Peter Schorsch
Up until a few weeks ago, one could argue that the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee had been doing a reasonably good job in the Sunshine State.
One could even make the point that in a presidential year, one most likely to bring a D pickup, the DSCC had positioned themselves pretty well to take back Marco Rubio’s seat.
It began with a few elbows to the side of Alan Grayson’s head and continued with a strong centrist positioning of Patrick Murphy.
By most accounts, Florida was in a relatively strong position, at a minimum, to compete for this highly prized U.S. Senate seat.
With the GOP presidential nominee bottoming out, thanks to an awful debate performance — as well as his “is this mic on?” eye-opener — the situation could only get better for Murphy.
Add to that a disclosure that Trump’s companies traded with Cuba, and there should be a noticeable down-ballot impact, turning out a core South Florida voting constituency.
One would think the Rubio versus Murphy race is in play, with a Murphy victory more than just an academic possibility.
With a statewide polling average (according to RealClearPolitics.com) showing the better-known Marco Rubio at only 2 points above the lesser-known Murphy (Rubio is still below 50 percent), one would also think the DSCC smells blood and is going to pounce.
One would think.
Over the past week, there have been developing reports that essentially show national Democrats are walking away from Murphy.
That makes absolutely no sense.
For starters, helping keep Murphy afloat helps the top of the ticket. And while this may be shockingly obvious, it needs to be said: If HRC wins Florida, she is POTUS.
Helping the undercard has an up-ballot effect, although not a large one.
It’s not like I am suggesting they support a down-ballot candidate in a deep red state.
Furthermore, help could be nested in a few swing congressional seats to (at least) weaken Paul Ryan’s grip on the House. It would be money very well spent.
Oh, and did I mention, they could also help make Patrick Murphy a U.S. Senator?
So with a close U.S. Senate race, a few potential congressional pickups and the big electoral college swing-state prize … the DSCC walks away.
Really?
In my not-so-humble opinion; that is insane.
2 comments
Eric Gonzalez
October 11, 2016 at 3:07 pm
Who wrote this – Patrick Murphy’s consultant? How much did they pay you to publish this article? Murphy is a nice guy, but he is not ready to be a US Senator. He hasn’t accomplished anything, other than being a member of the lucky sperm club.
David Luke
October 12, 2016 at 7:33 pm
Marco Rubio hasn’t accomplished anything either so far as I can tell, so maybe I am better off today because he so often just doesn’t show up to work. You may recall that he initially said that it was the Pulse shootings that propelled him to enter the race, but when he officially announced, he promised instead to obstruct the president, regardless of who that might be. If we expect a president to deliver on promises and also hire Marco Rubio to prevent that, we’ve just paid extra for reduced benefit.
If he was serious about that Pulse thing, then depending upon how he feels about guns he should either be making it harder for criminals to get them or arming drag queens everywhere, or both. How many drag queens has he armed? What has he done to toughen or enhance the enforcement of existing gun laws? Why would anyone consider wasting any more tax money on his salary?
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