Will Steve Israel Muck Up Democratic Chances To Take Back PA-08 Again?

Shaughnessy Naughton

Although southeast Pennsylvania's 8th congressional district has a small chunk of northern Montgomery County, it is basically the Bucks County district. Along with the neighboring 7th CD, it is the wealthiest party of Pennsylvania, those two districts being the only two in the state with medium household incomes over $70,000. PA-08 is a genuine swing district with a PVI of R+1. Obama beat McCain, 53-46% in 2008 and he and Romney tied 49-49% last year, Romney edging him by a few votes. The incumbent, Mike Fitzpatrick, was elected in 2004, was defeated after one term by Patrick Murphy, who joined the Blue Dog caucus and was defeated-- in a rematch with Fitzpatrick-- in 2010 as part of the Great Blue Dog Apocalypse. Last year the DCCC refused to support the Democratic nominee, Kathy Boockvar and Fitzpatrick outspent her $2,586,004 to $1,443,331 and won 57-43%.

This year, Steve Israel rushed to recruit a more conservative and malleable Democrat for the DCCC, former CIA analyst Kevin Strouse. They failed to contend with the fact that a popular local businesswoman, Shaughnessy Naughton, is also running, breaking a Democratic rule about not interfering in viable primaries. She's a research scientist who has done breast cancer and infectious disease research, as well as drug discovery and is the owner and CEO of a small business, a publishing company located in the district. She tells people, reminiscent of congressional neighbor Rush Holt, that one of the main reasons she's running is because she thinks we need more scientists in politics. "As a chemist, it is incredibly important to me that our national policy is based on credible evidence-based research." I asked her to introduce herself to DWT readers with a guest post about one specific-- and very salient-- issue for her area of Pennsylvania: fracking.

Fitzpatrick hasn't been as conservative on environmental issues as most of his GOP colleagues. At one point he was even endorsed by the Sierra Club. That's good politics because Bucks County is a very environmentally sensitive area. Fracking is a big issue there but the DCCC candidate, Strouse finds himself the odd-man out, backing fracking. In his Master's Thesis, "Russian Natural Gas: Enabler Of Uncooperative Foreign Policy" he supports fracking and in particular the so-called Halliburton loophole technology in Cheney's highly controversial 2005 Energy Bill.

 

Basing National Policy On Credible Evidence-Based Research
-by Shaughnessy Naughton

When it comes to fracking, our policies on drilling ignore its potential public health and environmental risks. To me, that’s crazy! We should not be risking our community’s health just to make a profit. It’s simply wrong. There’s so much we don’t know, including whether or not gas and brine can make a path to the surface and what kind of seismic activity fracking causes.

This issue is particularly potent in my district, which has the Delaware River running along it. The River contributes to the entire region: at 330 miles it is the longest American river east of the Mississippi, providing drinking water for more than 15 million people, as well as water needed for industry, and irrigation for Pennsylvania’s important farming regions. Moreover, the Delaware River basin is prone to severe floods, so chemical storage near the source of so much drinking water is a serious hazard.

Fracking uses a toxic chemical cocktail called fracking fluid, but companies refuse to say what exact contaminants are in the fluid, claiming that the contents are proprietary information. The Marcellus Shale, Pennsylvania’s largest drilling site, has unknown levels of radon, a radioactive gas that causes lung cancer. Rather than allowing fracking companies to hide behind the cloak of “trade secrets,” I support full disclosure and transparency of the chemicals that drillers inject underground.

My primary opponent, who moved to Pennsylvania from DC earlier this year, doesn’t seem too concerned about fracking. When asked about his views on climate change, he recently told a local newspaper “I support natural gas drilling.”

Well, I don’t agree. It would be irresponsible to frack locally and even remotely threaten a source of drinking water for 15 million people. In fact, we already have a moratorium on fracking in Pennsylvania’s Bucks and Montgomery counties passed in 2012. The fracking ban in the two counties operates as both a state and federal moratorium; the federal moratorium came in 2009, when the administrators of the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) determined they needed to ban fracking along the length of the River until guidelines were drawn up.

We need to keep the federal ban in place, and make sure that Obama doesn't succumb to the energy lobby's pressure to lift the moratorium. In fact, I support making the moratorium a permanent ban. My opponent, on the other hand, clearly seems to think that there is a “right way” to risk our public health.

We as a country need to stop taking short-term gains in exchange for long-term losses. We need to start investing seriously in research on clean energy alternatives like wind, solar, and rain energy.  Most importantly, we need to start basing our policies on scientific facts.

I contacted Strouse's campaign for this article as well and a friendly staffer promised to have him call back with his perspective. That hasn't happened. If you'd like to contribute to the candidate who will protect Bucks County from fracking, Shaughnessy's Act Blue page is here. In a district like PA-08, where independents, not base voters, determine who will win, a Democrat supporting fracking will never beat a Republican who opposes it. If Democrats hope to take back the district Shaughnessy Naughton is the candidate who can beat Fitzpatrick. Steve Israel should let district Democrats decide, not try to make that decision based on his own prejudices and preferences for conservative-leaning Democrats.

UPDATE: Israel Sends A Poison Pen Letter

Today Steve Israel, doubling down on parachuting into competitive primaries on behalf of more conservative candidates, sent out a fundraising letter for his handpicked patsy, Kevin Strouse:

As Chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, it’s my job to find the best candidates to run for Congress.

One of our top races is Kevin Strouse in Pennsylvania’s 8th district-- this seat is CRITICAL to winning a Democratic majority.

National Republicans know it too. That’s why shady special interest groups will be targeting Kevin, ready to spend HUGE amounts of cash to buy this seat.

If we are going to win a Democratic majority against the right-wing establishment and all the cash that goes with it, Kevin needs to have a huge showing for Monday’s big FEC fundraising deadline. Will you help him do it?

Please help Kevin have a strong grassroots showing by giving $3 or more before Monday’s critical fundraising deadline.

Every dollar counts, so we need every one of you to step up and give whatever you can.

An outaged friend of mine in Doylestown, a significant (now former) DCCC contributor who got that letter, sent me a steely-eyed e-mail: "Not only are they fundraising for someone who isn't from here and is against the common-sense moratorium on fracking on the Delaware River, but the DCCC is campaigning against the only woman in the race. It's concerning that they are trying to hand pick another male candidate at a time when issues facing women and families are on the chopping block in our nation's capital. I'm convinced. I promise to contribute through Blue America from now on. I can't believe it took so long."