New Walberg ad tries to link Schauer to hatless Michael Moore

In a new television campaign ad Michigan Republican Congressman Tim Walberg attacks Democratic challenger Mark Schauer by linking him to filmmaker Michael Moore.

Walberg’s ad says that Moore supports Schauer — the only link established between Moore and Schauer in the ad — and announces, “And it’s easy to see why. They both share radical liberal views.” Then after criticizing Schauer on immigration and taxes, the ad says Moore and Schauer have a “lot in common with each other. But nothing in common with us.”

There’s even an unflattering photo in the ad of Moore without his signature ballcap on, suffering from a case of serious “hathead” coiffure distress. Oh, the horror.

The ad was likely created with the intent of winning voters in the 7th District’s Republican-dominated Jackson area, where Michael Moore may actually be even less popular than George W. Bush. Moore generally doesn’t pull any punches when sharing his thoughts on politics, and it is usually Republicans who are the targets of his outrage.

In a statement to the press last night, Moore had this to say of Walberg’s ad:

Walberg “made the mother of all rookie mistakes — he voted with Bush/Cheney 93 percent of the time!”

“Desperate to ensure that his first term won’t be his last, he’s trying anything he can to save his seat. Showing pictures of me without a ballcap on will do nothing to help him at this point,” Moore said.

I spoke with Schauer’s communications director, Zach Pohl, this morning, and he issued the following statement to Michigan Messenger:

“Walberg just doesn’t get it. With our economy in crisis, Mark Schauer is fighting for jobs while our Congressman is wasting time talking about a guy who makes movies for a living. Bush and Walberg’s support for outsourcing and unfair trade deals are making things worse, and voters are looking for results, not more empty rhetoric.”

It’s not known how much Walberg’s campaign spent on this latest ad run, but in light of the free national attention now given to Mark Schauer via Moore’s press release, as well as the prominent position on Moore’s Web site mocking Walberg, the PR team might want to get together and rethink its strategy.