MI-7th: The power of the Schwarz

My Congressman, Joe Schwarz, seems like a good man. He's a level-headed moderate, and in his two years in Congress, he's backed stem-cell research, opposed torture, and tried to represent his Republican-leaning district in a level-headed Republican way. If he had won his primary and was running for reelection tomorrow, I'd have to vote Democratic because control of the U.S. House is so imporatant. But he'd cruise to reelection, and I wouldn't feel too bad about that.

But Schwarz lost in the primary to a right-winger named Tim Walberg, who used character assassination and slimy funding tricks to slam Schwarz, and that turned out enough wingnuts to carry him to a primary victory. Now Walberg faces a much closer race against the Democrat, Sharon Renier, than Schwarz would have. Despite a huge funding disaprity, Renier has polled fairly close to Walberg. But I've gotten a ton of Walberg mailers and seen lots of yard signs; I don't think Renier has enough money to run a competent campaign.

But she still has a shot, against all conventional wisdom. Schwarz has made his displeasure with Walberg's tactics and politics well-known, and in this anti-Republican year, that could tip thousands of normally Republican votes to Renier. Schwarz says, "Sharon is a woman of good character. As far as I can tell, her positions are fairly moderate." While he won't endorse her (that just too much to ask of a loyal GOP man, I guess), the Cit-Pat reported yesterday:

Schwarz says he has made up his mind -- and he won't vote for Walberg.

So, I'm saying there's a chance.

Jackson Cit-Pat: Schwarz factor -- Where will his supporters go?