Patrick Murphy’s Crusade Against High Speed Rail Could Hurt Senate Bid

    Newly minted Senatorial candidate Patrick Murphy needs to stop opposing All Aboard Florida if he wants to win.

     

    By Jacob Engels

     

    South Florida Democratic congressman Patrick Murphy announced in recent weeks that he intends on seeking the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Republican Marco Rubio, who is currently contemplating a run for president.

     

    Murphy, who was once a Republican, donating large sums to Mitt Romney and others – switched parties just four months before his first bid for congress against Republican Allen West. During that campaign, Murphy would undergo a complete transformation from Republican donor to liberal congressional candidate.

     

    He would go on to beat West by a narrow margin, in what was one of the nations most expensive and closely watched races. In his two terms since, Murphy has sided time and again with the Obama administration and liberal Democrats.

     

    Murphy came out in support of the popular All Aboard Florida high speed rail. But then Murphyturned against the project when his multi-millionaire developer father failed to get hugea no-bid contract to build the terminals for the private passenger rail system, Murphy flip -flopped overnight and went rabid – requesting the Government Accountability Office to investigate the project.

     

    He called it a “financially risky and potentially disruptive project”. Murphy cited the companies bid to receive a federal railway loan, claiming taxpayers shouldn’t be on the hook – never mind the fact that the loan will be backed with collateral and paid back in full…with interest.

     

    Is this the kind of behavior we want to see in our next U.S. Senator? Someone who flips from Republican donor to liberal Democrat in a matter of 4 months. A man whose father spends hundreds of thousands of dollars to get him elected through shady third party committees.

     

    Or a congressman who turns against a project that over 75% of Floridians support (according to a recent TC Palm poll) because his father didn’t get a payday?

     

    If he wants to become Florida’s next United States Senator, Patrick Murphy needs to stand up for over the majority of Florida citizens and support the nations first private passenger rail system.

     

    Jacob Engels, is the Founder of East Orlando Post & Seminole County Post. He is a seasoned political operative who has led numerous statewide political groups and has worked on several high-profile local, statewide, and national races. Jacob has been interviewed on national television & radio programs, with his work having been featured in the Orlando Sentinel, New York Times, Washington Post, Miami Herald and other publications nationwide. He can be reached at info@eastorlandopost.com