Most people are aware of the nauseating fact that in American politics today, money talks far louder than actual policy. Nevertheless, it is always valuable to hear from an insider’s perspective the level of depravity our Democracy is willing to sink for a few extra millions.
Congressman Alan Grayson may have failed to win Florida’s Democratic senate primary, but since his loss, he has not stopped trying to raise money for worthwhile Democrats he believes in. That’s why each week, Grayson sends out updates to his campaign supporters, giving them information on corrupt party plays and pure, progressive politics alike.
This week, Grayson focused on his former Democratic opponent Patrick Murphy. Murphy is now lagging behind Republican Senator Marco Rubio, and though they are technically of the same party, Grayson finds no kinship with the Democratic candidate.
Instead of telling his supporters to settle for the Republican in sheep’s clothing, Grayson revealed the corrupt dealings that surrounded Murphy’s nomination into the Democratic party, and told his supporters what exactly $10 million can buy in the once respectable party.
Said Grayson:
“As many readers of this missive may be aware, I ran against Patrick Murphy in the August 30 Florida Senate Democratic Primary. A few months earlier, a Murphy political operative had an interesting conversation with someone working on my campaign. The operative said that Murphy’s father, Tom Murphy, had promised to give the Democrats’ Super PAC (Senate Majority PAC) and Patrick Murphy’s captive Super PAC (Floridians for a Strong Middle Class) $5 million if Patrick won the nomination, and that Tom Murphy would round up another $5 million from his friends and colleagues. So the Democratic Party could expect to see $10 million if it delivered the nomination to Murphy.
Very interesting, I thought. This explained to me why Sen. Harry Reid, head of the Senate Democrats, had been interfering in my primary and belligerently attacking me personally for months, and why the DSCC had been trying to plant “hit pieces” against me with its inside-the-Beltway pet reporters in the media.
I can’t say that I was surprised by this. Patrick Murphy’s father Tom, a Republican, already had passed around more than $1.5 million to Democratic candidates and organizations to grease the skids for Patrick, including the purchase of several key endorsements by elected officials. I asked one of them why he had endorsed Patrick. He told me, “Alan, if you gave me $20,000, then I’d be your best friend for life, too.”
One day, we may win back our party from special interests and deep pockets. Until we do, it is important that progressives like Grayson continue to call out the corrupt among us.
