Congressional incumbency tends impermeable these days. Few incumbents are ever put out of office, largely because of special-interest politicking. Not that limiting campaign spending has solved that problem or will solve it. The special-interest problems we face today are the consequence of big government, and then the cause of it. It is a dangerous cycle.
Republicans don't talk much about limiting government anymore. There is a rather powerful collection of Republicans in Congress determined to increase the size of government. Joe Schwarz is one, and his constituents put him out of office in his primary election Tuesday.
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Not only was Schwarz rated C-minus, or 47 percent, by the National Taxpayers Union for his record on tax and spending issues, he was pro-abortion, pro-universal health care, anti-property rights, anti-traditional marriage, anti-Social Security reform and generally liberal on a range of issues.
Michigan's Seventh District is one of the most conservative in the country. Joe Schwarz managed his way into office two years ago because he was faced with five conservatives in the primary. The conservatives canceled each other out and handed Schwarz a winning 28 percent of the primary vote. Republicans win in the Seventh District, so it was a sure ticket to Congress.
But this year, Schwarz was challenged by one solid conservative, former State Rep. Tim Walberg. Walberg never voted to raise taxes in his 16 years in the Legislature. He had 100 percent pro-life and pro-Second Amendment ratings.
Walberg ran a smart campaign. He hammered Schwarz's record, rallying the voters to action. On Tuesday, the voters of the Seventh District voted for Walberg by a margin of 53 percent to Schwarz's 47 percent.
There are two lessons in this.
First, Schwarz's election could have been avoided two years ago. Had conservatives worked together in 2004, pooled resources and rallied around one man to carry the banner, the plurality decision for Schwarz would never have happened. Conservatives need to organize themselves better in politics, and when it comes to elections they must learn to compromise. Not on principle, but in the practical things that are required for principle to have its hearing in the halls of power.
Second, it is possible for a conservative to beat a liberal in a primary election. The Seventh District had doubters. State Republican leaders backed Schwarz because they assumed Walberg had no chance. John McCain flew in to pitch for Schwarz. The major newspapers in the district endorsed Schwarz.
But Walberg won because he worked hard, raised the money, had the record, attacked Schwarz's record, knew the people of the Seventh District and shared their values.
In his concession speech Tuesday, Rep. Schwarz raised his fear that the Republican Party was going further and further to the right. He lamented the failure of moderate voters to turn out to the polls.
Whether the GOP is going right is doubtable at times, but clearly conservatives have a victory here. Tim Walberg will win in November and go to Congress.
It is worth noting that the Seventh District is the home of Jackson, Mich., the birthplace of the Republican Party. There, the first major Republican meeting was held in 1854. The party of Lincoln and Coolidge and Reagan has regained a seat in Congress, not just nominally but principally.
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