Michigan's 7th Congressional District

You would think in this potentially game-changing Congressional election, an open seat in blue-collar Michigan would be hard fought by both parties. Indeed, the incumbent Republican -- an intelligent moderate who sometimes even voted his conscience -- went down to a right-winger in the GOP primary, and mid-Michigan isn't exactly a haven for wing-nuts. But it is reliably Republican, so apparently the national Dems have given up.

The Democratic candidate is an organic farmer named Sharon Renier, who is actually making her second or third bid for the seat. But Tim Walberg, the freeze-dried, hair-gelled nutjob who is the GOP candidate, has raised over $1 million to her $40,000. In other words, his budget is probably going to be about $10 for each vote he receives in the general election.

Renier's Web site looks fine, but isn't very sophisticated. No flash animations or punchy, eye-catching videos here. But then, on $40,000 you can't budget much for the Web site.

One thing the national Dem. party could do is give candidates a template for a quality Web site. Candidates could send in some pictures and text, and some Web wizards at the national level could jazz it up a bit. Economy of scale, you know?

Anyhow, the Jackson Citizen-Patriot reports that as of the last reporting deadline, Walberg has $85,159 in the bank compared to Renier's $1,996. Yep -- her entire budget is about the size of a middle-class paycheck.

This is a seat the the Democratic party has written off, but I'm not a big fan of capitulation. $10,000 here would mean a whole lot more than another drop in the bucket in a heated race. The citizens of this district deserve at least a contest.

So I'm personally endorsing Renier, and hope you give her your support. A little would mean a lot.