debt.”

The race is currently ranked No. 10 on the pa2010.com Congressional Power Rankings.

May 19, 2010 at 4:51 am

--Eric Katz

Tags: Gloria Carlineo, Mike Fitzpatrick, PA-8, Patrick Murphy

comments

comments [1] | post a comment