Patrick Murphy Meets Frustrated Crowds at "Congressman on Your Corner" Sessions

UPDATE: Local coverage of Benedict Arlen's Townhall with Kathleen Sebelius aired on Fox. Evidently things didn't go well for poor Arlen today. Kathleen Sebelius was shown defending Specter when challenged on not reading bills before voting. Will post video when available.

See Newest Update here on Patrick Murphy and future meetings.

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy. Patrick Murphy spent some of his Saturday meeting with frustrated constituents. The topic was health care and a clearly concerned crowd forced Murphy to rethink his strategy to answer questions one-on-one and address the group as a whole. He was heckled frequently leading him to remark in his opening statement, "this was not a town hall meeting."

The first stop was at a market in Morrisville where Murphy was greeted by an angry group much larger than he anticipated:

Any doubts about the political leanings of the crowd in Morrisville were put to rest when Murphy, explaining that he works with, not for, President Obama, added, "I happen to think he's doing a pretty great job." The restaurant erupted in a chorus of boos and catcalls. It was the Murphy line that got the most vocal reaction at either location.

The second stop was at an Acme market in Levittown where Murphy met a mixed group of voters. He repeated that the current health care system was unsustainable and said he supported a public plan. Murphy answered he would participate in a public plan when asked directly. Sounds good except for the fact Congress is exempt from participation and keeps their Cadillac or "gold standard" plan.

A post on the blog YoungPhilly Politics accuses Murphy of being on the wrong side of the health care debate and challenges his membership in the Blue Dog group. I would reassure the blogger Murphy is only a tangential Blue Dog as he votes with Speaker Pelosi 99% of the time. Though PA 8 has voted largely Democrat in previous Presidential elections, Murphy's seat was long held by a Republican. Bucks County has a strong tendency to elect Republicans for local office as well. A glance through the comments on the Philly burbs article linked here shows there is growing outrage over Murphy's decidedly liberal voting record. His support of a public plan is outrageous, however, considering a large percentage of his constituents are employed in the health care field which is strongly opposed to the public plan touted by Obama and Pelosi.

These events were not widely publicized. Should Murphy find the courage to continue these sessions, I plan to attend as many as possible. Murphy's voting record does not reflect the political leanings of his constituents, a fact he seems to love to ignore. His ties with Murtha corruption has made him the recipient of growing attention on the Op-ed pages of local papers. Perhaps Congressman Murphy should be given a map and a compass to inform him PA 8 is not San Francisco.

Note of Thanks: Conservative bloggers are truly a gracious crew. Thanks to Pundit and Pundette for featuring this post.