Murphy stumps for Right Nation conference

A prominent suburban Republican has made a promotional YouTube video encouraging attendance at a conservative conference in Hoffman Estates later this month.

But state Sen. Matt Murphy insists he isn't aligning himself with everything the featured speakers stand for. That's the same approach that event hosts and General Assembly Republican leaders Tom Cross and Christine Radogno have taken on the event.

"I know people putting it together," Murphy, of Palatine, said. "They're good people that care about the direction of the state and the country. I felt like it was a good cause."

Murphy, who lost a bid for lieutenant governor in a crowded primary earlier this year, said he "is really trying to think out of the box. It doesn't mean that I agree with everything."

Right Nation 2010, to be held Sept. 18 at the Sears Centre, features political commentators Glenn Beck and Andrew Breitbart and tea party leader Herman Cain, among others.

Facilitated by the United Republican Fund, the conference, according to its website, aims to "celebrate shared lineage and a common purpose" as the Nov. 2 election draws closer.

House Republican Leader Cross, of Oswego, and Senate Republican Leader Radogno, of Lemont, and Illinois Republican Chairman Pat Brady, of St. Charles, in early August were listed as hosts of the event on the conference's site, rightnation2010.com, alongside several Republican and tea party groups in Cook, Kane, Lake, McHenry and DuPage counties.

Having the names of moderates Cross and Radogno - who have supported stem cell research and abortion rights, respectively - alongside more conservative sectors piqued the interest of local and national political blogs.

Days later, the Daily Herald reported their names were taken down - a move an organizer insisted was event streamlining.

The conference, Right Nation spokesman Collin Corbett said, aims to "draw people from every faction on the right."

"It doesn't mean we all agree on every single issue," he said, "but it does mean we are finally united against liberal Democrats and their attempts to expand government and tax hardworking families."

Murphy has said he sees the tea party as a watchdog on the Republican Party's platform of limited government.

Murphy's 70-second video, shot in a suburban backyard, ties the event attendance closely with Republican success in the upcoming election, one he calls a "watershed event."

"Unity is the key to victory," Murphy says in the video. "And it will take us all - independents, tea partyers and registered Republicans to come together at Right Nation 2010."

Money raised through the event, he said, "will go to elect good conservatives."