That tapping sound you hear ...

... is Bucks County Democrats hitting the panic button this morning. The Daily News/Franklin & Marshall College poll shows Republican Mike Fitzpatrick ahead of Congressman Patrick Murphy by 14 points among likely voters in the 8th District. But poll director G. Terry Madonna says Murphy still has some wiggle room. It's September, after all.

Update: The poll is now available here.

Murphy campaign responds: They note that the same poll showed Murphy down by 9 points two weeks before he won the 2006 election: "As expected, this will be a close race and Murphy is taking nothing for granted."

Madonna defends: Says the 2006 poll showed that Murphy was only down by 3 percent among voters who said they were certain to vote, within the margin of error, the Inky reports. In today's poll, Murphy loses ground among respondents who are more likely to vote.

Fitzpatrick campaign boilerplate: "This poll is further evidence of what Mike Fitzpatrick has found by talking to voters in the Eighth Congressional District. Voters are tired of the failed policies of Congressman Murphy and Nancy Pelosi that have doubled the unemployment rate."

Check back tomorrow for an overview of Delaware County's 7th District race between former U.S. Attorney Pat Meehan and state Rep. Bryan Lentz, who had their first debate in front of a live audience this week, sans Democrat-backed conservative Jim Schneller.

Next week, we'll visit the 6th District race (Montco/Chesco/Berks) between Republican Congressman Jim Gerlach and Democrat Manan Trivedi.

Also, bookmark the new Election 2010 page, a partnership between the Committee of Seventy and Philly.com.