It’s true. It’s true that Luam and his lady friend, and Anne Dicker and I prevailed in a bar trivia contest last night. Despite not knowing what a Spocker is (don’t ask) or being able to identify the act of mixing whisky with coffee as ‘Irishing Up’, we found ourselves tied for first after three rounds of grueling questions. This necessitated a bonus round for all the marbles ($25 off our bill). The question? How many times did the f-bomb get dropped in the movie Scarface. First I inquired whether we were playing by Price is Right rules (closest without going over). After determining that we were operating under closest wins rules, I opted for a number of 210. Our opponents went with 175. The answer was 206. And, thus, Luam and I created a winning streak of two.
All this celebrating wasn’t exactly helpful when I got up this morning and headed to Warminster, PA. My parents live in a retirement community there that looks more like a booming city than a place for older folks. The place is so big that they have their own close circuit television, complete with studios and and a large auditorium.
Today was a big day because Patrick Murphy, a candidate for PA-08, was visiting, my father was asking him questions from the stage of the auditorium, and the whole thing was being filmed for later broadcast on their closed circuit system (Channel 5). It’s a thing I helped set up a long time ago and I think it was a big success.
I’ve been watching Murphy for over a year, and he has just grown immensely as a candidate. He’s smooth, he’s unflappable, he has a encyclopedic memory for statistics and facts. His speaking style has gone from halting and nervous to easy and confident. He exudes sincerity and enthusiasm. In short, he’s ready. He’s arrived at the peak of his game at just the right time. He is about to beat a GOP incumbent and he knows it. He wants you to know it to. And he let’s you know it even as he asks for your vote.
When he got done doing his introduction about his life and experiences (as a JAG officer, a West Point professor, an officer in Iraq commanding convoys), it was time for my father to grill him with his preset list of questions. I was shocked to hear his first question. It was the same question I always ask candidates for Congress: “If you are elected, what committees do you want to serve on.” I asked Murphy this same question the first time I met him. He gave the same answer both times. But this time he knocked it out of the park. He wants to serve on Armed Services and Education. Makes perfect sense for a former West Point professor. After the event I mentioned to my father that I had given him that question back in August when he asked for suggestions about what types of things to ask candidates. He didn’t even remember.
Murphy was extremely prepared for all my father’s questions and all the questions from the audience. He even got rousing applause on his answer about abortion. He said he was a practicing Catholic, went to church, considered himself a moral person, but that his religious beliefs have no place in a women’s private life and her medical conditions. He said he was going to Washington to work on much bigger problems like the war, education, stem-cell research, fixing medicare, etc.
I talked to Patrick both before and after the event. He told me he really liked PsiFighter37’s writing. He told my father that what I do is essential and that he never would have won the primary without the support of the netroots. All in all, it was a feel-good experience for all of us in what I am increasingly sure is a winning campaign.
Patrick is going to win election to the House in November, become a father in December, and take his oath of office in January. Things are looking up. So, that is where I was, and I guess Chris gets the prize.
