Those were the words Patrick Murphy used in a September op-ed railing against Citizens United and calling for campaign finance reform.
The passage should have ended with: “…unless my dad strokes another six-figure check.”
That’s because Privileged Patrick is once again the beneficiary of a major contribution by his father to a Super PAC dedicated to Murphy’s political career:
- Coastal Construction CEO Thomas Murphy put up $200,000 of the $535,000 raised by Floridians for a Strong Middle Class, a new group formed to back his son’s Senate bid, according to new Federal Election Commission filings. (Kevin Robillard, “Family Money Fuels Single-Race Super PACs,” Politico, 2/1/16)
The Congressman who claims he has “always opposed” Citizens United has traveled this road before. Murphy’s father funneled over half a million dollars into a super PAC supporting his son’s first congressional campaign:
- “Murphy’s father, Thomas Murphy Jr., and Coastal Construction played prominent roles in his son’s win over ex-Republican U.S. Rep. Allen West. Murphy’s dad fueled a combined $550,000 into super PACs that bashed West in ads.” (Jonathan Mattise, “Gift Triples U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy’s Personal Wealth,” TC Palm, 12/30/13)
It’s hardly a surprise that Murphy is struggling to connect with the Democrat base in his party’s ugly primary battle. His habit of telling voters one thing and doing another continues to sink his credibility as Alan Grayson paints him as an “errand boy for Wall Street.”
So will Murphy try to right the ship with his party’s primary voters by denouncing his father’s contribution and the Super PAC set up to support his campaign? After all, it’s tough to square Murphy’s leniency on his dad’s massive contribution with his words from just a few months ago:
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“Never before in our nation’s history has such an obscene amount of money been used to distort the will of the people and give such an extremely undue influence to anonymous, dark-money donors.”
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“We are truly living in an age when unaccountable millionaires and billionaires can pull the strings of democracy.”
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“[Citizens United] is among the most detrimental to our democracy in American history, and I have always opposed it.”
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“Why should [millionaires and billionaires] have a greater say in who our elected representatives are than you or I do? Do their voices matter more than a public school teacher in Jupiter? Or a firefighter in Jacksonville? Or an elderly couple in Century Village?"
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“It’s time to take our politics out of the gutter and focus on working on the serious challenges our country faces.”
- “By fighting against Citizens United, we are fighting for our democracy itself.”