Straight to the point. No nonsense. No outrageous lies. True statements that put the choice in front of you. Don't you wish they all were like Mark Schauer? I sure as hell do. And if he wins this election, he should be held up as a national model for other Democrats on how to get the job done.
A new poll from MRG released yesterday shows Schauer with a 7 pt. lead...
The numbers at this late date don't look good for Republican candidate Tim Walberg. He is down by seven points.
Mr. Schauer is at 50 percent, Walberg at 43 percent.
"Walberg's in trouble because he's not pulling the independent vote that all the other republican candidates are pulling this year," said Tom Shields, political pollster.
While Republican candidate for governor Rick Snyder is doing well with voters who lean Republican, Mr. Walberg is not and Shields says he needs them to win.
... and as if to drive home that point, the AP has a story that included this revealing quote from a Republican voter.
David Farley, a 71-year-old retiree from Albion who said he often supports Republicans, said he plans to vote for Schauer, in part because he doesn't believe Walberg's conservative views are in step with the 7th District.
"If Satan was running on the other side of the ticket, I still wouldn't vote for Walberg," said Farley, a former Navy officer, farmer and executive director of a community foundation. "Walberg is not an outsider."
So, if the choice is between Walberg and Satan, some Republicans have to stop and think about it - and Tim still comes up short. That can't be good. It could be why some prominent names formed "Republicans For Schauer" - folks like Joe Schwarz, former executive director of the Michigan Republican Party Gary Reed, Kellogg Co. Vice President Joe Stewart, and former GOP state Sen. Hal Ziegler found Walberg lacking as well.
No counting chickens though. The National Republican Congressional Committee has dumped $1.45 million on Timmeh in the past month alone, outside Republican special interest groups seem to come up with a new ad for heavy rotation every day, and when it's all added up in the end, I'm guessing that MI-07 is going to be one of the most expensive - if not the most expensive - race in the country.
All for little 'ol us. Who would have ever thought that the hottest battle ground in the nation this year would be in places like Jackson and Battle Creek and the rural farmlands of southern Michigan?