About Walberg Watch

On Friday, August 11, 2006, the first post of Walberg Watch was published. Originally a blog hosted on Blogger, Walberg Watch was dedicated to following the political life of Tim Walberg, a candidate for Congress (later elected) in Michigan's 7th Congressional District. Started by one blogger-- Fitzy-- the blog sought to highlight Walberg's radical positions as a poor fit for the district. In its first year, new bloggers were recruited, adding a diverse set of perspectives.

Walberg Watch moved to www.WalbergWatch.com on June 23, 2008. The new location gives us a chance to maintain more content, including resources that can be used to convince undecided voters that Congressman Tim Walberg is wrong for our district. We are not affiliated with any candidate for office or any political party. That said, the position of Walberg Watch is to support the Democratic nominee in Michigan's 7th Congressional District as the most viable alternative to Tim Walberg.

We'd like to thank Blogger (and Google, which now owns the service) for providing a fantastic tool, which we still use to maintain the blog portion of this website. Additional thanks go to the Google Page Creator, whose tools provided a design template from which we've further customized.

For further questions, please see our contact page.

Why?

On August 8th, 2006, a man named Tim Walberg defeated Congressman Joe Schwarz in the Republican primary. Schwarz represented the best elements of todays Republican Party. He had an impressive resume, was an expert on science and foreign policy, and had fought hard for the 7th District. When I-94 needed to be expanded, Joe Schwarz made sure that it happened. When they wanted to close the Air National Guard base in Battle Creek, Joe Schwarz teamed up with local leaders-- including Democrats like state Senator Mark Schauer-- to make sure that an important employer didn't leave the district and the country's defenses were not weakened.

Schwarz was respected by everyone. He had friends on the Democratic side of the aisle, but he never lost his core conservative beliefs. Even Democrats agreed he was a decent representative of the district.

2004

After incumbent Congressman Nick Smith (R-Addison) announced his retirement, Republicans from across the district lined up to try to replace him. Representing the moderate middle, Joe Schwarz led the pack. Five other candidates fought as hard as they could to define themselves as the conservative alternative. Tim Walberg, a former state representative from Lenawee County and a former conservative minister, excelled at representing the far-right fringe of the Republican Party.

Nevertheless, Schwarz won a plurality of the vote and the primary:

Schwarz went on to win the general election against unconventional Democratic nominee and organic farmer Sharon Renier:

2006

From the moment Joe Schwarz was elected to Congress, it was clear that he would be challenged from the right when he ran for reelection. When it came down to just Schwarz and third-place finisher Tim Walberg, everyone expected a tough race, especially after Walberg received the Club for Growth endorsement-- a group of wealthy businessmen from around the country who funnel money into political campaigns.

What was surprising, however, was just how nasty and hateful the Republican primary would become. Negative campaigning dominated the summer of 2006, with Walberg's Club for Growth allies labeling Joe Schwarz "a liberal" and distorting his record in Congress. Simply put, Walberg runs a dirty campaign.

The vicious campaigning took its toll, and the Republican primary in 2006 had dismally low turnout. Walberg, aided by a loyal base of supporters, eked out a narrow victory:

Schwarz wrote about his experience shortly thereafter:

I am the political equivalent of a woolly mammoth, a rarity heading for extinction. Yes, I'm a moderate.

Our plight today is dire. Even though more than half of all American voters consider themselves centrists, the Republican and Democratic parties are finding themselves controlled to an ever-greater extent by their more extreme elements. On the Republican side, the "religious right," the quasi-theocrats, are infiltrating the party power structure quite effectively. On the left, the moneyed Eastern establishment and California liberals shrilly tell Americans that the sky is falling, that the world hates us and that Republican policies are all wrong. Yet they offer no viable alternatives. As a result, they have managed to alienate much of the traditional working-class Democratic base, good people caught between Republicans they don't like and Democrats who have abandoned them. What's a moderate to do?

[...]

So in the Republican primary, the opposition got its vote out. The effort was funded, probably to the tune of $1 million or so, by the Club for Growth, a Washington outfit supported by plutocrats nationwide who apparently have nothing better to do with their money than give it to an organization that stands for nothing -- though it says it's "anti-tax" -- and likes to play in elections in which it has no logical interest.

August 11, 2006

Sharon Renier, the same Democrat who lost to Schwarz by 22 percent two years earlier, was the Democratic nominee once again in 2006. In a lean-Republican district, no "serious" observer thought she would have a chance. I wasn't willing to give up, nor were countless Democrats, independents, and moderate Republicans who weren't willing to stomach being represented by Tim Walberg. Many volunteered and organized.

I chose to start a blog-- Walberg Watch-- to cover the political life of the Republican nominee and provide a place for people to come and learn about the man who would represent him.

Walberg won anyway, outspending Sharon Renier by an enormous margin. It was, however, the closest House race in the state of Michigan:

Through hard work (and with the help of Walberg's own radical positions), Democrats, independents, and moderates had put the district on the map and caught the attention of the national parties.

Walberg In Congress

As a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Tim Walberg has given countless examples of why he's wrong for the 7th District and wrong for Michigan. When he's not trashing Detroit and plotting to drill for oil in the Great Lakes, he's making up stories about tax increases, taking credit for things he didn't do, and voting far out of the mainstream-- including casting the only vote against reauthorizing Head Start.

For more, see our Walberg Voting Record page.

Congressman Walberg has given us plenty of reasons not to vote for him. If you're not convinced, I hope you visit often and we get another chance to convince you.

-- Fitzy