The Philadelphia Daily News says that incumbent Democrat Patrick Murphy has gone from “uh oh!” to “oh no!”
U.S. REP. Patrick Murphy’s “uh-oh” moment came last month, when his polling firm reported that Republican Mike Fitzpatrick was within striking distance of recapturing his 8th District seat in Bucks County.
This is his “oh, no” moment:
A new Daily News/Franklin & Marshall College poll — the first independent survey in the nationally watched race — shows Fitzpatrick opening up a double-digit lead over the second-term Democratic congressman.
Fitzpatrick, who lost the congressional seat to Murphy in 2006 by a razor-thin margin, is leading Murphy, 46-36 percent, among registered voters in the district. Among likely voters, the challenger is ahead, 49-35 percent.
“I’m somewhat surprised at the size of the Fitzpatrick lead, but I’m not surprised that he has a lead,” said poll director G. Terry Madonna.
The sudden and mysterious disappearance of the Democrats’ advantage in Bucks County will be the subject of the next movie from local filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan; the twist ending will be that the voters’ preference for that party was a vast illusion created by their exhaustion with the Bush presidency.