TC Palm - Though in Opposite Parties, Democrat Murphy, GOP Colleague Join Forces, Have Much in Common

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By Jonathan Mattise

Democratic U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy had a lot in common with an Ohio Republican colleague when the two outlined their new bill Friday in West Palm Beach.

At the Forum Club of the Palm Beaches lunch, Murphy and his fellow Irish freshman Congressman Dave Joyce described their efforts to be middle-ground moderates. They suggested fairly noncontroversial ways to save the federal government $200 billion over the next decade -- a savings from cuts their bipartisan United Solutions Caucus proposed last week.

The two also are high-profile targets for their 2014 re-elections. Republicans want to claim Murphy's seat. His district supported republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, but Murphy won over former Congressman Allen West. Democrats likewise want to upend Joyce.

The two are in oddly similar positions, just on opposite sides of the parties' struggle to maintain and gain power in the Republican majority U.S. House. Their seats are two of a few that could change hands next election.

"We're in the same shoes because we're both being targeted by the other party," Murphy said after the event. "...It's easier for people like myself who are moderate to hold and be elected in a moderate seat. That is really a purple seat, one of the few real swing districts. Joyce is the same."

The bill the two congressmen formed, nicknamed the Savings, Accountability, Value and Efficiency (SAVE) Act, is based off suggestions by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. None of their ideas involve large-scale changes to programs like Medicare or Social Security. Instead, they focus on items such as duplicative inspections of catfish, pushing the government to buy products in bulk and ensuring federal contracts are competitively bid.

Murphy, D-Jupiter, said the final work product is a result of getting to know members of the other party and talking about issues.

"A big part of this group was the commitment to meet once a month -- do something social, go bowling, to get a dinner at someone's house," he said.

Simultaneously, the two congressmen's opposing party recruiters are conjuring up ways to get each other out of office.

During the lunch at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, Joyce offered a glimpse into the pressures of re-election every two years in the House.

Joyce, who served as a prosecutor outside Cleveland, easily won his seat in 2012. He jumped on the ticket when a sitting congressman stepped down after an unopposed primary. When famed conservative Grover Norquist called on Joyce to sign his no-tax-raise pledge, Joyce declined. Joyce said Norquist then threatened to put a more conservative candidate against him in the next Republican primary.

"I want taxes to go down," Joyce said, "but we can't sign stupid pledges that abdicate our responsibility to some outside party."

Much like Murphy, Joyce's competition swirled before he even reached Capitol Hill. Joyce said opponents have lined up from both parties.

"I got to D.C. and before I cast a single vote, I had an opponent. From both sides," Joyce said. "I said, "Just let me vote. Just see what kind of record I have.'"

Likewise, the National Republican Congressional Committee has started slamming Murphy online, including an email blast bashing him for having multiple fundraisers for his birthday. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee named Joyce a top-four most vulnerable target and has unleashed its own negative advertising.

A handful of Republicans are thinking about vying for Murphy's job: former congressional candidate Adam Hasner; former state Rep. Carl Domino; state Rep. Gayle Harrell; former Tequesta councilman Calvin Turnquest and St. Lucie County Commissioner Tod Mowery. Former Connecticut U.S. Senate candidate Alan Schlesinger, Juno Beach Vice Mayor Pro Tem Ellen Andel and former state House write-in candidate Beverly Hires already said they're running.

Domino, who attended the Friday lunch, commended Joyce and Murphy for focusing on their commonalities. But he said there still are plenty of votes to cast to back up the rhetoric.

"If Barack Obama would come in here, he would give the exact same speech," Domino said. "Where the rubber hits the road: who will vote for things that will reduce the budget, will reduce the deficit?"

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