Chuck Schumer (D-NY) would like to name the Democratic nominee for the open Florida Senate seat. And he wants that to be conservative and utterly ineffective DINO, "ex"-Republican Patrick Murphy, whose extremely right-wing father is a junior-league Donald Trump, buying and selling politicians for the sake of his development company. And what Schumer doesn't want is brilliant, feisty and very independent progressive Alan Grayson winning that seat. So even though Schumer traveled from Brooklyn with his family to vacation in Miami Beach when he was a child, Florida Democrats would rather make the decision about who their nominee is themselves than leave it up to the New York sleazebag. Schumer, who has been calling campaign contributors and threatening them not to contribute to Grayson, is hampered because many Florida Democrats think their candidate should be an actual Democrat, not some spoiled brat Republican who switched parties to run for office three years ago. Murphy hasn't voted with House Democrats much, at least not on crucial roll calls. According to ProgressivePunch, Murphy's grade is a flat "F" for his voting record. His lifetime crucial vote score is an abysmal 49.34, one of the worst of any Democrat in the House. And this isn't about naming post offices. Murphy voted again and again with the GOP to allow the Keystone XL Pipeline and to overturn key provisions of the financial protections afforded consumers by Dodd-Frank. (Wall Street has paid Murphy back with over a million dollars in legalistic bribes for his support of their horrible agenda.) Just over a year ago 7 of the most disgusting excuses for Democrats in Congress-- all Blue Dogs but one-- voted for the partisan Republican witch hunt against Hillary Clinton, the so-called Benghazi Select Committee. These were the 7 traitors:
• Ron Barber (Blue Dog-AZ) defeated• John Barrow (Blue Dog-GA) defeated• Mike McIntyre (Blue Dog-NC) forced to retire• Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN)• Nick Rahall (Blue Dog-WV) defeated• Kyrsten Sinema (Blue Dog-AZ)• Patrick Murphy
Alan Grayson, of course, opposed the creation of that committee. This week he said:
Patrick Murphy voted to give the Tea Party Republicans who run the House of Representatives the power to subpoena Hillary Clinton's records, hold hearings and conduct a political witch hunt that will last through the presidential election. I would like to know if Patrick Murphy is happy with what he has done, or if he now regrets that vote... With Patrick Murphy's permission, Republicans have turned the investigation into the death of four Americans into a partisan witch hunt. Anyone with a brain knew that that's exactly what they would do.
So Schumer decided to find an issue that could make Murphy look like he was actually aligned with Democrats, an issue important to Democrats. They picked college affordability, something Murphy would probably have opposed had he not been running for Senate. Schumer has been pushing the story about how Murphy-- who is on record for a willingness to "compromise" on taking away benefits from seniors on Social Security and Medicare-- is on board with college affordability. And, of course, the lazy media eats out of Schumer's hands. What they don't mention is that Grayson has been on board with college affordability for years. In his campaign announcement video he was very clear:
In my case, I worked hard, and I received an admission letter from Harvard College when I was just 16 years old. But for me, and for others like me, school just meant more hard work. I worked as a janitor, cleaning toilets, and then as a night watchman, on the midnight shift. I made less than four dollars an hour. I learned that the people who do the most unpleasant jobs often get paid the least. But education was my ladder-- up to better jobs, first as a reporter, and then as an economist. Education gave me my chance to be all that I could be, live a better life, and be of greater service to others. That’s why I want every student to be able to afford college, without suffering a lifetime of debt.
If you follow Grayson on Twitter, maybe you'll recall this one: And when Hillary announced her education initiative, Grayson publicly congratulated her immediately:
Debt-free college is a fundamental progressive cause, and I’m delighted to see Hillary Clinton embracing it. No one should be excluded from higher education because of parental poverty, or the fear of lifelong debt. Education is what helps us to be all that we can be. I had to clean toilets and work as a night watchman when I was in college; I would rather see today’s students devote themselves to learning.
And back in April, Grayson was an original co-sponsor of the House companion bill of Elizabeth Warren's debt-free college resolution. If you'd like to help Grayson defeat Murphy and whichever reactionary loon the Republicans put up, we have a page for that.
