Democrat Pat Murphy and his conservative primary opponentYesterday, I got an e-mail from Bill Vernon, a right-wing Republican who is backing the vile EMILY's List/DCCC conservative running for the Democratic congressional nomination in Iowa's first district. His wife, a Republican campaign donor who opportunistically switched party registration, is running against tried and tested progressive, former Iowa House Speaker Pat Murphy. (Murphy has been endorsed by Blue America and you can contribute to his campaign here.) The wife, Monica Vernon, has been named the worst election cycle spammer and pest of the 2016 cycle so far, often bothering people on the lists she bought from the DCCC and EMILY's List with 4 and 5 idiotic, contentless e-mails per day begging for money.The one from her right-wing, anti-Choice, anti-regulation, anti-LGBT, pro-NRA husband Bill is typical:
Did you know that my wife Monica’s very first budget deadline of this year is tomorrow? She and her campaign team are working such long hours to make sure she wins her primary and defeats Rod Blum. They need to hit their fundraising goal tomorrow night and I want to do everything I can to help....Monica is so ready to beat Rod Blum in November-- she knows she can do it. But her campaign runs on grassroots support from people like you, and if you forget to give, she risks falling short and leaving gaps in her campaign budget.I’m very proud of how far Monica has come, and this first deadline of the election year couldn’t be more important.
Vernon has contributed thousands and thousands of dollars to Republican candidates and Republican committees and has only ever contributed to one Democrat-- and a fake Democrat at that-- his wife Monica. He wrote two checks to his wife's campaign for $2,700 each, on March 30, 2015, the same week he wrote a check to the National Republican Senatorial Committee for $1,000. I wonder what the Democrats from the DCCC and EMILY's List mailing lists he contacted yesterday would think if they saw these contributions.
• Republican Party of Iowa- $5,000• Republican Party of Iowa- $5,000• Republican Party of Iowa- $5,000• Republican Party of Iowa- $5,000• Republican Party of Iowa- $5,000• Republican Party of Iowa- $5,000• Republican Party of Iowa- $5,000• Republican Party of Iowa- $5,000• Republican Party of Iowa- $2,000• John McCain- $1,000• Greg Ganske- $1,000• Greg Ganske- $1,000• Republican Party of Iowa- $1,000• Jim Lightfoot- $1,000• National Republican Senatorial Committee- $1,000• Republican Party of Iowa- $1,000• George W. Bush- $1,000• Greg Ganske- $1,000• Greg Ganske- $1,000• Greg Ganske- $1,000• Greg Ganske- $1,000• Tom Latham- $1,000• Chuck Grassley- $1,000• Republican Party of Iowa- $1,000• Greg Ganske- $500• Greg Ganske- $500• Tom Latham- $500• Tom Latham- $500• Republican Party of Iowa- $500• Republican Party of Iowa- $500• Republican Party of Iowa- $500• Republican Party of Iowa- $500• Republican Party of Iowa- $500• Chuck Grassley- $500• Chuck Grassley- $500• Chuck Grassley- $500• RNC- $500• RNC- $500• Jim Leach- $500• Jim Leach- $500• Republican Party of Iowa- $500• George W. Bush- $500• Republican Party of Iowa- $500• Republican Party of Iowa- $500• Republican Party of Iowa- $500• Republican Party of Iowa- $500• Republican Party of Iowa- $500• Republican Party of Iowa- $500• Republican Party of Iowa- $500• Republican Party of Iowa- $500• Republican Party of Iowa- $500• Republican Party of Iowa- $500• Republican Party of Iowa- $500• Republican Party of Iowa- $500• Tom Tauke- $500• Tom Tauke- $500• Chuck Grassley- $500• Republican Party of Iowa- $500
And those are just the contributions over $500. There are also thousands of dollars in contributions of $400 and $250 to GOP candidates and committees all over the country, from Paul Ryan to Jim Nussle and Ben Lange. Monica also gave to Tom Latham as well as to right-wing extremist Phil Gramm. Just think of all the damage those thousands or dollars did to Iowa Democrats!Yes, Bill is "very proud" of how far Monica has come... pulling the wool over Democrats' eyes with the help of EMILY's List, Steve Israel and Ben Ray Luján.Iowa's first congressional district-- Dubuque, Waterloo, Cedar Falls, Cedar Rapids, Marshalltown-- has a PVI of D+5 and has no need to draft a conservative Republican-lite like Vernon. Obama won there in 2008 with 58% and in 2012 with 56%. Steve Israel has been running around hissing into the ears of anyone who will listen and bear his shit-breath that the Democratic nominee, former Iowa House Speaker Pat Murphy, was lazy and didn't work hard enough to win. Israel's problem with Murphy, though, is that Murphy-- who is anything but lazy-- is an unabashed progressive with a spectacular record of leadership on progressive issues in the state legislature-- the kind of record that makes a viper like Israel shed his skin. He told Ben Ray Luján, who he's directing as DCCC Chair, to jump on Vernon, who is wealthy, conservative, without any sense of mission outside of careerism... exactly the kind of easily corruptible candidate Israel loves.What does Vernon stand for? Well, nothing whatsoever, except a belief in her own destiny to hold higher office. At a meeting with a labor union she was asked if she supports the Keystone XL Pipeline and her response was basically that if they endorsed her she would back it or oppose it depending on what they wanted. (They declined to endorse her.) She's a classic political opportunist. Meanwhile, the EMILY's List hacks are lying bout Pat Murphy's record, trying to make it sound like Iowa's most determined progressive is less a champion of their own Republican-lite candidate, who may or may not be pro-Choice. Who really even knows? Here's Pat's actual record, for which EMILY's List, Rove-like, is attacking him:
1990 - Votes to require insurance coverage for newborns and well-baby care for first 6 months 1991 - Sponsors universal healthcare plan 1992 - Sponsors mandatory maternity leave bill 1995 - Co-sponsors Equal Rights Amendment Bill 1996 - Votes to make sure child care workers checked against sex offender registry 1997 - Again co-sponsors Equal Rights Amendment Bill 1998 - Votes for low income tax credit 1998 - Votes for increase to child tax credit 1999 - Advocates using tobacco trust fund money to increase medicaid reimbursements 2000 - Votes to prevent insurers from denying contraceptive coverage 2000 - Sponsors equal pay law 2000 - Sponsors bill to provide unemployment for women who miss work because of domestic violence 2002 - Writes Hawk-I bill to cover uninsured kids 2006 - Votes to increase the minimum wage 2007 - As Speaker, he has the Iowa House increase the minimum wage 2007 - Votes to establish pre-kindergarten in Iowa 2007 - Votes to increase the earned income tax credit for all families 2008 - Worked to keep sex offenders away from daycare centers 2008 - Votes to extend health insurance coverage to all Iowa kids by 2011 2009 - As Speaker, he has the Iowa House pass nation’s first equal pay law 2006-2010 - As Speaker, stops every attempt by right wing conservatives to affect women’s healthcare choices
Most of these accomplishments were from the time Monica and Bill were relentlessly campaigning against Democrats and funding right-wing anti-Choice fanatics. Have you ever contributed to EMILY's List or the DCCC? Here's where you can contribute to Pat Murphy's campaign.