State Senator Mark Schauer, a Battle Creek Democrat, was mentioned quite a bit last fall and early this year as a potential candidate for Congress in the 7th District. He's been a fantastic party leader in the legislature, supporting the netroots and working to solve the Michigan budget crisis. His name was even tossed around by supporters of Joe Schwarz in 2006 as a reason not to vote for Tim Walberg, suggesting that Walberg in 2006 would inevitably lead to a Schauer victory in 2008.

Schauer and his staff quashed most speculation this spring, promising to stay on as leader of the Democratic caucus in the Senate until the end of his term in 2010. Most observers-- including journalist Jack Lessenberry-- thought he would have been a formidable candidate, but Schauer seemed determined to sit this election out.

But all of that might be changing.

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Many will remember that on August 8th, faux-GOP moderate Congressman Joe Schwarz was defeated in the Republican primary by Tim Walberg. Walberg is a fundamentalist preacher, funded and endorsed by the Club for Growth, the Minuteman PAC, Right to Life, James Dobson, and a host of other far-right organizations.

The Democratic nominee is Sharon Marie Renier. She's kind of quirky and ran an unimpressive campaign in 2004 against Joe Schwarz, losing by 22 percent in a district that went 45 percent to Kerry. To be fair, Schwarz was a popular moderate and well-funded. The fact that Renier got what she did-- with a budget of just a few thousand dollars-- is almost impressive.

This year, some speculation followed Walberg's victory on whether or not Renier could make the race competitive, but without polling data, no one could be sure. That all changed, with the release of the first public poll on the race:

MI-07 - M.o.E. +/-4.0% - Conducted Oct. 6-7 by Glengariff Group, Inc.

Tim Walberg (R) - 43%
Sharon Renier (D) - 35%
Undecided - 22%

More in the Extended Entry...

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After multipleinterviews in which he criticizes Michigan's 7th District's Republican nominee Tim Walberg, Congressman Joe Schwarz picked up his pen once again for a column in Sunday, September 17's Washington Post (apparently available early online). (All emphasis added)

  I am the political equivalent of a woolly mammoth, a rarity heading for extinction. Yes, I'm a moderate.

  Our plight today is dire. Even though more than half of all American voters consider themselves centrists, the Republican and Democratic parties are finding themselves controlled to an ever-greater extent by their more extreme elements. On the Republican side, the "religious right," the quasi-theocrats, are infiltrating the party power structure quite effectively. On the left, the moneyed Eastern establishment and California liberals shrilly tell Americans that the sky is falling, that the world hates us and that Republican policies are all wrong. Yet they offer no viable alternatives. As a result, they have managed to alienate much of the traditional working-class Democratic base, good people caught between Republicans they don't like and Democrats who have abandoned them. What's a moderate to do?

  In my case, lose an election.

More in the extended entry...

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Adapted from a post at Walberg Watch.

On August 8th, while all attention was on the Lieberman-Lamont race in Connecticut, a tough primary battle ended as McCain-style moderate Congressman Joe Schwarz was defeated for nomination in Michigan's 7th District. His opponent, former State Rep. Tim Walberg, ran a negative campaign claiming Schwarz was a "liberal," largely backed by the Club for Growth, Right to Life, and the Minuteman PAC.

Following his loss, Schwarz has been largely silent about his plans for the future. However, it's becoming increasingly clear what he does not intend to do:

WASHINGTON -- In the wake of his loss in the primary last month, U.S. Rep. Joe Schwarz says he won't endorse or vote for the Republican pastor who defeated him and accused "right-wing intimidators" of running moderates like himself out of the party.

That's right. Joe Schwarz-- a prominent Republican from Battle Creek, who served in Michigan's legislature for years, served Michigan's 7th District in Congress, and even ran for governor in 2002-- will not vote for his party's nominee, Tim Walberg.

Some harsh criticism in the extended entry...

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