thedrifter
03-02-08, 01:21 PM
Manion motivated to service in 8th District race
Tom Manion, the Republican candidate for the 8th Congressional District, has no political experience.
Depending on how you look at it, that's either an asset or a liability, and Manion and his supporters view his status as a political outsider as a positive force in his challenge of freshman Congressman Patrick J. Murphy, a Democrat.
What Manion has going for him is a lifetime of proven leadership experience, 30 years as a Marine Corps officer (He spent 11 years on active duty and retired from the Marine Reserves as a colonel in January.) and almost 20 years as an executive at pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson.
I sat down with the candidate one day last week.
The Doylestown Township resident is in some ways an Everyman, the guy next door who sees his entry into the political arena as another way to serve the nation.
He was motivated to seek office by the death of his son in Iraq last April. Marine 1st Lt. Travis Manion was killed by a sniper's bullet in al Anbar Province. It was the 26-year-old Naval Academy graduate's second deployment to Iraq.
“It comes back to what happened with my son,” Tom Manion said. “My son really believed in this country and in making a difference.”
He and Travis spent much time together between his son's deployments to the war zone, and Travis kept in touch with his father while he was there. He and his fellow Marines believed they were making a difference in their sector of Iraq. They were making progress.
“So for me it's about what he stood for and standing up for the country and trying to make a difference and believing that he was fighting for our freedoms over there. And for me it was sort of a wake-up call. If he feels that strongly and the guys over there feel that strongly about this country, then the least we can do over here is step forward and try to make a difference back here ... it was time for me to do something for the country, and I thought that the time was right to step forward and do that.”
Manion believes the country needs leaders who can put aside political divisiveness and work together to find solutions to problems.
“I think we really need to come together as a country. It seemed we had a lot of that after 9/11, but it faded away really quickly. It's disappointing to me, and it's about finding that spot again. I think our country is in a place right now where we're at risk if we don't come together, if we don't figure out how to work together.”
And he thinks his experiences in the military and in the business world have taught him those kinds of leadership qualities.
“I liken it to my time in the Marine Corps, or at J&J, which works with people from across the globe, and people think very, very differently. You have to come together and come up with solutions to move forward or you go out of business.”
In the Marine Corps, “what was important for me as an officer was always to lead with integrity to make sure you fulfilled the trust of your Marines ... I think that starts out with making them understand that you'll always deal with them with integrity and that you care about them. And as long as you do that you can build a great team.”
He hopes to bring that kind of leadership to Capitol Hill.
“I think we have some critical issues. We have to figure out solutions. I like to think of spending, which is out of control in Washington. It's a lot of the bureaucracies that have been created. We're never down there trying to streamline how the government works. At J&J we do that all the time. We go into different units and say, "Hey, this is inefficient. We gotta fix it.' And most of the time we're doing that we're saying we're going to cut costs, and we're still going to make it better. I think some of that philosophy has to go down to Washington.”
Manion likes GOP presidential candidate John McCain.
“I admire Senator McCain and what he stands for and his principles. For me it's not about the (political) party; it's about this country. We all have to be Americans first, and if not, we're headed for big trouble. And we've already seen it on occasion.”
Like McCain, he supports bringing the troops home from Iraq but not before the mission there is accomplished.
“We have to think about the consequences if we pull out before the mission's completed. I'm disappointed when the discussion's just at the level of "Oh, we're going to withdraw.' OK, if we withdraw, what happens? When we withdrew from Vietnam, there were big problems. Are we going to withdraw and put our troops at risk? Are we going to withdraw and leave an unstable Iraq, and what does that do to the safety of our country?
“So I like to talk about the overall strategy for the region and what happens if we're able to stabilize Iraq. What does that do for the safety of our country and what does that do for the global war on terror because I think that's the bigger issue we're dealing with. Everyone seems to be narrowly focused on Iraq. I think the larger picture has to be looked at. From that perspective I pretty much line up with John McCain as well.”
On health care, he disagrees with the single-payer approach supported by some Democrats.
“I'm much more for an open-market approach. That's not to say things can't be improved. They need to be improved. We have to look at it very closely. We need to look at tax deductions, opening insurance across state borders, making it more competitive, health savings accounts. And we need to figure out how to make the insurance companies more accountable for their role in the whole process.”
He sees himself and his opponent, Murphy, clashing on a timed withdrawal of troops from Iraq, health care and spending.
Murphy “has talked about fiscal conservatism, but there are the earmarks (federal funds legislators target for projects in their home districts), and he's at the top of the list for earmarks brought back into the district. That's great for those who are getting the benefit of that, but the reality is those earmarks are happening in every district across the country, and we as taxpayers are paying for them. There are big implications to spending and fiscal responsibility that we really need to take a close look at, and that's another area in which I think I line up pretty well with Senator McCain.
“You have to run government like a business or you're going to go out of business.”
Lou Sessinger is a columnist with The Intelligencer and phillyBurbs.com. He can be contacted at (215) 957-8172 or lsessinger@phillyBurbs.com.
Ellie
Tom Manion, the Republican candidate for the 8th Congressional District, has no political experience.
Depending on how you look at it, that's either an asset or a liability, and Manion and his supporters view his status as a political outsider as a positive force in his challenge of freshman Congressman Patrick J. Murphy, a Democrat.
What Manion has going for him is a lifetime of proven leadership experience, 30 years as a Marine Corps officer (He spent 11 years on active duty and retired from the Marine Reserves as a colonel in January.) and almost 20 years as an executive at pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson.
I sat down with the candidate one day last week.
The Doylestown Township resident is in some ways an Everyman, the guy next door who sees his entry into the political arena as another way to serve the nation.
He was motivated to seek office by the death of his son in Iraq last April. Marine 1st Lt. Travis Manion was killed by a sniper's bullet in al Anbar Province. It was the 26-year-old Naval Academy graduate's second deployment to Iraq.
“It comes back to what happened with my son,” Tom Manion said. “My son really believed in this country and in making a difference.”
He and Travis spent much time together between his son's deployments to the war zone, and Travis kept in touch with his father while he was there. He and his fellow Marines believed they were making a difference in their sector of Iraq. They were making progress.
“So for me it's about what he stood for and standing up for the country and trying to make a difference and believing that he was fighting for our freedoms over there. And for me it was sort of a wake-up call. If he feels that strongly and the guys over there feel that strongly about this country, then the least we can do over here is step forward and try to make a difference back here ... it was time for me to do something for the country, and I thought that the time was right to step forward and do that.”
Manion believes the country needs leaders who can put aside political divisiveness and work together to find solutions to problems.
“I think we really need to come together as a country. It seemed we had a lot of that after 9/11, but it faded away really quickly. It's disappointing to me, and it's about finding that spot again. I think our country is in a place right now where we're at risk if we don't come together, if we don't figure out how to work together.”
And he thinks his experiences in the military and in the business world have taught him those kinds of leadership qualities.
“I liken it to my time in the Marine Corps, or at J&J, which works with people from across the globe, and people think very, very differently. You have to come together and come up with solutions to move forward or you go out of business.”
In the Marine Corps, “what was important for me as an officer was always to lead with integrity to make sure you fulfilled the trust of your Marines ... I think that starts out with making them understand that you'll always deal with them with integrity and that you care about them. And as long as you do that you can build a great team.”
He hopes to bring that kind of leadership to Capitol Hill.
“I think we have some critical issues. We have to figure out solutions. I like to think of spending, which is out of control in Washington. It's a lot of the bureaucracies that have been created. We're never down there trying to streamline how the government works. At J&J we do that all the time. We go into different units and say, "Hey, this is inefficient. We gotta fix it.' And most of the time we're doing that we're saying we're going to cut costs, and we're still going to make it better. I think some of that philosophy has to go down to Washington.”
Manion likes GOP presidential candidate John McCain.
“I admire Senator McCain and what he stands for and his principles. For me it's not about the (political) party; it's about this country. We all have to be Americans first, and if not, we're headed for big trouble. And we've already seen it on occasion.”
Like McCain, he supports bringing the troops home from Iraq but not before the mission there is accomplished.
“We have to think about the consequences if we pull out before the mission's completed. I'm disappointed when the discussion's just at the level of "Oh, we're going to withdraw.' OK, if we withdraw, what happens? When we withdrew from Vietnam, there were big problems. Are we going to withdraw and put our troops at risk? Are we going to withdraw and leave an unstable Iraq, and what does that do to the safety of our country?
“So I like to talk about the overall strategy for the region and what happens if we're able to stabilize Iraq. What does that do for the safety of our country and what does that do for the global war on terror because I think that's the bigger issue we're dealing with. Everyone seems to be narrowly focused on Iraq. I think the larger picture has to be looked at. From that perspective I pretty much line up with John McCain as well.”
On health care, he disagrees with the single-payer approach supported by some Democrats.
“I'm much more for an open-market approach. That's not to say things can't be improved. They need to be improved. We have to look at it very closely. We need to look at tax deductions, opening insurance across state borders, making it more competitive, health savings accounts. And we need to figure out how to make the insurance companies more accountable for their role in the whole process.”
He sees himself and his opponent, Murphy, clashing on a timed withdrawal of troops from Iraq, health care and spending.
Murphy “has talked about fiscal conservatism, but there are the earmarks (federal funds legislators target for projects in their home districts), and he's at the top of the list for earmarks brought back into the district. That's great for those who are getting the benefit of that, but the reality is those earmarks are happening in every district across the country, and we as taxpayers are paying for them. There are big implications to spending and fiscal responsibility that we really need to take a close look at, and that's another area in which I think I line up pretty well with Senator McCain.
“You have to run government like a business or you're going to go out of business.”
Lou Sessinger is a columnist with The Intelligencer and phillyBurbs.com. He can be contacted at (215) 957-8172 or lsessinger@phillyBurbs.com.
Ellie