The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Fundraising appeal draws GOP rebuke
Murphy accused of politicizing shooting in email blast that included re-election solicitation
Chris Murphy is using his national profile to prime the pump for gun-control groups after the Las Vegas massacre, but the Democratic senator from Connecticut is being condemned by Republicans for pairing that effort with a request for re-election campaign contributions.
Murphy’s campaign sent an email blast Tuesday night to supporters, urging them to give money to a trio of gun-control groups aligned with the senator, whose progressive stock has been on the rise since his filibuster in the Senate last year chiding Congress for its inaction on the scourge of gun violence.
The solicitation from Murphy redirected supporters to a popular fundraising portal used by Democrats known as ActBlue, which allowed contributors to designate which nonprofit advocacy group they wanted to contribute to and select amounts. Murphy’s re-election campaign was listed as a fourth option.
The death toll from Sunday’s
shooting at a country music festival stands at 59. More than 500 people were wounded by a lone gunman, who used an arsenal of at least 17 guns — some of them fully automatic — to carry out the shooting from his Las Vegas hotel room before killing himself.
“If we are ever going to make our communities safer from gun violence, we have to put in the same effort to build our own political infrastructure around gun safety,” Murphy wrote supporters. “I am trying. You know that. But I cannot do it alone. So I have to ask you: Split a donation — of any amount — between the leading organizations working every day to take on the NRA and make our communities safer from gun violence.”
Murphy’s message made no mention that his supporters could designate funds for his re-election, an option that was removed as of Wednesday morning by ActBlue.
“What he did shows his character. This is the real Chris Murphy, a political opportunist who is trying to raise his name recognition to run for president.”
J.R. Romano, state Republican Party chairman
Charge of opportunism
Republicans compared the fundraising appeal to one made by Murphy’s Connecticut colleague, Democrat Richard Blumenthal, after the 2012 shooting rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.
“What he did shows his character,” said J.R. Romano, the state GOP chairman. “This is the real Chris Murphy, a political opportunist who is trying to raise his name recognition to run for president.”
Murphy spokeswoman Laura Maloney said the email could have been worded better, but stood by the fundraising effort.
“The email should have been clearer about the options available to those who chose to donate, but Chris has been totally transparent about the need to spend every single day building a well-funded political movement that will eventually win changes in the law to help end this epidemic of mass carnage,” Maloney said. “Thoughts and prayers won’t stop this slaughter — only a political movement that leads to legislative action will.”
Matthew Corey, one of two Republicans who have filed papers to challenge Murphy, called on the incumbent Wednesday to donate his share of the money to charity.
“The unfortunate part is he’s still raising money on the deaths out there,” said Corey, who is from Manchester. “I’m buying that he’s politicizing a tragedy, which they always do. He hasn’t come up with any solutions to control this.”
Taking on the NRA
Murphy grabbed headlines Monday when he called on Congress to “get off its ass” to pass tougher gun-control laws. Corey took Murphy to task in an email to supporters.
“Sen. Murphy told Congress to gets off of its ass and do something,” Corey wrote. “Well, Connecticut has a message for Sen. Murphy. Sit your ass down and do something. You are part of the problem, not the solution.”
Murphy’s spokeswoman said Republicans are parroting the National Rifle Association’s talking points.
“These mass shootings, as well as the daily carnage of gun murders, keep happening because politicians are so afraid of the gun lobby that they refuse to act,” Maloney said. “Chris isn’t afraid, and every single day he is working to build a political movement that will eventually defeat the gun lobby. The notion that this political fight needs to be suspended in the wake of a mass shooting is an argument perpetuated by the gun lobby and those who want the status quo to never change.”
Murphy’s name is being bandied about as a potential 2020 challenger to Donald Trump, with the Washington Post listing him behind Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden as trendy picks to win the Democratic nomination. A former three-term congressman from Cheshire, Murphy was under consideration to be Hillary Clinton’s running mate last year.