Empty-suit Candidate fabricating his bio? In Florida, a scandal. In NC? (*YAWN.*)

The driveby media in Florida has decided to actually do its job when it comes to informing voters on the candidates: 

Today Congressman Patrick Murphy is on the fast track to the United States Senate. After just three years in the House, the Democrat from West Palm Beach is the anointed star of his party, enjoying the full-throated backing of President Barack Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden – both of whom came to Miami in recent weeks to campaign for him.

Tens of millions of dollars will be spent to get him elected, with Democrats hoping to take back control of the Senate if he prevails.

Republicans, fearing no one can stop the handsome 33-year-old, have pressured Marco Rubio to jump back into the race and try and retain his seat.

For Murphy, the newfound role as the Democrat’s Most Eligible Candidate is extraordinary; and not just because he’s only been a Democrat since 2011.

Murphy’s rise is extraordinary because of how little he seems to have accomplished to get here.

*Sounds soooooo familiar. Can’t recall what or who I am reminded of here.*

A star athlete in high school and college, injuries kept him from pursuing that further, opting instead for a more functional degree in business administration from the University of Miami. His time at UM was marred by a drunken brawl at a South Beach night club that left him with a mugshot and a black eye. After graduating in 2006, he joined Deloitte & Touche as an audit assistant. He did not meet the minimum requirements to become a Certified Public Accountant in Florida, opting instead to apply for a license in Colorado, even though he did not live or work there. He applied in Colorado because the requirements were lower.

Before gaining approval in Colorado, Murphy took the licensing exam multiple times before passing it. Even with a CPA license in Colorado, his opportunities in Florida were limited because his license was not valid in the Sunshine State.

In his two runs for Congress and his current campaign for the Senate, Patrick Murphy has repeatedly pointed to his experience as a Certified Public Accountant and a small business owner as reasons why voters should support him.

“I believe that my background as a CPA and a small business owner is exactly what we need to put our country back on track,” he said in 2012 during his first House race against the incumbent Republican, Tea Party darling Allen West.

In 2014, when he ran for re-election, he was asked in a debate to detail the professional and life experiences which qualify him to serve in Congress. “I would say my background as a CPA,” he said. “Also being a small business owner, you know someone that can relate to those concerns of small business owners I think is particularly important.”

Last year, shortly after announcing his desire to replace Marco Rubio, Murphy once again touted his experience as a CPA saying: “One of the biggest problems we have in our country is our debt, is unemployment, you need to understand numbers to do that. I believe I bring that experience to the table. Having a small business background, understanding the issues, the problems small businesses are dealing with on a day to day basis, I think I bring that experience to the table.”

Portraying himself as an experienced CPA and small business owner has always been critical to the political persona created for his campaigns. They conveyed a sense of seriousness and stability which he otherwise lacked.

A CBS4 News investigation into Murphy’s history as both a CPA and a self-described small business owner, however, shows Murphy has in some cases exaggerated his experience and in other instances made claims that were misleading or outright false.

For instance, he has never worked a day in his life as a Certified Public Accountant.

And he was never a small business owner.

*Gosh.  WHO does this remind me of?*

Oh, yeah.  Congressman Richard Hudson.  We’ve written at length about Hudson’s alleged small business – Cabarrus Marketing – which apparently had no customers or employees other than Hudson, and STILL has an incomplete web site.  Incorporation papers were filed within days of Hudson announcing in 2011 he was moving back to North Carolina from DC to run for Congress.  Hudson has publicly offered at least three differing versions of what this alleged business actually DID.

Despite that clear example of bald-faced lying, Hudson is cruising toward a THIRD TERM in Congress.  Republicans in Raleigh – and even some Democrats — are gushing over him as a potential senator or governor.

In Florida, doing what Little Richard did is viewed as a shocking scandal worthy of a special TV news report.  In North Carolina, however, there’s nothing to see here.