Two years ago, Tim Walberg was able to knock off moderate and popular Joe Schwarz in Michigan's 7th Congressional District Republican primary thanks in large part to a massive infusion of money from the Club for Growth. Walberg went on to beat a massively underfunded turkey farmer named Sharon Renier in the general election, and has since developed a reputation for extremist politics in representing a fairly moderate southern Michigan district.
Last year, Senate Minority Leader Mark Schauer threw his hat into the ring, and the race because a top-tier potential as a Democratic pick-up. This week, the prospects of that look even brighter.
What the Club for Growth cash covered over was the fact that Walberg is not very good at raising money on his own. In the last quarter of last year, he failed to raise half the money that Schauer did. The results are so poor that Michigan's GOP is considering hunting up someone to challenge Walberg in the primary. This, however, is the money quote:
"He's kind of split the party here (in Jackson)," (ex-Rep. Clark) Bisbee said. "I don't know that he's endeared himself to everyone."
Coincidentally, Jackson claims the mantle as the birthplace of the Republican Party.
Jackson also happens to be one of the two biggest metropolitan areas in the district, and provided the largest single total number of votes by county for Walberg in the 2006 primary.
All of this bad news comes as the Politico tells us that Walberg's chances aren't made any better by the GOP's own fund raising woes.
The latest fundraising reports are a gut punch for this six-pack of GOP incumbents: Reps. Christopher Shays (Conn.), Dave Reichert (Wash.), John R. Kuhl (N.Y.), Tim Walberg (Mich.), Jean Schmidt (Ohio) and Bill Sali (Idaho). With the exception of Sali, all represent swing districts.
But it’s also a blow to a House Republican conference that for years has prided itself on using aggressive fundraising tactics and mandates to make sure all of its incumbents held a significant money edge for their reelection.
A senior aide to a prominent House Republican requested anonymity to explain the significance of this fundraising downturn. "You’re going to see all these members in tough shape," the aide said. "You have all these seats out there that are so expensive because of the money we’ve put in in the past. We might not be able to save some of these guys that we brought back last time."
From the looks of that, one of those guys they think they might not be able to save is Walberg. The fact that he's split the party (especially in the GOP's birthplace), and is so terrible at raising money that his own people are considering going after him in the primary suggests that whatever's being said about Tim Walberg behind the scenes ain't good.