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Mike Murphy  

Communications Strategist, Pundit, Writer & Producer; Host of "Hacks on Tap" Podcast; NBC News Analyst

Mike Murphy is one of the Republican Party’s most successful political media consultants, having handled strategy and advertising for more than 26 successful gubernatorial and Senatorial campaigns. Murphy has been called a “media master” by Fortune magazine and the leader of a “new breed” of campaign consultants by Congressional Quarterly.

Murphy served as senior strategist for both John McCain’s first campaign for President in 2000 and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s historic election as Governor of California. Murphy has led successful campaigns for many GOP Governors and Senators including Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney, Terry Branstad, Lamar Alexander, Jeff Sessions. Slade Gorton, Christie Whitman, Dirk Kempthorne, Tommy Thompson and John Engler. He has advised political leaders in six foreign countries.

A partner in the Washington DC based Revolution Agency, Murphy also advises several Fortune 500 corporations, leading funds and many of America’s largest trade associations, working with industries including insurance, technology, energy, financial services and commercial real estate.

Murphy is a longtime analyst for NBC News, a former columnist for TIME and hosts the popular podcast "Hacks on Tap" with his friend and Democratic colleague David Axelrod. Murphy is co-director of the Center for the Political Future at USC and serves on the boards of the Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago and the National Alliance of Public Charter Schools. He is a former Senior Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Murphy was born in Detroit, Michigan and attended the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. Murphy also works as a writer/producer in the entertainment industry through his company High Lantern Pictures. He lives with his wife Tiffany and daughter in Los Angeles California.

Speech Topics


After the Hurricane: Politics 2018

GOP campaign strategist and NBC News Analyst Mike Murphy takes audiences on a tour of the new politics of the U.S. after the biggest upset in years. With deep insight as a true insider and his trademark humor, Murphy looks at how we got here in Election 2016, how Donald Trump shocked the media to gain victory, how the rules of American politics have been changed forever and what a Trump Presidency is likely to mean for the country, the Republican Party and the world. Using a mix of insider information, new statistics and humorous anecdotes, Murphy explains how the pollsters got it wrong and how President Trump may well have many more surprises in store for Washington D.C.’s political insiders. Murphy’s balanced, informed and highly amusing presentation will interest and entertain both Trump fans and Trump foes, as he expertly explores the new realities of American politics in 2018.

Decade of Decision: The Growing Storm in Health-Care Politics

No issue vexes American politics more than health-care policy. Veteran political insider Mike Murphy analyzes how—from the health-care battles of the Clinton Administration to Obamacare and the current war over its repeal—health-care policy has become the new third rail of American politics. He’ll look at how both parties struggle to navigate the reality of health-care policy, as well as how the changing demographics and the growing technology revolution that hospitals, pharma, and insurers face is both an opportunity and a challenge as congressional and administration leaders struggle to create real, lasting health-care reform. A longtime adviser to presidential, senatorial, and gubernatorial campaigns, Murphy knows how politics really works. And as a consultant to health-care providers, he understands the challenges facing every part of the industry. An entertaining, ideologically balanced pundit, Murphy’s funny and insightful style will both entertain and inform audiences about what he believes is the most important domestic issue of the next decade.

Lessons from the Campaign War Room: Developing a Winning Corporate Strategy

Veteran strategist Mike Murphy shows business audiences how successful campaigns build a strategy, message and tactics in a do-or-die atmosphere with low budgets and cynical consumers. Designed for boards of directors and executives, Murphy's presentation is customized, based on extensive experience with Fortune 500 firms.

Murphy shares:

How a company can benefit from the same tried-and-true strategies used by campaign consultants

How to evaluate corporate strategy and adjust as the market demands

How online grassroots social marketing is not a new concept in the political world and how to use it successfully to grow revenues

The Rough and Tumble of Global Politics: Exploring Today’s Hot Button Issues and High-Stakes Hotspots

North Korea. Russia. China. Mexico. Brexit. We read about the big things happening in World Events nearly every day. But how do we make sense of it all? Veteran political strategist and TV pundit Mike Murphy is the rare expert who understands both World and U.S. Politics and how they intersect.

Murphy, a former Senior Fellow at the Harvard JFK School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, is a veteran political consultant. Over his career, he’s served as a top strategist for dozens of leading American politicians – including John McCain, George H.W. Bush, Mitt Romney, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jeb Bush, and many more Senators and Governors. He’s also advised foreign leaders in Latin America, Europe, and Canada.

In these remarks, Murphy breaks down the events of the day. Combining deep insight with his witty and informative approach, he makes even the most complicated foreign policy issues easily understood. Audiences will both learn and laugh as Murphy takes them on journey around the globe. Starting in the Halls of Power in Washington, he touches base at each of the biggest and most high-stakes hotspots around the globe. Murphy will also cover how public opinion both shapes and reacts to the world stage in the rough and tumble of American Presidential politics. Entertaining and insightful, Murphy’s exploration of today’s hot button issues reveal both the challenges and opportunities ahead.

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