It's coming right down to the wire.

http://www.irey.com/ ^ | 11/03/2006 | http://www.irey.com/

[Maelstorm]

 

It's coming right down to the wire.

 

It's coming right down to the wire: in less than 100 hours, the polls will open in Pennsylvania .

And this critical contest between Diana Irey and Jack Murtha will be in the hands of the voters.

Have you done everything you can to help Diana Irey? Please, click here to make a secure online contribution.

As we go into the final weekend, all the elements in the machine are working at full speed:

Our television ads are up on every TV and cable outlet in the district (and Jack Murtha, we are told, is none too happy about it!) .



Our radio ads are blitzing the airwaves (he's not too happy about these, either!).

Our final direct mail piece lands tomorrow .

Hundreds of volunteers are making phone calls and knocking on doors over the final 72 hours of the campaign .

And Diana, as usual, is doing her own impression of the Energizer Bunny, going from event to event all over the district, to personally touch as many thousands of voters as she possibly can.

We couldn't have gotten this far without your help.

But we're asking you again -- can you dig deep one more time?

Since we announced the Diana vs. Goliath Blogger Challenge, we've raised more than $100,000 online. Even the local newspapers are writing about that phenomenal success story!

No other House campaign in the country can claim that kind of success. That's all because of you, and the friends you've reached out to on Diana's behalf.

Thank you. And please thank your friends for us.

But now isn't the time to pat ourselves on the back -- we're not in the Winners Circle yet.

Now is the time to buckle down, buckle that chinstrap, and go full steam ahead one more time.

Earlier this week, John Kerry -- the last presidential candidate Jack Murtha voted for -- insulted every member of the United States Armed Forces when he said, in effect, that only stupid or lazy people serve their country in the military.

Jack Murtha, shockingly, defended John Kerry's insulting comments. "It was an unfortunate mistake," he said in a TV interview, before going on to declare that "I'm sure he did not mean to denigrate the troops."

Jack Murtha, of course, knows a little something about denigrating the troops -- this is the same man who said Marines at Haditha had "killed innocent civilians in cold blood," before the first Marine was charged, before the first court-martial was convened, before the first Marine was convicted.

The difference between the two men, of course, is that one of them apologized for his offensive remarks ... while the other still hasn't.

The men and women who wear our nation's colors overseas deserve our support.

As you can see below, they've got a pretty good sense of humor -- and some brains, too, to come up with this clever riposte to Senator Kerry's inappropriate remarks:



They shouldn't have to worry defending their reputations while they're overseas defending our freedoms.

Please, make another contribution to Diana Irey's campaign to redeploy Jack Murtha into an early retirement.

And then VOTE, and make sure all your FRIENDS vote!

 

WHY IS JACK SCARED TO DEBATE? REASON NUMBER 3: HE DOESN'T WANT ANYONE TO KNOW HE SAID WE COULD SAFELY REDEPLOY AMERICAN FORCES FROM IRAQ TO . OKINAWA (WHICH IS IN JAPAN, A VEEEEEEEEEERY LONG WAYS AWAY)
11/3/2006 11:50:00 AM
 

(MONONGAHELA, November 3) -- Washington County Commissioner and Pennsylvania 12th district Republican Congressional nominee Diana Irey -- responding to Jack Murtha's refusal to meet with her to debate the issues, despite newspaper editorials urging him to debate, a League of Women Voters offer to ho...
Read more...

 

Human Events: Diana Irey Plays Up John Murtha's Abscam Scandal -- As She Should
11/3/2006 11:08:00 AM
 

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Tribune-Democrat: Irey gets boost from internet fundraising
11/3/2006 1:07:00 AM
 

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IREY: MURTHA HAS ONE LAST CHANCE TO APOLOGIZE FOR SLANDERING U.S. MARINES
11/2/2006 12:37:00 PM
 

(MONONGAHELA, November 2) -- Washington County Commissioner and Pennsylvania 12th district Republican Congressional nominee Diana Irey -- giving Jack Murtha one last chance to follow in the footsteps of his party's last presidential candidate, U.S. Senator John Kerry, and apologize for offensive rem...
Read more...

 

IREY ADVISORY: JOHNSTOWN PRESS CONFERENCE TODAY
11/2/2006 12:28:00 PM
 

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WHY IS JACK SCARED TO DEBATE? REASON NUMBER 4: HE DOESN'T WANT ANYONE TO KNOW HE VOTED AGAINST GIVING U.S. INTELLIGENCE AND LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES THE POWER TO PROPERLY INTERROGATE AND BRING TO TRIAL TERRORISTS WHO PLOT AGAINST THE UNITED STATES
11/2/2006 9:57:00 AM
 

(MONONGAHELA, November 2) -- Washington County Commissioner and Pennsylvania 12th district Republican Congressional nominee Diana Irey -- responding to Jack Murtha's refusal to meet with her to debate the issues, despite newspaper editorials urging him to debate, a League of Women Voters offer to ho...
Read more...

 

WHY IS JACK SCARED TO DEBATE? REASON NUMBER 5: HE DOESN'T WANT ANYONE TO KNOW HE VOTED AGAINST GIVING U.S. INTELLIGENCE AND LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES THE POWER TO WIRETAP SUSPECTED TERRORISTS WHEN THEY CALL ASSOCIATES IN THE UNITED STATES
11/1/2006 4:32:00 PM
 

Read more...

 

IREY CAMPAIGN AIRS NEW TV SPOT: "NOW WE KNOW WHY"
11/1/2006 12:24:00 PM
 

Read more...

 

Postal Address:
Diana Irey for Congress 600 Park Avenue Monongahela, PA 15063
 

[longhorn too]

Anybody form this district have a feel for this race?

[RedRover]

Bump and ping!

[jazusamo]

It's time for a change in the 12th District.

Diana Irey will be good for the Distict, Pennsylvania and America.

[smoothsailing]

[Maelstorm]

One thing for certain these ads that Irey is running will make it possible to close on Murtha in the final days leading up to the election. This is the perfect storm. All the timing is perfect. Now we have to wait for this baby to be born.

[RedRover]

The district has a majority of Reagan Democrats. Those voters haven't had a Reaganesque candidate until now. Diana is a social conservative, a fiscal conservative, and a hawk. I'm betting that conservative Dems bolting to Irey will be the crucial factor in her victory!

[Waco]

Redeploy! Murtha!

[GitmoSailor]

Use the leaves to make your yard IREY'S

[petercooper]

That's a great house. Nice lawn too!

[GitmoSailor]

Here's Bush's "W" yard sign!!!!!!!!.......All citzens of this Nation need people like Diana Irey in Washington D.C.

[Maelstorm]

That is just awesome!

[longtermmemmory]

who has more money Irey or Murtha?

[GitmoSailor]

If grassroots were money!!!....Diana Irey

[scrabblehack]

Strangely enough, it didn't when Reagan was actually around but it does now. I remember lookihg at the county sums when I was in high school and thinking that outside of the South, the "Reagan Democrat" was not what it was purported to be -- indeed Reagan lost blue collar Washington County in 1980 by about the same margin that Ford lost it to Carter in 1976....I want to say the same goes for Greene and most of those other counties as well.

The biggest difference between 1980 and 1976 in PA came in the collar counties of Philadelphia....which were Republican back then....Ford won them in '76, but Reagan won them by an even larger margin in '80. So even in those days it was about turnout.

But yes, social conservatism has made Greene county somewhat Republican, and Westmoreland as well.

Fast forward to 2004, and those collar counties of Philly voted for Kerry while Greene, Westmoreland, and Cambria voted for Bush.

[scrabblehack]

Here's the Bush-Kerry map by voting district. Pink leans Bush (in terms of vote differential per unit area, not percentage), light blue leans Kerry, gray is tossup, vivid red is strong Bush (not much of it), and it's hard to make out, but vivid blue is strong Kerry -- as I've said elsewhere, upper Mon Valley (dense notch in the SW), Johnstown (east), Arnold/New Kensington (NW finger) were Democrat strongholds in '04 anyway....

[RedRover]

Murtha's definitely got more money. Fortunately, he's not spending it. His strategy has been to deny Irey name recognition by ignoring her as much as possible.

I think this is a big plus for us because we're not fighting a battle of warchests. Irey can spend every dollar in positive ads and attacking Murtha. Murtha is not running negative ads, so Irey doesn't need to waste money defending herself. Plus Irey has hundreds of dedicated vounteers on her side. Murtha doesn't.

Irey has a superb ground game going (with the help of FR's finest). And I think that's where we'll win.

[RedRover]

Thanks for the post. I'm on my mobile at the moment so I get a red x. I'll look at it on my regular 'puter tomorrow morning.

I'm from NW PA. I was raised in a town called Titusville (on Rt. 8, heading toward Erie). I have relatives in Belle Vernon. Back in the '60s, it was Nixon country. I haven't followed PA politics so much since I've been in New York.

Since you study these things, what do you think Irey must do to get Dems to cross over to her side?

[scrabblehack]

She may know better than I do. When she won for County Commissioner back in '96, was it? the Republican ticket got a majority for the first time in a long time. Unfortunately the western part (in the 18th) of the county is more Republican than the eastern part (in the 12th). I think she's the minority party commissioner now, but she does have some experience in dealing with that constituency.

The issues on her website and in the debate reasons are family values (I agree this is a winner), immigration, 21st century energy policy, health care, taxes and spending, and the 2nd amendment. With the reasons why Murtha won't debate, she's got congressional pay and ethics as well as support for the military.

I guess we'll know Wednesday if these issues are resonating. Somehow I don't think the MSM will announce that Irey has won.

[RedRover]

Thanks for the thoughtful posts. Regarding the outcome on Wednesday, I'm praying you're wrong. But then, I imagine you are, too.