Interesting tidbit from The Hotline On Call today. In a blurb about how Michigan could be for the Republicans in 2008 what Pennsylvania was in 2006, due to the narrow margins of victory by GOP candidates this past November, there was a mention of the 7th District. It's where former Representative Joe Schwarz, a more moderate Republican, was ousted in the GOP primary by conservative Tim Walberg, who ultimately won the seat in the general. Here's what the blurb said:
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-- Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI 07) didn't even win a majority of the vote despite running against an underfunded opponent. And speculation abounds that ex-Rep. Joe Schwarz (R) could run as a Dem against him in '08.
Joe Schwarz switching parties to challenge Walberg? Is this something the Democrats would want? Or would they rather someone who's been a Democrat for life, or at least for awhile? For what it's worth, Schwarz's voting record had him as a relative moderate, about 25 out of 100 when I averaged lifetime voting records from the ADA & ACU. Not on a level of a Chris Shays or Sherwood Boehlert, but more moderate than most House Republicans. Moderate enough that a switch isn't completely out of the realm of possibility, though on paper it wouldn't seem likely.
There was also this in a Detroit News article on Walberg:
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But Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer, already looking ahead for a strong Democratic challenger to Walberg, says, "We'd love to get that seat."
Meanwhile, comments by ex-Schwarz chief of staff Matt Marsden, who still refers to his former boss as "the congressman," give a sense of the grudge the Schwarz camp still feels, as well as the hope by many Schwarz fans that he'll take on Walberg.
"Tim Walberg will be an ineffective back bench-bencher. .... We as former staffers and supporters of the congressman (Schwarz) will watch with eagle eyes every move that Walberg makes," Marsden said.
There's also the Democrat who challenged Walberg in the general, Sharon Reiner, and, as inferred by the Hotline article, made the election close.
So, what do you think? If Schwarz were to run as a Democrat, is he worth supporting? Is it a matter of getting a Democrat, any Democrat, in that seat to replace Walberg? Or is that something to be wary of, being a former Republican? Also, the Hotline mention is the first I'd heard of a possible switch; anybody in Michigan hear anything more? Is it just speculation? Something more to it?