Calling U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy the administration's partner in progress, Vice President Dick Cheney came to Pittsburgh yesterday to raise an estimated $150,000 for the two-term Republican's defense of his 18th District House seat.

Steve Mellon, Post-Gazette U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, applauds during a speech by Vice President Dick Cheney at the convention center, yesterday, when Cheney visited the city for a Murphy fund-raiser. Click photo for larger image.

As he spoke, at least three Democrats were considering bids to challenge Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair. The best known of them, former state Treasurer Barbara Hafer, plans to travel to Washington, D.C., tomorrow to discuss her potential candidacy with senior House Democrats.

Cheney appeared with Murphy before about 200 people at a lunchtime reception at the Westin Convention Center hotel. The event exemplified the assertive campaign strategy Murphy has pursued in a district in which Democrats hold a registration edge over Republicans.

"I've got a lot of money to raise and I'm being aggressive in raising it," he said.

The congressman reported $418,000 in cash on hand at the end of June. Yesterday's receipts took him close to $600,000 -- a sizable down payment on the estimated $2 million to $3 million he expects to spend in the 2006 contest.

"I've never stopped campaigning from the first day in 1995 when I ran for state Senate," he said. Murphy, a psychologist, refused to be drawn into a discussion of his potential rivals, insisting he and the district's voters were more interested in issues like health care and steps to prevent medical errors.

Cheney inserted an endorsement of his Republican colleague into an overall defense of Bush administration policies.

"Whether the issue is health care for families and seniors, or better public schools, jobs and transportation, or energy independence for America, Tim speaks with common sense and with the solid values of Western Pennsylvania," Cheney said.

With Murphy at his side, Cheney also defended President Bush's call for a transformation of the Social Security system to provide an option for private savings accounts for younger workers. Speaking to reporters before the reception, however, Murphy emphasized that he differs from the president on Social Security.

Speaking of the feedback he has received from constituents on the issue, Murphy said, "It became pretty clear people did not want a plan that weakened Social Security by taking money out, and that's the position I have taken, too. It's different from the president's plan."

Murphy's position on the controversial issues has drawn criticism from both sides of the political spectrum. Some conservative Republicans have faulted him for abandoning the president's position while Democrats, pointing to previous Murphy statements supporting the broad concept of private accounts, characterize his current position as election-eve expediency.

As he extolled the administration's initiatives, Cheney praised the qualifications of Judge John Roberts, Bush's choice to succeed Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court.

"In the weeks ahead, Americans deserve, and Judge Roberts deserves, a process that is honest and bipartisan. And the Senate has a duty to give this nominee fair treatment, a fair hearing, and a fair up or down vote."

Murphy's district extends from the Ohio line through Washington County, the southern part on Allegheny County and into Westmoreland County. Despite its Democratic registration edge, it generally has produced majorities for Republican candidates, including Murphy, in elections for statewide and federal offices over the last decade.

Several Democrats think they can change that pattern. Hafer, who is being courted as a candidate by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and by several Democratic members of the state's House delegation, said she could form a campaign committee, giving her Federal Election Commission permission to accept contributions for a potential run as early as Thursday.

"I've been getting a lot of calls about the race -- pro and con, but mostly pro," Hafer said yesterday.

Hafer has approximately $1.3 million in cash on hand in a state of Pennsylvania political action committee, the Friends of Barbara Hafer. A significant portion of that sum could be used for a run for Congress, but under FEC rules, the procedures for gaining access to those dollars are cumbersome.

George Matta, the Allegheny County clerk of courts, also is considering a run for the congressional seat and filed to form an election committee with the FEC several weeks ago.

"We're still in an exploratory stage," he said yesterday. "We're looking at it aggressively ... we're very encouraged by what we're hearing."

Matta said he would continue to consider the race even if the better-known Hafer decided to enter.

"From a name ID standpoint, a primary might be good," he said.

Tom Kovach of Peters, a former unsuccessful candidate for the Legislature, has said that he also plans to enter next year's Democratic primary in the district.