For Patrick Murphy, PAC might as well stand for Paternal Action Committee – he publicly credited the House Majority PAC, a Super PAC funded with $300,000 of his wealthy father’s money, for his 2012 congressional campaign victory. The Palm Beach Post reported:
Campaigning as a fresh-faced outsider in 2012, Democratic congressional hopeful Patrick Murphy often slammed super PACs and the influence of big money in politics. So, Republicans pounced last week when newly sworn-in Rep. Murphy of Jupiter appeared in a testimonial video for House Majority PAC…
… Murphy’s father, Coastal Construction Group CEO Thomas Murphy Jr., gave $300,000 to House Majority PAC and $250,000 to a super PAC called American Sunrise. Individuals were allowed to make unlimited independent political expenditures before Citizens United.
Murphy’s dad also funded another Super PAC to the tune of $250,000, which was criticized for controversial ads:
That’s a reference to the American Sunrise PAC that is largely funded by Murphy’s father who gave $250,000. The PAC aired an ad depicting a caricature of West, who is African-American, in boxing gloves punching an old white woman, a younger white woman and grabbing money from a black family. The ad was intended to depict West socking it to constituents over Medicare, health care and tax cuts.
Now, running for senate, Murphy is back to playing the “outsider,” touting the endorsement of an anti-Super PAC group. From today’s Tampa Bay Times:
The endorsement of Patrick Murphy by a group trying to roll back Citizens United has yet again illustrated a disconnect between Murphy’s public disdain for the Super PAC era and the way he has benefited from such groups.
Oh, the irony. Pro tip: Murphy may want to work on a better answer for his hypocrisy this time around – in 2012 he claimed he had “no idea” that his own father was pumping half a million dollars into the race.