[Editor’s Note: A warm welcome for our first guest blogger: Iraq War veteran Pat Murphy, who’s running for Congress in the 8th district in Pennsylvania, shares his thoughts on fighting back against Republican “swift boat” smear campaigns.]

They told me it was coming. We saw them do it to Senator Max Cleland, who lost three limbs on the front lines in Vietnam. We saw them do to Senator John Kerry in 2004. They even did it to one of their own, Senator John McCain in 2000.

Patrick Murphy and former Georgia Senator Max Cleland

When I decided to run for Congress last year I knew it was only a matter of time until the Republicans tried to do it to me. But no amount of warning can prepare a soldier to watch as his service is publicly smeared by vicious attacks and boldfaced lies.

My parents taught me the importance of hard work, sacrifice and loyalty – values that spurred me to join the Army in 1993. Over the next 11 years I earned my commission as an officer, eventually taught constitutional law to the next generation of military leaders at West Point, and post 9/11 served a tour of duty in Bosnia and deployed to Baghdad, Iraq. There I witnessed firsthand the consequences of our failed policy in Iraq. I felt that I had a duty as a witness to our failed foreign policy to work for a change of direction in our country. <!-more->
Baghdad-2003: Captain Murphy instructing a new class of recruits for the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps

That’s why, after I returned from Iraq, I volunteered my time to help John Kerry for President in Pennsylvania. When they tried to swift boat Senator Kerry at the Philadelphia Vietnam veteran’s memorial, I proudly defended his honor and service. Senator Kerry’s courage, leadership, and commitment to our country helped inspire me to keep up the fight for change by running for Congress.

Now, with one month left in that fight, it’s become apparent that my opponent will let nothing, not even the truth, get in the way of his campaign to protect the status quo. This final month will be the most critical of the campaign, but I will prevail because of the hard work and passion of my friends and family.

The voters of the 8th Congressional District of Pennsylvania are tired of the failed Bush agenda and the politics of personal destruction. With the help of volunteers, donors, and people like Senator Kerry, I will win this fight and help change the direction of our country.

Patrick J. Murphy

[To learn more about Patrick Murphy and find out how you can help, visit www.murphy06.com ]

And for more information about what the Republicans are doing to smear Patrick Murphy, check out “John Kerry Fights for Patrick Murphy” by Taylor Marsh on huffingtonpost.com, and mcjoan’s “PA-08: On Swiftboating Patrick Murphy” on Daily Kos (Monday, 7:09 PDT).

Ted Chiodo, our intrepid blog correspondent on the road with John Kerry, reports in from Emmetsburg, Iowa, site of a 5-county Democratic rally on Sunday. From now till Election Day, Ted will be bringing you reports from the states where John Kerry is doing everything he can do to defeat Republicans at every level of the ticket and win back control of the House and the Senate. Here’s Ted:

People in Iowa love their politics. More than two hundred and fifty enthusiastic Iowa Democrats drove in for three hours of speeches at a five-county rally in Emmetsburg on Sunday afternoon. People were arriving early, something that Pocahontas County Democratic Central Committee co-chair Lois Jirgens told me was really unusual. Ken and Nancy Kunickis and their kids

People drove in from all over the 5 counties, and lots of them brought the whole family. I talked briefly with Ken and Nancy Kunickis and their kids. The Kunickis drove 25 miles to the rally from Laurens, Iowa because they are unhappy with the Republican leadership in Washington and wanted to catch a picture with Kerry. They’re both teachers, and also own a pub, Rumors. Katie told me that at school, “I teach the children to be responsible for their actions in the classroom. If it’s a good lesson for our children, I don’t know why it shouldn’t be a good lesson for the leadership in Washington.” <!-more-> At the end of the rally, Senator Harkin introduced Kerry, who proceeded to blast the values of the current Republican administration.

He followed with advice for what do to when people start parroting the Rovian talking point that Democrats don’t have any ideas. ‘What kind of ideas do Republicans have?’, Kerry asked the house:

“Next time you knock on someone’s door, and they say ‘Well, I don’t trust the Republicans anymore, but the Democrats don’t have any ideas.’ You tell them that if by ideas they mean running the debt up to nine trillion dollars, losing America’s manufacturing base, denying children after-school programs, cutting kids from Medicaid, and privatizing Social Security - if by ideas they mean violating the law, ignoring international treaties and forgetting diplomacy - if by ideas they mean filling the trough of the special interests’ pig pen, giving the money changers their bankruptcy bill, giving the oil industry their energy bill, and giving the big pharmaceutical companies their prescription drug bill—then they’re right. Those are bad ideas being shoved down the throats of the American people by a Washington of bankrupt values and I’m proud we stood up and said no to them every step of the way.”

And Kerry had plenty of good Democratic ideas for people to take home:

“So what do we say yes to? What are our ideas?

How about starting with this: tell the American people the truth!

Then, full-on fire the incompetents!

Make America secure with energy independence.

Value work, not wealth, and make our tax code fair for the middle class and people struggling to join it.

Export products, not jobs.

Make health care accessible and affordable for all Americans.

Do something about global warming and, while we’re at it, clean up our lakes and rivers so people can fish and swim in the United States.

Set a deadline for Iraqis to run Iraq and bring our heroes home.

These are real ideas. I believe that was an agenda worth fighting for in 2004, and it’s even more urgent today and America will be better off if we start getting these things done now.”

Now it’s on to Nevada on Tuesday to work for the Democrats there. Stay tuned!

[Editor’s Note: Just a heads-up that if your comment isn’t visible during the late-night/early morning hours, it’s because the blog will have comments set to delayed-posting during that time so our moderators can get their beauty sleep. All of your comments are welcome and will be available for viewing in the morning.]

Senator Kerry responded strongly earlier today to reports that North Korea had tested a nuclear weapon. Kerry is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and the ranking Democrat on the committee’s Asia Subcommittee. He called for the Bush administration and the international community to condemn any North Korean test “in the strongest possible terms.”

“While we’ve been bogged down in Iraq where there were no weapons of mass destruction, a madman has apparently tested the ultimate weapon of mass destruction,” Kerry said. He urged President Bush “to wake up and start doing the diplomacy necessary to address this threat….Getting this right will require this Administration to demonstrate the leadership they’ve failed to provide as years of absent or bungled diplomacy allowed the threat to grow exponentially.”

Welcome! 30 days left —we don’t have a minute to waste.

That’s why I’m kicking off our 30 Days for Change blog here at johnkerry.com so we can provide up to the minute updates, information, travelogues, and so you can continue to engage directly as we drive all the way through the mid term elections and big Democratic victory.

Together, you and I got up and kept scrapping and fighting and poured everything we have into these elections. Now, as we sprint towards November 7th, we need to do even more – - we’ve got to ensure that our great Democratic candidates take back the House and the Senate from George Bush and the rubber stamp Republican Congress.

And by everything, I mean everything. Pulling out all the stops. I will be spending these last few weeks criss-crossing the country to raise money and get out the vote for Democrats. Together we’ve already supported over 165 candidates from City Council to United States Senate races. And with grassroots power, we’ve given and raised more than $10 million for these tough races.

Now is the moment where we put it all to the test. <!-more-> We’re on a moral mission. It starts with electing veterans to Congress. You’ll see a lot about them here. Nothing will change the course of Congress more than electing vets who will stand up to the Republicans armchair warriors. Veterans who know what war is, who know that is immoral for old men to send young Americans to fight and die for a policy that isn’t working. Veterans who know we can’t afford a stand still and lose policy in Iraq or a cut and run policy in Afghanistan. Here we’ll be defending vets from smears, and when we see it happen we will make clear that Swiftboating will not stand.

Right here, I’ll keep you posted about where I’m going, and what’s happening with the candidates I’m supporting. We’ve got a staffer traveling with me who will be bringing you the sites and sounds of all the campaigns and candidates we touch.

And a special welcome to everyone who participated on the blog of my presidential campaign. That’s where I first saw the power of blogging, and both Teresa and I learned a great deal from your comments and suggestions. We haven’t lost track of you – we’re still learning – and we’ll be inviting you to provide your own guest commentary about the fight were engaged in.

I know how fast blogs are altering the political media landscape. As I travel, I am reaching out to all of the bloggers who’re creating a whole new form of political media by providing the detailed coverage of state and local races that you often can’t get anywhere else. And a special thank you to those bloggers who’ve pitched in and used their blogs to raise the money. Our candidates need every single penny to fight back against the Republican slime attacks. That’s the only way we can change course in Iraq, start doing something about global warming and energy independence, get everybody health care, make America fair again, and clean out the stables in Washington.

So welcome aboard, and let’s get down to business.