I am writing today to announce the closure of the Michigan Messenger. After four years of operation in Michigan, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news into a single site, The American Independent at Americanindependent.com. This is part of a shift in strategy, towards new forms [...]
An abstinence-only presentation provided to numerous school districts in Calhoun and Eaton Counties in October of this year provided false and misleading information to students about HIV, experts allege.
Two county registers of deeds filed a class action lawsuit Monday on behalf of Michigan’s 83 counties alleging that the Mortgage Electronic Registration Services owes millions of dollars in property title transfer taxes.
Despite evidence of the impact of mercury on children and public health, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette last month joined with 24 other state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to scuttle new EPA regulations that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants.
MI-07 Congressional Candidates state senator Mark Schauer (left) and Rep. Tim Walberg (right)
The losers have gone home and the primary is a memory, but now the real battle heats up. Where I live, in the shadow of the Capitol, the race in the south central portion of the state is shaping up to be interesting to say the least.
Longtime state senator Mark Schauer wants to become Congressman Mark Schauer. The Battle Creek Democrat easily beat perpetual candidate Sharon Renier by a large margin on Tuesday. Schauer will take on incumbent conservative Republican Tim Walberg in the race for the U.S. House seat in the 7th District.
Walberg unseated fellow Republican Joe Schwarz two years ago after winning the primary using ads that attacked the sitting Congressman as a liberal. Now the question is being asked: Does a Democrat stand a chance in a district that is known for being conservative and includes Jackson, the city where the Republican Party was born?
Some think so. One insider at the Michigan State Capitol told me point-blank that all Republicans are vulnerable. He thinks Walberg has not turned out to be what the voters expected. But, of course, that insider is a Democrat who would not be identified, so consider the source. But Schauer has a long history of service and is well-known and well-liked in the Battle Creek area and in Lansing. I have reported on him many times over the years and I have observed that he has the political savvy to give Walberg reason to be concerned. He knows how to give a speech, work a crowd and get his message across.
Two Washington news services, Cook Political Report and Roll Call, have ranked this race as a tossup, which is their most competitive category. In a recent interview with The Detroit News, David Wasserman of the Cook Political Report said, “Walberg continues to be in grave danger of losing his seat.”
And Walberg apparently knows that. He has to be aware his record is spotty and he only has two years under his belt in Washington. Attack ads won him the seat two years ago and he has already started indirect attack ads against Schauer.
One day after Tuesday’s primary election, Freedom’s Watch, a conservative soft money group, launched radio ads on behalf of the in-danger Walberg that Schauer’s people say are out-and-out lies about Schauer’s stand on oil drilling.
“Congressman Walberg’s sleazy friends are wasting no time in starting a smear campaign against Mark Schauer,” said Zack Pohl, spokesman for Schauer’s congressional campaign. “The record is clear –- Mark supports domestic exploration and drilling for short-term relief, but more importantly, he believes we need a comprehensive energy strategy that includes ending tax breaks for Big Oil companies.”
The battle for mid-Michigan begins in earnest.
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