Mike Murphy (political consultant)

Michael Ellis Murphy (born 1962) is a Republican political consultant, entertainment industry writer, and producer.[1] He advised Republicans including John McCain, Jeb Bush, John Engler, Tommy Thompson, Spencer Abraham, Christie Whitman, Lamar Alexander, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.[2][3] Until January 2006, he was an adviser to Mitt Romney.[4] Murphy resigned his position with Romney when his former client John McCain made it clear he would also pursue the Republicans' U.S. presidential nomination in 2007 and 2008; Murphy decided to be neutral in the contest between them. Murphy is a vocal Republican critic of 45th U.S. President Donald Trump.[5][6][7][8] In 2020, he endorsed McCain and Romney's vice presidential opponent Joe Biden for president.[9]

For other people named Michael Murphy, see Michael Murphy (disambiguation).
Mike Murphy
Murphy in 2016
Born1962 (age 58–59)
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Alma materGeorgetown University
OccupationPolitical consultant
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)
Tiffany Daniel
​
(m. 2011)​
Children1
RelativesJoe Murphy (brother)
WebsiteMikeMurphyCommentary.com

Early life and education

Murphy is from Grosse Pointe, a suburb of Detroit[10] and is of Irish, Austrian, and Alsatian descent.[2] He studied Russian and International Relations while attending Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, dropping out his senior year.[2][11] He serves on the board of the University of Chicago Institute of Politics and is currently Co-Director of the Center for the Political Future at the University of Southern California [12] and a Senior Fellow at Harvard's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.[3]

Career

Campaign consultant

Murphy is one of the Republican Party's most successful political media consultants, leading campaign teams to victory in more than forty races, including multiple Senate and Gubernatorial victories in California, Michigan, Florida, Iowa, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Idaho, Washington state and New Jersey. He's directed multiple successful independent expenditure campaigns, including recent work for Sen Pat Toomey's victory In 2016. He's worked on Presidential campaigns including Bush '88, Bush '92 and McCain 2000.

His unsuccessful campaigns include statewide efforts for Oliver North, Rick Lazio and Meg Whitman.

Political commentary

Murphy serves as a commentator on NBC's Meet the Press and political programs. Murphy wrote a column for TIME Magazine during the 2008 election cycle. In August 2012, National Journal named Murphy one of "Ten Republicans to follow on Twitter".[13]

In 2003, Murphy visited a Georgian museum dedicated to Josef Stalin and recounted his experience.[14]

On September 3, 2008, after a segment on NBC, Murphy was recorded, along with conservative commentator Peggy Noonan and then NBC reporter Chuck Todd, giving critical analysis about Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin. All three were apparently unaware that their microphones were still live. In the captured audio, Murphy describes the pick of Palin as "cynical". Murphy had been publicly critical of the strategy of the Palin choice, saying her appeal was mostly limited to the Republican base.[15]

In 2013, Murphy was a signatory to an amicus curiae brief submitted to the Supreme Court in support of same-sex marriage during the Hollingsworth v. Perry case.[16]

During the 2016 election, Murphy created and hosted the Radio Free GOP podcast, consistently rated as one of the most popular political podcasts on iTunes.[17]

In June, 2019, Murphy launched the "Hacks on Tap" podcast with David Axelrod, focusing on developments in the 2020 Election.[18]

Murphy is a strategic advisor to Republican Voters Against Trump, a project of Defending Democracy Together, launched in May 2020.[19]

Revolution Agency

In 1986, Murphy teamed with close friend Alex Castellanos to form Murphy & Castellanos. In 1989 he established MPGH, which he sold eleven years later to Interpublic. Murphy is currently senior partner at Revolution Agency, a political advertising, advocacy, public affairs and political consulting firm in Washington, D.C.[20][21] At Revolution, Murphy advises a variety of Fortune 500 companies, hedge funds, interest groups, political action committees and trade associations.

Right to Rise PAC

In the 2016 election cycle Murphy served as chief strategist for Right to Rise, a PAC supporting Jeb Bush's U.S. presidential campaign.[22] The PAC raised over 100 million dollars, a record in primary PAC fundraising. Murphy set the PAC's strategy based on the assumption that Trump's campaign would inevitably fail, and so the PAC would instead concentrate on defeating other GOP candidates, "candidates in our lane that we can overcome."[23] Right to Rise spent over $118 million over the course of the 2016 Republican Presidential primary. Despite this sum Jeb Bush only won a total of 4 Republican delegates and received a total 94,699 votes. A staggering $1,246.05 per vote. On February 20, 2016, after a series of disappointing results in the Republican primaries, Bush announced that he was suspending his campaign.

At that point Right to Rise refunded more than 12 million dollars to its donors, the only candidate PAC in the 2016 to manage its funds in a way to make possible a major refund of unspent contributions. Murphy refused to endorse or vote for Donald Trump after the latter's nomination as the Republican Party's candidate for the U.S. presidency,[24] citing Trump's racism as a prohibiting factor.[11][25][26][27]

Personal life

Murphy is a Republican[28] and lives with his wife Tiffany Daniel,[29] a Democrat[29] whom he married in 2011,[30] in Hancock Park, California[2][31] and who also works as a writer and producer in the entertainment industry.[2] He has a daughter[29][32][33] as well as a brother who lives in Georgia.[33]

References
  1. Hickins, Michael (September 22, 2016). "OracleVoice: Donald Trump vs. Hillary Clinton: New Tech Trends To Watch". Forbes. Archived from the original on January 1, 2015. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
  2. Mooney, Brian (June 12, 2005). "Romney guru thrives in political 'show business'". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on March 7, 2006. Retrieved March 7, 2006.
  3. "Murphy Stats, The Career of Mike Murphy". CBS. 2007-06-05. Archived from the original on 2007-06-05. Retrieved 2008-03-08.
  4. Johnson, Glen (January 20, 2006). "Romney ends formal relationship with consultant Mike Murphy". Associated Press. Archived from the original on January 20, 2006. Retrieved 2008-03-08.
  5. "Mike Murphy on President Trump, 2018, and 2020". Conversations with Bill Kristol. The Foundation for Constitutional Government, Inc. June 2017. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
  6. "Mike Murphy on the Trump Administration, the Midterms, and 2020". Conversations with Bill Kristol. The Foundation for Constitutional Government, Inc. February 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
  7. Murphy, Mike; Kristol, Bill (June 20, 2017). "Murphy Transcript". Conversations with Bill Kristol. The Foundation for Constitutional Government, Inc. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
  8. @murphymike (October 3, 2016). "I despise her silly lefty domestic policy and the class war tropes, but it's all too clear that of these two only HRC is ready to be POTUS" (Tweet) – via Twitter. |date= mismatches calculated date from |number= by two or more days (help)
  9. "McCain Alums endorse Joe Biden for President". Retrieved 2020-08-27.
  10. MSNBC (November 9, 2016). "The Election Night 'No One Saw Coming'". MSNBC. MSNBC. Retrieved February 24, 2018 – via YouTube.
  11. "Mike Murphy on the 2016 Election and Possible Political Candidates from Hollywood". Belfer Center. Retrieved February 24, 2018 – via Soundcloud.
  12. "USC Center for the Political Future". dornsife-center-for-political-future.usc.edu. Retrieved 2019-11-20.
  13. "Ten Republicans to follow on Twitter". nationaljournal.com. National Journal. August 27, 2012. Archived from the original on August 27, 2012. Retrieved August 27, 2012.
  14. (PDF). 20 August 2008 https://web.archive.org/web/20080820173723/http://www.mikemurphycommentary.com/PDF/StalinsTomb.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 August 2008. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  15. Marshall, Josh (2008-09-03). "Oy ... Live Mics Are Such Dangerous Things". Talking Points Memo. Archived from the original on 1996-01-01. Retrieved 2008-09-03.
  16. Avlon, John (February 28, 2013). "The Pro-Freedom Republicans Are Coming: 131 Sign Gay Marriage Brief". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on January 1, 1996. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
  17. "Radio Free GOP With Mike Murphy by Mike Murphy on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Archived from the original on 1996-01-01.
  18. "Hacks on Tap by Mike Murphy and David Axelrod on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts.
  19. https://rvat.org/about-us/
  20. "Mike Murphy Joins Revolution Agency As Partner". Archived from the original on 1996-01-01.
  21. "Political Advertising, Political Media, Advocacy, Advocacy Advertising". DC Ad Agency. Political Advocacy Advertising Agency. 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-09-01. Retrieved September 1, 2012.
  22. Jordan, Mary (June 12, 2015). "Mike Murphy plots a win for Jeb Bush in the land of Hollywood liberals". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. Archived from the original on January 1, 1996. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
  23. Issenberg, Sasha (October 20, 2015). "Mike Murphy of Right to Rise Explains His Theory That Jeb Bush Is Still the Candidate to Beat". www.bloomberg.com.
  24. Belfer Center (January 5, 2017). "Mike Murphy: Advice for Dems: Less Kale, More Hammers". Belfer Center. Belfer Center. Retrieved February 24, 2018 – via YouTube.
  25. Belfer Center (January 5, 2017). "Mike Murphy: Does the Truth Matter in Politics?". Retrieved February 24, 2018 – via YouTube.
  26. Editor-at-large, Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN. "Can the Republican Party survive Donald Trump?". CNN.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  27. https://conversationswithbillkristol.org/video/mike-murphy-vi/
  28. @murphymike (January 8, 2018). "Haven't left GOP. Staying and fighting. A bit outnumbered" (Tweet). Retrieved February 14, 2018 – via Twitter.
  29. Mehta, Seema (March 8, 2016). "Super PAC consultant who spent $100 million on Jeb Bush is unapologetic". The Los Angeles Times. California. Archived from the original on January 1, 1996. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
  30. Jordan, Mary (June 12, 2015). "Mike Murphy plots a win for Jeb Bush in the land of Hollywood liberals". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
  31. "Michael Murphy". Washington Speakers Bureau. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
  32. "Debriefing Mike Murphy". The Weekly Standard. March 18, 2016.
  33. "Mike Murphy: Onward to 2020!". Conversations with Bill Kristol. December 5, 2018.
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