I had an interesting call from an old friend at the DSCC this week. DSCC Chair Jon Tester and his top staffers wondered if they could get Alan Grayson to back down from a primary against Patrick Murphy. The meeting, though, went in an entirely different direction. "He's certainly a more impressive figure than Murphy." No one even tried talking him out of running. "Listening to him made me dream of a Senate with more than just one Elizabeth Warren." Grayson is exploring his options; he may run but hasn't decided yet. Blue America started a Draft Alan Grayson ActBlue page this week.Patrick Murphy isn't fit to get the Democratic Senate nomination in Florida. He hasn't done anything for anyone other than for Wall Street since he beat Allen West. Murphy is an overly-entitled, spoiled brat from a wealthy Republican family and was a Republican his entire life-- though an opportunistic one who saw a shot to switch parties and get into Congress by taking on the very polarizing Allen West. Since his election, he's consistently been one of the worst Democrats in Congress across every issue. Right now, according to ProgressivePunch's crucial vote score for the current session, he's tied with Blue Dog Collin Peterson for 4th worst-voting Democrat in the House. The only Democrats with worse scores than Murphy are Brad Ashford (another "ex"-Republican, now a Nebraska Blue Dog), Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX, Bush's favorite Democrat), and the odious Gwen Graham (D-FL).Its not easy to run statewide in Florida is you're not a big supporter of Social Security and Medicare. Murphy has been an enemy of both programs and is frantically scurrying to cover his tracks and try to paint himself as a champion of seniors. One of the very first things he did after beating West was to co-found the right-of-center United Solutions Caucus, which pushes the GOP agenda under the guise of bipartisanship. Murphy's top priority in the caucus was to gather naive sign-ons for a letter indicating a willingness to cut Social Security benefits as part of some anti-working family "Grand Bargain." His pitch was to tell colleagues that CURRENT seniors on Social Security would be safe and that the cuts would only effect future recipients.Ironically this was going on at the same time that Alan Grayson was circulating the Grayson-Takano letter that in no uncertain terms pledged to oppose any budget deal that cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits, current or future. Here's the best of example of Patrick Murphy's leadership since being elected-- the bipartisan letter to wreck Social Security:
The United Solutions Caucus was formed by freshmen members of the 113th Congress as a bipartisan call to address our country's great fiscal challenges and end governing by crisis. Today, as the government is shut down and the debt limit looms ahead, we renew our call for Congress to address our challenges head on and solve this crisis with a long-term solution....United Solutions Caucus Statement of Principles:The 113th Congress House Republican and Democratic new members are troubled by the fiscal crisis facing the country, with burdensome debt and trillion dollar annual deficits, which affect economic growth for all and healthcare assurances for our seniors. Members of our class implore the President and Congress to address this serious challenge now. In recent years, Congress has lacked the political will to come together and find solutions. The freshman members of the 113th Congress believe now is the time to work together.We call upon leadership to no longer accept piecemeal solutions and to work toward finding long-term solutions to avoid financial collapse like Greece and other European countries. The bi-partisan freshmen members, as noted below, come to the table with mutual understanding and without personal agendas or political gamesmanship.We affirm the following actions to secure the fiscal health of our nation: Strengthen and Preserve Medicare and Social Security-- While protecting current recipients and seniors, we must reform the Medicare and Social Security’s long-term financial obligations by addressing rising health care costs and changing demographics. The goal is to make sure these essential programs meet our obligations to our seniors and ensure that these bedrocks are available to future generations, while reducing our long-term deficit and debt issues. ...Cutting spending-- While some spending cuts have already been made, we must look for additional savings moving forward to further reduce spending, while seeking to protect the programs that are crucial to our future health as a nation. ...We believe that a bipartisan effort encompassing these needed reforms will yield a prosperous future for our country, while making good to today’s seniors who are counting on the federal government to fulfill its obligations. We are committed to a new era in Congress where bipartisan solutions are the norm. We are dedicated to working with leadership to help bring these solutions to reality. The common good of the country demands good faith negotiation, compromise, and immediate and significant action.
Murphy consistently votes with Boehner on a nearly all contentious core issues. If he wants to run for Marco Rubio's Senate seat, he should run in the Republican Party where he won't have to sugar coat his reactionary ideas. Democrats have a perfectly good optioning Florida for this race-- Congress' best Member: Alan Grayson. If you'd like to encourage him, please do so on this page.Yesterday, Grayson questioned several generals at a hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee regarding the cost, lack of exit strategy, and use of overwhelming force in the fight against ISIS. He seems to have gotten one of them to admit there is no exit strategy, something no other Member of Congress has been able to accomplish. Murphy doesn't question authority figures at committee hearings; he doesn't know how. In fact, the only things he's shown any aptitude for is golfing and sucking tainted money out of lobbyists and Wall Street banksters.UPDATE: Fishing... For DolphinsPatrick Murphy is hosting a 2-day fundraiser for fat cats in Miami starting tonight. The itinerary includes two fishing trips tomorrow. That's nice-- except Murphy says they will be fishing for dolphins. You can change your party registration but some things about being a lifelong Republican can never be washed away!