Patrick Murphy-- Is He The Worst Freshman Democrat? Unlikely He'll Be The Worst Sophomore

Technically, Patrick Murphy is a Democrat. He switched his registration from "Republican" just before challenging much-hated Tea Party target Allen West in 2012. A son of great wealth and privilege, Murphy was, of course, a lifelong Republican. Since getting into the House he's voted with Republicans on crucial roll calls more frequently than with Democrats. As a member of the House Financial Services Committee, he's sold out 100% to the Wall Street banksters and works consistently to help the Republicans seduce weak-minded and cowardly New Dems into joining them in dismantling the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reforms. The Democratic freshmen voting more frequently with the GOP than with their own party are:

• Patrick Murphy (New Dem-FL)
• Kyrsten Sinema (New Dem-AZ)
• Raul Ruiz (CA)
• Pete Gallego (Blue Dog-TX)
• Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ)
• Sean Patrick Maloney (New Dem-NY)

Florida Republicans see Murphy as weak and their easiest target in the state. He's also one of the easiest targets in the whole country, primarily because no progressive can vote for him and even those who held their noses to get rid of Allen West, won't be backing Murphy again this year. (He can count on a couple million dollars from Steve Israel, who encourages his atrocious voting pattern. Israel falls asleep every night repeating his mantra: "burn the base.")

It's not clear which Republican will be running against him-- so many plausible candidates want to try-- but Murphy had some especially bad news this week, when former state Rep. Carl Domino announced he's running. Domino, who had a net worth north of $20 million, was the richest man in the Florida legislature when he was serving there. Murphy's district has a PVI that is R+3 and Romney beat Obama there 52-48%. And Domino is famous for winning in blue districts. His last victory, also in an off-year, was in a D+5 district. No wonder Murphy sent out over a dozen desperate, substanceless e-mails begging for money over the weekend! George Bennett at the Palm Beach Post explained the lay of the land pretty well on Monday:

After months of waters-testing, former Republican state Rep. Carl Domino of Jupiter said today he’s definitely running for the Palm Beach-Treasure Coast congressional seat held by freshman Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Jupiter.

Murphy is a top GOP target because he narrowly defeated Republican Rep. Allen West in 2012 and his district is one of only nine in the U.S. that chose a Democratic House member while voting for Mitt Romney last year.

Domino said he’ll file papers this week. He’ll join announced Republican candidates Ellen Andel (the vice mayor of Juno Beach) and Alan Schlesinger (a former GOP Senate nominee in Connecticut) in what could become a crowded GOP race.

Other Republicans who have shown interest in running include former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, St. Lucie County Commissioner Tod Mowery, state Rep. Gayle Harrell, former Tequesta councilman Calvin Turnquest and Martin County businessman Gary Uber.

Domino was elected four times to the state House, serving from 2002 to 2010. He also lost state House primaries in 2000 and 2012 and a bitter GOP Senate primary in 2010.

The National Republican Congressional Committee’s top recruiter has estimated that challenging Murphy will cost between $3 million and $5 million. Domino listed his net worth at $24.3 million in 2011 and poured more than $1.3 million of his own money into his four winning and three losing campaigns.

Something tells me Murphy's buddies on Wall Street and his pals at Big Oil aren't going to step up and save his ass. He'll be bothering the Democrats he's betrayed for money from now 'til election day.