Tom Manion

Two debates hosted by local newspapers will headline a series of forums between the three candidates vying for the 8th Congressional District seat.

The Bucks County Courier Times and The Intelligencer will each host debates, respectively, on Oct. 15 in Bristol and Oct. 29 in Doylestown.

The debates will follow other forums with the three candidates. Republican Tom Manion and Indepdent Tom Lingenfelter are vying to unseat U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Bristol). 

Picking up a strategy being used by Republicans across the state and the country, a new commercial for Tom Manion criticizes his opponent's ties to embattled U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY).

The ad, being aired on local cable, seizes on Rangel's contributions to U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Bristol) and Murphy's support for a Rangel earmark. Rangel is a prolific fundraiser in Democratic circles, and hardly a Democratic candidate has been spared such criticism.

"Believe me," Manion says, "this 30-year marine is going to put an end to taxpayer abuses like that."

Manion is trying to unseat Murphy in the 8th Congressional District. 

See the ad embedded below:

Count Republican Tom Manion as one of the Congressional candidates who will continue to campaign as GOP nominee for president John McCain temporarily suspends his campaign to deal with the brewing economic crisis.

"I respect and agree with Senator McCain’s decision to suspend his campaign and offer his assistance during this crisis," Manion told PolitickerPA.com in a statement. "I will be following the developments very closely, and discussing the situation with advisors. As we have no legislative role to fill however, I am not planning to suspend my campaign. I’ll continue to work hard here in district 8 so that our community has the leadership they need come January to follow through on this crisis."

Manion is running against U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy in the 8th Congressional District.

Both candidates in the competitive 8th Congressional District race now have commercials running, with U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Bristol) recently putting out his own ad on local TV.

The 60-second spot (embedded below) is longer than most campaign ads. It touches on his biography, his status as the only Iraq War veteran in Congress and projects he has helped bring to the district, including a recently announced veterans' cemetery.

"Patrick Murphy, fighting for change, delivering for southeast Pennsylvania," the narrator says.

His opponent, Tom Manion, recently released his own first TV spot.

Republican Tom Manion is airing his campaign's first television advertisement, as his bid to unseat U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Bristol) enters the home stretch before Election Day.

The 30-second spot, one of four ads filmed by the campaign, is running on local cable, including on CNN's Larry King Live. Featuring little biographical information, its primary focus echoes what has been a key plank of Manion's campaign in the 8th Congressional District: the death of his son in Iraq.

"...as your congressman, let me assure you, if I ever have to vote on sending your son or daughter to war, it will be as a parent who lost his son in Iraq, and as someone who truly understands the heartbreaking cost of war."

The next ad could air as early as this week, a campaign spokeswoman said. 

See the full ad embedded below:

He's usually seen on the sidelines of Philadelphia Eagles training camp. But Tuesday night, ESPN football guru Sal Paolantonio will be helping Republican Tom Manion get elected to Congress, The Morning Call reports.

Manion is running what is expected to be a competitive race against U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Bristol) in the 8th Congressional District. Paolantonio will be helping Manion raise money at a fundraiser at the luxury clothing store Ventresca's in Doylestown.

Continuing its attempt to catch up with U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's (D-NY) considerable ground operation in Pennsylvania, the campaign of U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) will open an office in Bucks County Wednesday evening.

The office, in Warminster, will officially open at 6 p.m. Republican Tom Manion, who is running against U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Bristol) in the 8th Congressional District, will speak on McCain's behalf, Manion's campaign said today.

Of the critical counties in the Philadelphia suburbs, Bucks County, with large swaths of blue-collar voters, is one that analysts give McCain the best chance of winning. 

Jay Russell was hoping to run for Congress against U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Bristol) and Republican Tom Manion.

But Constitution Candidate hopeful dropped his election bid this week before a hearing was set for a challenge to his candidacy, The Bucks County Courier Times reports.

Tom Lingenfelter, a Doylestown political activist running as an Independent in the 8th Congressional District race, had claimed in court papers that more than 2,500 of the signatures collected for Russell's nominating petitions were invalid.

As a member of Congress, U.S. Rep. Patrick Muphy (D-Bristol) has an automatic ticket to Denver this month as a superdelegate to the Democratic Convetion. He even has been given a special speaking role, with the freshman incumbent and Iraq war veteran expected to give a tribute to veterans the night before U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) accepts the party's nomination for president.

But in an unusual campaign tactic, his opponent in the 8th Congressional District, Tom Manion, says Murphy should be staying home to deal with problems in the district, The Bucks County Courier Times reports.

"Instead of being out there giving speeches on the convention floor, he ought to be back here and working to figure out what we can do with the energy crisis we have,” Manion said.

Manion is not attending the GOP convention next month, but he is not a voting delegate to the convention like Murphy. 

U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter has some words of advice for U.S. Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain as they campaign for the White House:

"They'd be well advised if they didn't promise too much."

That's what Specter, the longtime moderate Pennsylvania Republican, said in a wide-ranging interview with the editorial boards of The Bucks County Courier Times and The Intelligencer. He had plenty more to say about both candidates' chances in the state, and also offered his thoughts on Bucks Couny's 8th Congressional District race and his own next election run.

With NBC's Chris Matthews rumored to be considering a run against Specter as a Democrat in 2010, the incumbent said he wasn't concerned.

 "Like Satchel Paige said, "I don't look too far behind me because they might be gaining.'" Specter said. "The right wing doesn't like me, so I'm sure I'll have an opponent each way."