IOKIYAR: The OTHER primary August 8th

NEWS FLASH: Party activists and extremist bloggers wage unfair challenge against incumbent in August 8th primary!

DailyKos: Yeah, yeah... heard it before 1,000 times...

No, you haven't.

I am not talking about Ted Lamont challenging Joe Lieberman - I am talking about Tim Walberg challenging Joe Schwarz in the Republican primary to represent Michigan's 7th Congressional District.  Both primaries are August 8th, but this is probably the first you've heard of the Michigan primary challenge from the Right.

The Minutemen are supporting Walberg because Schwarz voted against the House immigration bill.
RedState.com is backing the Walberg challenge because Schwarz voted against drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and against the Federal Marriage Amendment.  They are crowing about a (dubious) poll showing Walberg ahead, and they are grousing that the incumbent is getting support from the opposing party.

Does this scenario sound vaguely familiar?  Yet, look at the results from Google News:
lieberman lamont primary yields 559 hits in the last week.  
walberg schwarz primary yields 24 hits, 21 of which are from Michigan.  

Do you think, maybe, the media is a little warped?

•  By the way...

  This is a fairly competitive district, where Kerry got 44.8%.  Lenawee Liberal posted a diary on the race a few days ago.

  by CA Pol Junkie on Mon Jul 31, 2006 at 01:39:40 PM PDT

  •  Liberal Republicans

    I am so old I remember when there was such a thing. I voted for (Republican) John Lindsay for mayor of NYC and about the same time for James Weinstein as Independent Socialist candidate for Congress and did not find the combination unreasonable.

    My instincts if it is 45% for Kerry in the district would be to hope the rightwinger wins. One more nutjob won't make any difference and the 'liberal republicans' (who now qualify soley by being halfway sane on a few issues) have exactly zero power and influence anyway.

    by global citizen on Mon Jul 31, 2006 at 01:47:46 PM PDT

    •  And in a relatively balanced district...

      ...it may be easier for a Democrat to defeat a real nutcase than that rarest of breeds, a somewhat reasonable Rethug.

      by wiscmass on Mon Jul 31, 2006 at 03:52:16 PM PDT

•  I think it's more because MI-7 is

  a district in the middle of nowhere (I should know, because I spent several months there).

  by DemocraticLuntz on Mon Jul 31, 2006 at 01:39:49 PM PDT

  •  Maybe Schwarz doesn't shmooze enough...

    Maybe Joe Schwarz doesn't pal around with enough reporters, or go on Sunday talk shows.  Heck, he probably hangs out in Michigan or something.

    by CA Pol Junkie on Mon Jul 31, 2006 at 01:41:56 PM PDT

    •  also

      RedState just woke up to this race last week.

      by Adam B on Mon Jul 31, 2006 at 01:42:59 PM PDT

    •  He was a solid McCain person in 2000

      which put him on the outs with the Michigan 'publicans who were all lockstep with john engler on bush.  In addition, he was highly critical of delay's tactics in l'affaire nick smith.  When the 'publicans rallied around smith's son in the primary in 2004, they tried to get schwarz to pull out so the hereditary seat would remain in the family.  schwartz refused. He's a pretty good guy and a better doctor than frist.  

      That said, I hope walberg wins because he's such a winger that Fred Strack has a better chance against him than he does against schwarz.  I don't know how competitive it is, but I did attend an event this weekend in Grand Ledge (normally solid 'publican) and I was VERY surprised at the reaction against bush and the 'publicans.  I also did a little walk around in Dewitt (MI08) and was equally as despondent after seeing that they're solid on rogers.

      by dougymi on Mon Jul 31, 2006 at 02:04:19 PM PDT

•  I think...

  ...that the anti-Lieberman forces have done a very good job publicizing their campaign.  Many of the news "hits" are op-ed type entries bashing Lieberman or praising Lamont.

  You WANT this type of publicity.  Quit being a sore winner!

  by JPhurst on Mon Jul 31, 2006 at 01:42:42 PM PDT

  •  Good point

    You're right in that it shows we're more organized.

    by CA Pol Junkie on Mon Jul 31, 2006 at 01:49:03 PM PDT

•  Chaffe vs Laffey?

  What about that? Same thing as what we have, here, too!

  by Mikesco on Mon Jul 31, 2006 at 01:43:57 PM PDT

  •  Exactly

    And somehow the Chafee race has gotten zero coverage in the media.

    by bink on Mon Jul 31, 2006 at 01:47:03 PM PDT

    •  Still a Ways Out

      The Chafee vs. Laffey primary (which I keep bringing up at every reasonable opportunity) isn't until September 12, whereas Connecticut -- and admittedly Michigan -- are only a week away.  When we were still six weeks prior to Connecticut, there wasn't all that much national media coverage on that race yet, either; the trigger point was Lieberman's announcement that he was going for the independent petition drive over the Fourth of July weekend.

      And, not to completely justify the lack of media coverage, but neither Chafee not Schwarz were ever on a national ticket, nor have they made themselves regular features of the political talking heads circuit.

      by The Maven on Mon Jul 31, 2006 at 02:25:28 PM PDT

  •  RI-SEN

    That's a much better comparison, because Senate races are generally considered much more important and newsworthy than House races like MI-7.

    It's kind of silly, actually, to be surprised that more ink is spilled over a significant primary challenge to a long-term incumbent Senator who was a VP nominee six years ago than to a Representative whom no one outside of his own state has ever heard of.

    by Ray Radlein on Mon Jul 31, 2006 at 02:27:00 PM PDT

•  Quiet U.S. Senate primary in Michigan, too

  The interesting stuff happened months ago. Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard jumped in the race after passing it up for health reasons. In the meantime, the party establishment backed Keith Butler, a mega-church pastor who moved from Detroit to Oakland County (his church reportedly owns two jets). The party establishment rescinded their endorsements for Butler and switched to Bouchard, which predictably enraged Butler.

  And then there's Jerry Zandstra, another preacher, with ties to a right-wing think tank and to the DeVos family. He had a following among West Michigan righties, but he failed to submit enough petition signatures to get on the ballot--talk about a rookie mistake!

  With the primary eight days away, I've seen only a handful of ads for Bouchard and Butler. Bouchard's ads are awful, Butler's are witty and biting: they bring up the fact that Bouchard has been on the ballot at total of 14 times. I think Butler will do better than expected in a low-turnout election that favors the wingnuttiest Republicans. But in the end it will be Bouchard.

  by Dump Terry McAuliffe on Mon Jul 31, 2006 at 01:46:19 PM PDT

•  What I Want To See, But I Know I Won't....

  I want David Broder, Jon Alter, and the editorial boards of the Wall Street Journal, Arizona Republic, Hartford Courant and a host of others to write their little fingers off decrying the plight of Lincoln Chafee and Joe Schwarz, proclaiming that these are proxy battles in a larger war for the soul of the Republican Party.

  I want one of those scribblers who has spilled ink mourning the plight of Joe-mentum to echo the sage words of Harry S Truman, who once stated that the GOP is a party which "silences its moderates and expels its liberals."

  I want them to predict that a Walberg or Laffey victory is a sure sign that the Republican party has been taken over by the extreme factions of its own party, or, if they prefer, "The Angry Right."

  I want it, but I know I'll never get it. IOKIYAR, indeed......

  by Steve Singiser on Mon Jul 31, 2006 at 02:18:58 PM PDT

•  Or how about...

  some attention to Thursday's primaries in TN, which make a substantial difference in the fight for a Senate seat (they determine who Harold Ford, Jr. will face in November), and has a big establishment/machine v. "grassroots" fight in TN-9.

  by profmatt on Mon Jul 31, 2006 at 02:46:16 PM PDT

•  Are you seriously claiming

  that the "media is warped" because its pays more attention to a Senate race of a former Vice-Presidential candidate, than to a Congressional race with an obscure incumbent?

  by Elwood Dowd on Mon Jul 31, 2006 at 03:40:55 PM PDT