Campaign for Congress down to final moments

With three days to go, Tim Walberg and Mark Schauer are making their last rounds before one of them claims victory on Tuesday. They both stopped in Battle Creek on Saturday.

State Sen. Schauer, D-Bedford Township, is trying to unseat incumbent Walberg, a Tipton Republican, for Michigan's 7th Congressional District.

Walberg stumped in front of about 50 people at the G.O.P. headquarters on Beckley Road, and Schauer visited Nottke's Family Fun Center on Columbia Avenue.

The Republican incumbent said a woman approached him Friday, saying she is tired of negative campaigning.

He responded by stating that Schauer voted for the largest tax increase in the history of Michigan; that his opponent voted for driver's licenses for illegal aliens five months after Sept. 11, 2001; that he supports universal government-sponsored health care; that he supports amnesty; and that he has spoken out against the war and said the surge wasn't working.

"How do you make a negative record like that sound positive?" Walberg asked.

Schauer, in talking to voters at Nottke's on Saturday night, handed out flyers that outline his role in helping create or save more than 850 jobs in the area.

"I've talked throughout my campaign about my record of helping businesses stay and grow in Michigan," Schauer said. "I'm working every day to help working-class people. I think Washington is broken, and is ignoring the unique challenges we face here."

He said Walberg is "out of touch" and "out of the loop" when it comes to helping Michigan families.

"Unfortunately for Walberg, he's mired in the same politics as usual," Schauer said. "He doesn't have one policy he can defend. All he can do is attack me."

Torby Boykins, 35, of Battle Creek, plans to vote for Schauer.

"We need change here," Boykins said between frames at the bowling alley. "Bush tore everything up. The middle class need help, and the lower class need help. We don't need more of the same thing."

Jim Greenfield, 49, said Walberg supports a more fair tax structure.

"I think we need to take politics out of taxation," Greenfield said, adding that an income-based tax is not fair. "Just because I make a lot of money doesn't mean I should be taxed arbitrarily higher. Fairness needs to be fair."

Greenfield, of Battle Creek, describes this as "an ugly campaign year."

Schauer said Walberg has supported unfair trade agreements, and that his tax plan is burdensome.

"This so-called fair tax is a 23 percent tax on every purchase," Schauer said. "It's so bad that even George W. Bush's tax advisory panel rejected the idea. It's a very regressive tax. Tim Walberg supports a failed trickle-down economy that has created a huge budget deficit and eroded the middle class."

Walberg said many political ads have made false claims against him.

"I'm glad to respond to my record," he said. "A record that has never offered privatization for Social Security, regardless of what (Schauer) said. A record that has never said that outsourcing is a good thing."

Walberg said one ad claimed he would deny health care coverage to cancer patients, but that the actual bill he supported "simply said anyone can buy health insurance across state lines."

Walberg said he has personally raised $2.1 million for his campaign, and an additional $2 million has been raised through organizations, which is a record amount for any Congressional candidate representing his district.

"Now that doesn't match the over $6 million for my opposition," Walberg said, "but it's always, in my mind, it's always less expensive to run on a good record than to hide a bad record."

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