PA-12 is shaping up to be something of a horserace.
When the Irey campaign did preliminary polling last spring, the results were not encouraging. The 30-year incumbant in the PA-12 seat, John Murtha, led the little-known Diana Irey by thirty points. Mr. Murtha was emerging as the liberal conscience of the Iraq war, and promised to gain ever more power and influence as part of the House Democratic leadership. He has high-profile influential friends and a bully pulpit provided by a compliant national media that gives him a regular spot on the Sunday shows.
If I were Commissioner Irey I might have considered throwing in the towel and going to the beach for the summer. Fortunately, she did no such thing.
Ms. Irey rolled up her sleeves and got to work. She has gained some recognition on her own as a staunch supporter of the armed forces, the mission in Iraq, an advocate for rigorous immigration policies and a fiscal conservative. She has also been drawing attention to Mr. Murtha's many failings. And she's producing results. The campaign has just commissioned another poll by Public Opinion Strategies and Ms. Irey has closed the gap to ten points as the race now stands at 55%-45%. She gained ten points and brought Mr. Murtha down ten--and the momentum is all in her favor.
Commissioner Irey's mission over the next five weeks is to keep shining a bright light on Mr. Murtha's disgraceful record while articulating her own platform. The POS poll included some interesting numbers on eleven issues that make voters less likely to vote for Mr. Murtha by as much as 57% (a list is appended below)--and when voters read about these issues, Mr. Murtha's numbers drop into the low 40s. It's incumbant on all of us who want to see Ms. Irey in Mr. Murtha's chair come January to help her spread the word that Mr. Murtha is self-interested and venal, and willingly steps on the backs of his former fellow service members to hoist his substantial bulk up the political ladder. And fortunately, the Irey campaign is no longer a lone voice in the media wilderness. She's getting some assistance from a rather unlikely source--no less than the New York Times, which has in the past held Mr. Murtha up as a moral authority on Iraq, yesterday headlined his political "horsetrading" motivated by the desire to increase his personal prestige and bring more pork (from whatever source) to his district rather than by principle or fiscal responsibility. Major television outlets, such as Fox's Hannity and Colmes show, have picked up the story.
The momentum in this race is with Diana Irey. She is poised to win if we all help, and here are eleven excellent reasons to go to her website and donate some time and money:
Congressman Murtha said that U.S. Marines in Iraq had, and I quote, killed innocent civilians in cold blood, end quote, before any soldier had been charged and convicted. (12 percent more likely, 40 percent less likely)
Congressman Murtha said we could redeploy U.S. armed forces from Iraq to Okinawa, Japan, 5,000 miles away. (11 percent more likely, 36 percent less likely)
Congressman Murtha voted to strip U.S. intelligence and law enforcement authorities of stronger tools to fight the war on terror when he voted against extending the USA PATRIOT Act. (14 percent more likely, 43 percent less likely)
Congressman Murthas brother is a lobbyist who represents at least ten clients who have received tens of millions of dollars in government contracts from the 2005 Defense Appropriations Bill Congressman Murtha wrote and pushed to passage. (6 percent more likely, 39 percent less likely)
Since Jack Murtha became a Member of Congress 32 years ago, Congress has raised its pay 20 times and Congressman Murtha voted 12 consecutive times to raise his own salary. (8 percent more likely, 43 percent less likely)
Congressman Murthas starting salary as a Congressman was $42,500 per year; it is now $165,200 per year. (7 percent more likely, 37 percent less likely)
Congressman Murtha tried to create a new law that would have required taxpayers to pay for the legal expenses of Members of Congress and congressional staffers who have been convicted of taking bribes. (8 percent more likely, 57 percent less likely)
Congressman Murtha hosted a welcome back party in his congressional office for a powerful former congressional staffer who was guilty of taking money illegally from a lobbyist seeking legislative favors. (7 percent more likely, 48 percent less likely)
In 1980, Congressman Murtha was named by the U.S. Department of Justice an unindicted co-conspirator in ABSCAM, the largest congressional corruption scandal in history. (8 percent more likely, 40 percent less likely)
When questioned by the press about his role in the ABSCAM congressional scandal, Congressman Murtha insisted that FBI agents, and I quote, didnt offer me any money despite the fact that they had a tape showing them offering him a bribe. (7 percent more likely, 45 percent less likely)
When undercover FBI agents offered Congressman Murtha a $50,000 bribe, he was heard on an FBI tape saying, and I quote, At this point, you know, we do business together for a while. Maybe Ill be interested and maybe I wont
Now, I wont say that some day, you know, I, if you made an offer, it may be I would change my mind some day. (5 percent more likely, 49 percent less likely)
I think we all agree it's time to clean up Congress. And we could do much worse than starting with John Murtha. Vote Irey! |
Rarely in the annals of American politics has the much-used David-Goliath analogy been so apropos. U.S. Rep. John Murtha is literally and figuratively daunting -- literally because he's 6 feet, 3 inches tall and broad-shouldered with a booming voice; figuratively because he's a giant in Congress, a 32-year veteran of the House of Representatives. And his challenger, Republican Diana Irey, is the opposite -- soft-spoken, slight, barely clearing 5 feet, a neophyte on the national stage. 
Democrat John Murtha is one of Congress's most vocal opponents of the war in Iraq, but the former Marine's own war record is now coming under fire from a familiar source. 
It is no accident that Republican congressional candidate