Mike Murphy (California influencer)
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| Mike Murphy | |||
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| Basic facts | |||
| Location: | Los Angels, Calif. | ||
| Expertise: | Political ads & messaging | ||
| Affiliation: | Republican | ||
| Education: | Georgetown University | ||
| Website: | Official website | ||
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Mike Murphy is a Republican political strategist, originally hailing from Detroit, Mich., and now residing in Los Angeles, Calif.
Murphy ran the Right to Rise USA super PAC, which promoted Jeb Bush's (R) 2016 presidential bid. Murphy attended Georgetown University but left in 1984 before graduating to start his own political consulting firm.[1][2][3]
His career in political consulting and campaign work has spanned over 25 years. He has been called a “media master” by Fortune magazine, the GOP’s “hottest media consultant” by Newsweek, and the leader of a “new breed” of campaign consultants by Congressional Quarterly.[4][2][1][3]
Career
Mike Murphy launched his political career at the age of 20. While attending Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, Murphy worked as an ad copy writer for the National Conservative Political Action Committee. He enjoyed the work so much that he left school early and started his own political consulting firm.[2]
According to the biography section on his website,
| “ | Mike served as the lead strategist and media consultant to more than two dozen winning gubernatorial and U.S. Senate campaigns. He is widely recognized as one of the Republican Party’s most successful consultants and an innovator in utilizing message strategy and advertising to move public opinion and votes.[5] | ” |
| —Revolution Agency | ||
Among the more high-profile campaigns Murphy has worked on are Bob Dole's (R) 1996 presidential run, Jeb Bush's 1998 and 2002 Florida gubernatorial races, John McCain's 2000 presidential bid, Rick Lazio's 2000 Senate race against Hillary Clinton (D), Mitt Romney's 2002 (R) Massachusetts gubernatorial race, and Arnold Schwarzenegger's 2003 (R) California gubernatorial campaign. Murphy is known for his creative ideas regarding messaging, big personality and penchant for the unexpected.[1][6]
Murphy's personality and unconventional approach has, at times, caused tension on the campaign trail. According to John Weaver, who worked with Murphy on McCain's 2000 presidential campaign, “Half the people [working on the campaign] thought he was fantastic, and the other half were jealous and spent every waking hour trying to figure out how to stab him in the back." Weaver, who is serving as senior advisor on John Kasich's (R) 2016 presidential bid, is himself no stranger to controversy, having received similar criticism in the past.[1][7]
Conservative media outlet Breitbart has criticized Murphy for attacking fellow conservatives, calling him a "conservative-bashing consultant" and pointing to instances when Murphy disparaged various Republicans.[8]
In addition to working on campaigns and messaging, Murphy also serves as a political pundit and commentator, writing the column "Murphy's Law" for Time Magazine and making frequent appearances on Meet the Press. He has also written pieces for NPR, The Weekly Standard, National Journal and the New York Times, among others.[3]
Murphy has created a career outside of the political sphere, as well. According to the Washington Post, "Murphy has also worked for the Miami Heat and other sports teams, consulted on stand-up comedian Dennis Miller’s cable show, advised tech start-ups in Silicon Valley and booked himself passage on a nearly three-week container ship voyage from Seattle to Shanghai to force himself to finish an HBO script."[1]
Since 2011, Murphy has been a partner at Revolution Agency, a political consulting firm "comprised of message strategists, advertising experts and media relations professionals who excel in finding solutions for Fortune 500 companies, leading industry associations, and issue agendas supportive of free enterprise."[2]
Jeb Bush presidential campaign, 2016
- See also: Jeb Bush presidential campaign, 2016
After exploring the possibility of a presidential run for several months, Bush officially announced his candidacy on June 15, 2015, at Miami Dade College. He largely focused on economic issues and said he would "take Washington – the static capital of this dynamic country – out of the business of causing problems." Bush, who served as governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007, is the son of former President George H.W. Bush and the brother of former President George W. Bush. He is the first brother of a president to run for the office since the Kennedy family, Robert in 1968 and Ted in 1980.[9]
Bloomberg noted, "All the major candidates in the 2016 race will have super PACs working on their behalf, but Bush and Murphy are trying something unprecedented in U.S. presidential elections: building a separate, and better-funded, organization that will in some ways eclipse the official campaign as a vehicle for promoting the candidate. Murphy’s Los Angeles-based team will produce digital marketing, television ads, and opposition research on behalf of Bush, whose campaign headquarters are across the country in Miami."[10]
The emergence of Right to Rise USA
- See also: Right to Rise USA
In an October 2015 interview with Bloomberg, Murphy said he ran the Right to Rise USA super PAC from Los Angeles because “everything that happens first happens in L.A.” Bloomberg noted that that "could also be a claim for the primacy Jeb Bush’s super-PAC has assumed in his political future." They added that as of the summer, the pro-Bush super PAC had "nearly 10 times more money than the campaign itself, both emboldening Bush’s prospects and raising the question of which is the cart and which is the horse."[11]
According to the Washington Post, "[Former Obama campaign advisor David] Axelrod and others said Murphy’s Silicon Valley connections — he is there nearly weekly — may be a boon to Bush efforts. Murphy has recruited tech talent that will analyze social media and big data to help target swing voters, flag issues as they arise and guide strategy."[1]
In a June 2015 conference call with donors, Murphy encouraged people to donate additional money before the June 30 campaign finance filing deadline in order to shock the competition with the amount of money raised. The Right to Rise USA PAC had raised $17 million at the time of the call. Murphy said,[12]
| “ | So I can tell you, we are excited,” Murphy continued. “And, just keep doing what you’re doing. And I keep coming back to this pitch, because, like any ad guy, I believe in repetition: Any extra buck you can give before June 30 is a weapon for us, in that report when we give some heart attacks to people in July. It’ll effect some of their decisions, it’ll bum out their donors, and it’ll hurt their money, which cuts off their oxygen, and frankly we want to choke ‘em all out. So, um, you’re killers — I’m gonna turn you guys loose to that mission. [...] We want to weaponize our number. The press has set a very high expectation, much higher than we would have set for ourselves, but that’s the way it works. So we want to hit the biggest possible number for the super PAC.[5] | ” |
| —Mike Murphy | ||
During the call, Murphy also noted that Right to Rise USA would do a few "highly-targeted" ads during the summer of 2015 but that it would save most of its cash for the primaries in 2016.[10]
In January 2016, criticism began surface regarding Murphy's spending and the role that Right to Rise USA was playing in Bush's election campaign. On January 15, 2016, Murphy met with some donors in Manhattan to talk about Murphy's strategies. Among the donors was Barry Volpert, who expressed concern about the way his money was being spent, according to The New York Times.[13] According to Politico, other donors and GOP operatives have also criticized Murphy's strategy regarding his attacks on Marco Rubio, noting that "[w]ithout some dramatic improvement in Bush’s position, donors say Murphy’s strategy might be doing nothing more than harming Rubio at precisely the moment the GOP could be rallying around an alternative to Trump or Cruz."[14][15] Advisors to the super PAC have expressed their concern that the $40 million spent on promoting Bush has not helped him in the polls. While Murphy's management of the super PAC early on yielded significant gains from donors, critics are now focused on Murphy's previous strategies in earlier campaigns, including former California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman's failed $144 million campaign. Since Bush's campaign began, Murphy has authorized the sending out of hundreds of video player mailers that included a 15-minute video on Bush; the cost of the video player, according to Right to Rise spokesman Paul Lindsay, was only "a few thousand dollars in total."[14][16] Other expenditures included billboards stating that "Donald Trump is unhinged," which Right to Rise donors considered to be "wasteful spending."[14]
Campaign suspension
Bush ended his run for the White House after faring poorly in the Iowa Caucuses as well as primary elections in New Hampshire and South Carolina.[17] At a gathering of supporters in the Palmetto State on February 20, 2016, he said:
| “ | The people of Iowa and New Hampshire and South Carolina have spoken, and I really respect their decision, so tonight I am suspending my campaign.[17][5] | ” |
In February 2016, The Washington Post reported that Murphy's role and his financial gain running the super PAC could be a target for some scrutiny by donors and others. The Post noted that Murphy denied that he had made millions running RTR, stating that his salary was capped in the "middle six figures."[18] FEC reports indicate that two firms owned by Murphy did received $6.35 million, but the Post notes that the better part of the money was used for ad buys. However, donors, such as Andrew Sabin, who contributed $95,000, stated that he believed Murphy's spending seemed excessive, saying "[i]t just seemed like a lot of money to spend on a couple of states."[18] Overall, the super PAC spent nearly $94 million in political activities.[18] In a March 2016 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Murphy further dismissed criticism of his time at Right to Rise. He told the paper: "The truth is I don't care. There's nothing lower in my book than second-guessing. There are a lot of people in the cheap seats with a lot of opinions. What have they done?"[19]
Post-campaign comments on Donald Trump
In a June 2016 interview with CNBC, Murphy explained his point of view on Donald Trump's presidential campaign with John Harwood. Murphy explained what he saw as the biggest challenge for the Bush campaign in its primary battle against Trump, saying:
| “ | Fundamentally, it's hard for me to see in this environment we had, a scenario where we won. Once the debates started, and it was clear that Jeb's style, which would lend itself very well to a president of the United States or even a general election candidate, wast he opposite of what they were looking for in the primary ... when Trump said low energy, what we was really saying was 'Too polite, too civil, too many big words.' Jeb's not built for the stupidest campaign in the world.[5] | ” |
Murphy also explained the super PAC's rationale for its spending and messages throughout the campaign, saying, " But we go blast Trump early, we'd move a lot of numbers over to [Ted] Cruz, a few to Marco. Our plan was to clobber him later. Well, we never got to later. We eventually did spend more money on him than anybody else, but that wasn't our key thing."[20]
Media
What will likely be the most talked about mailer in the '16 election. @JebBush #nhpolitics #FITN #strategy @politico pic.twitter.com/MxWqcYVX1F
— Doug Palardy (@djpalardy) January 18, 2016Recent news
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See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Washington Post, "Mike Murphy plots a win for Jeb Bush in the land of Hollywood liberals," June 12, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Revolution Agency, "People," accessed June 22, 2015
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Mike Murphy Commentary, "About Mike Murphy and this Website," accessed June 22, 2015
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Mike Murphy Profile," accessed June 22, 2015
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Real Clear Politics, "Mike Murphy: The Man Selling Jeb! to America," June 18, 2015
- ↑ Buzzfeed, "Meet The Man Behind Jon Huntsman’s Failed White House Bid," January 15, 2012
- ↑ Breitbart, "JEB BUSH ADVISER MIKE MURPHY: THROWING SENATE TO GOP IN HARRY REID'S INTEREST," September 14, 2014
- ↑ The New York Times, "In Announcing Run, Jeb Bush Plays Down His Surname," June 15, 2015
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Bloomberg, "Jeb Bush Tries to Win Without Speaking to His Favorite Strategist," June 26, 2015
- ↑ Bloomberg, "Mike Murphy: Rubio's Campaign is 'Cynical,' Kasich's Plays Close to the Line," October 21, 2015
- ↑ BuzzFeed, "We Crashed Jeb Bush’s super PAC’s Donor Call, And Here’s What They Said," June 17, 2015
- ↑ The New York Times, "Prominent Jeb Bush Donor Questions ‘super PAC’ Strategist Over Negative Marco Rubio Ads," January 16, 2016
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Politico, "The Bush blame game begins," January 21, 2016
- ↑ The New York Times, "As Jeb Bush Struggles, Some Allies Blame His ‘super PAC’," January 21, 2016
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Special delivery: A video message from fans of Jeb Bush," January 18, 2016
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 NBC News, "Jeb Bush Suspends 2016 Presidential Campaign," February 20, 2016
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 The Washington Post, "Jeb Bush’s ambitions paid dividends for GOP admaker over the years," February 28, 2016
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Super PAC consultant who spent $100 million on Jeb Bush is unapologetic," March 8, 2016
- ↑ CNBC, "Trump nom - Archaeologists will be studying the ruins for a while: GOP strategist," June 9, 2016
