Though I often disagree with Congressman Chris Murphy’s views, and regularly identify flaws in his logic, I equally often suspect that were I to meet him in a bar or other convivial setting, I’d probably enjoy buying him a cold one and trading stories. But then Mr. Murphy goes and gives the public some snivelling trifle like his Sunday Hartford Courant article and I am dismayed.
The good Congressman Murphy picked up his pen and wrote a shocking - I say shocking! - expose on the harsh realities of campaign fundraising and how it detracts from the political process. He frames his premise this way:
On any given day, the foot traffic to and from the national Republican and Democratic campaign offices is constant, and the conditions under which we labor are pretty depressing. At the Democratic offices, I sit in a room with cubicles, surrounded by freshmen and veteran legislators, feeling more like a telemarketer than a member of Congress.
The ‘People’s Representative for the 5th Congressional District’ continues his piece by blaming fundraising for the lack of trust that many people have for their elected representatives and for the stinging partisanship that so often gridlocks Washington. He points out the following:
Further, endless evening fundraising commitments mean that, when votes end, members rush to seek campaign contributions rather than grab a burger or beer with a colleague from across the aisle. This pressure to spend rare free moments fundraising means that there is less time to get to know your colleagues. As a result, partisan sniping comes much easier because you often don’t know the person you’re sniping at.
And what solution does the soul-bearing Mr. Murphy offer? Political Welfare:
There is a relatively simple cure: public financing of congressional campaigns. I have been an unrelenting advocate for public financing of elections for nearly a decade now, and that resolve has only been strengthened by my brief time here in the nation’s Capital.
Rep. Murphy’s solution is to have the federal government pay for political campaigns, rationalizing that it would be far “cleaner” to have taxpayer dollars go to supplying Chris Murphy’s re-election effort with pizza, lawn signs, and helium. Realizing that taxpayers will, quite rightly, balk at footing the bill for the “Chris Murphy Pizza Hut & Party Store Stimulus Act”, Murphy attempts to deflate the attack by suggesting that hardworking Americans should “take a leap of faith” and swallow his nonsense.
Once again, Chris Murphy advocates a government solution to problems that are better solved by simple changes in the personal behaviors of Americans. Problems with your health care? Don’t stop smoking or lose weight - let the government pay for it! Problems with your education? Don’t demand more accountability from teachers and more discussion of values - let the government handle it! Chris Murphy doesn’t have any free time to go to the bar with colleagues? Get the government to write a check.
Chris Murphy is the elected representative of the people of the 5th Congressional District. It is a two-year term and there is no one chaining Mr. Murphy to his cubicle. There is no sworn sacred obligation for Chris Murphy to run for re-election and Chris Murphy is not the American Messiah. If there is a problem in politics today, it’s that too many people have turned “elected official” into a lifelong career, and in so doing, delude themselves with visions of grandeur. The Founding Fathers drew up the Constitution so that the best and brightest would feel compelled to serve for a period of time, and then go home - that’s why they made the term two years long.
If Chris Murphy wants to stop raising money, there is no one stopping him except his own ego. There are dozens of cases nationally of Representatives who don’t raise prolific sums of money - unlike Murphy’s $1.35 million take to-date - but still manage to get elected every two years without the help of the government. Maybe Rep. Murphy should take the night off from fundraising and talk to one of them.
Source: Hartford Courant, February 3, 2008 “I Didn’t Get Elected to Be A Fundraiser” by U.S. Representative Christopher Murphy, Democrat from the 5th Congressional District, http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/commentary/hc-commentarymurphy.artfeb03,0,3870632.story
