August 26, 2008 - Democrat Patrick Murphy is the only Iraq War veteran in Congress, so when he argues for a swift withdrawal of U.S. troops, people tend to listen.

In Murphy's district in southeastern Pennsylvania, he's now hearing a dissenting voice. Republican Tom Manion, a former Marine whose only son was killed in Iraq, is challenging Murphy for his seat. Manion's message: Don't pull American forces out before the war is won.

The contest between Murphy, 34, and Manion, 20 years his senior, is a barometer of the emotional debate over Iraq -- the costliest and deadliest crisis awaiting the next U.S. president and Congress. Even as a weakening economy dominates voters' concerns, the $600 billion war is still fueling passionate debate and swaying people's votes up and down the ballot.

Like Manion, Republican presidential candidate John McCain, 71, has staked his candidacy on staying in Iraq as long as it takes, despite many polls showing two-thirds of Americans think the war was a mistake. Democratic hopeful Barack Obama, 47, made his name as an early opponent of the war and has stood by his vow to withdraw troops in 16 months, even as military experts insist that increased troop levels have improved the situation. Polls show a majority of Americans think the troop surge is succeeding, even if they oppose the war.

`Poster Child'

The conflict "remains the poster child for discontent with Bush, but the public wants it both ways," says Andy Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center in Washington. "They want to be out of Iraq, yet polls suggest people are aware or sensitive to the costs of getting out in the wrong way."

That paradox is why discontent over the war may yet play out in unexpected ways in November. An Aug. 19 Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll found voters only narrowly prefer Illinois Senator Obama's solution for Iraq over Arizona Senator McCain's, 47 percent to 42 percent. More Americans -- by a margin of 12 points -- trust McCain to "deal wisely with an international crisis," the poll shows.

That said, the news last week that the U.S. and Iraq are close to a final agreement on the eventual withdrawal of American combat forces complicates matters for McCain, who has said he'd stay in Iraq 100 years if need be. McCain may have trouble persuading Americans to spend $10 billion a month on the war while the domestic economy is battered by a mortgage crisis and soaring energy costs.

Republican Stronghold

Suburban Philadelphia, an erstwhile Republican stronghold where Democrats have dramatically expanded their rolls since the last election, is a good bellwether of Americans' conflicting emotions over the war.

Two years ago, Murphy eked out a 50.3 percent win in a district that covers northeast Philadelphia and an expanse of suburbs and farms. Now Democrats outnumber Republicans in the largest part of the district, Bucks County, because of dissatisfaction with President George W. Bush, the economy and the war. Murphy is favored to hold his seat, say the Cook and Rothenberg political reports.

Murphy was an Army captain in Baghdad in 2003 and 2004, when violence escalated after Saddam Hussein's regime was toppled. In his first congressional term, he has championed veterans' issues and co-sponsored with Obama failed legislation to bring the troops home.

"As someone who served in Baghdad with the 82nd Airborne, I can tell you that what's needed in Iraq is a surge in diplomacy, not an escalation of force," he said at the time. Murphy's aides declined repeated requests to interview him.

Sniper Fire

Manion, who retired from the Marines as a colonel and works as an executive at New Brunswick, New Jersey-based Johnson & Johnson, never served overseas and says he wasn't interested in politics before losing his 26-year-old son to sniper fire in Iraq's Al Anbar province last year.

"He called me from Iraq and said the surge is what we need," Manion says of Travis, a Marine lieutenant. Manion says policy makers should take their cues from troops on the ground like his son, not from a war-weary public or pollsters.

"The last thing we need is more sons and daughters going back in five years because we didn't do it right," Manion says.

Last week, Manion was shaking hands at the Middletown Grange fair, a summertime gathering where neighbors show off farm animals and enjoy cotton candy and carnival rides.

Crucial Step

"I was against going in there in the first place, but we went and made a mess, and I feel pulling out now would leave a vacuum," said homemaker Deborah Rodrigo, 51, a Democrat who said she is leaning toward McCain.

Kathryn DeGuire, 75, a retired psychologist, said she supports Murphy and Obama because ending the war is the crucial step to restoring U.S. credibility overseas.

Others said changing events have left them confused.

John Frekot Sr., 75, a veteran of the Korean War, said he voted for Bush in 2000 and Democratic Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts in 2004.

"If Iraqi troops can take over in 12-to-18 months, I see no reason they shouldn't," he said. ``But right now, I am right down the middle on which candidates will do the best.''