Mike Murphy (political consultant)

For other people named Michael Murphy, see Michael Murphy (disambiguation).

Michael Ellis "Mike" Murphy (born 1962) is a Republican political consultant. He has advised such nationally prominent Republicans as John McCain, Rick Lazio, Jeb Bush, John Engler, Tommy Thompson, Spencer Abraham, Christie Whitman, Lamar Alexander, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. He was, until January 2006, an adviser to Mitt Romney, the Governor of Massachusetts and an about-to-become candidate for the Republican presidential nomination for the 2008 presidential election. He stepped down as a result of his role as chief strategist to Governor Romney as well as Senator McCain, who were both widely expected to be Republican challengers in the primaries of the 2008 Presidential election. Murphy said he had decided to be neutral in a contest between two close clients, although he would advise each informally.

Biography

Mike Murphy is currently a partner at Revolution Agency, a political advertising, advocacy, public affairs and political consulting firm in Washington, DC. Prior to Revolution, Murphy was a founding principal of DC Navigators, an issues management (political consulting) firm with offices in Washington DC, Sacramento, California and Tallahassee, Florida. In 2009, Murphy left the firm.

Murphy has also advised corporations and interest groups ranging from the Miami Heat to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Murphy studied Russian and International Relations while attending Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, dropping out his senior year. He served as a fellow at the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government's Institute of Politics. Murphy often serves as a commentator on NBC's Meet the Press and The Today Show. Murphy frequently writes a column for TIME magazine. He lives with his wife Tiffany Daniel in Los Angeles, California and also works as a writer and producer in the entertainment industry. In August 2012, National Journal named Murphy one of "Ten Republicans to follow on Twitter".

Political commentary

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 in his TIME blogging and on NBC, saying her appeal was mostly limited to the Republican base.

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.

2016 Jeb Bush Campaign

In December 2014, Jeb Bush announced that he would avoid creating a Presidential exploratory committee in order to form a leadership political action committee. The PAC is called Right to Rise, and it will be headquartered in Los Angeles to accommodate Mike Murphy's living situation. Murphy's Revolution Agency built Spanish and English websites for Right to Rise.

The Associated Press reported that Murphy would run Right to Rise as a surrogate of Bush's campaign. The PAC would handle data gathering, phone banks, and even get out the vote efforts. The AP outlined the unconventional strategy as dependent on Murphy because of his close personal ties to Bush, "The idea is that once Bush breaks away to form a campaign, Murphy, Bradshaw and Kochel (Bush's campaign managers) will have spent enough time working together so that the two groups will move in sync."

External links

• Murphy's commentary posting site with his writing for the Weekly Standard, LA Times, NYT, NPR and National Journal
• Appearances on C-SPAN