I was the 8th vote for Berryman. He is a decent, honest man. Both he and Nacht supported Schwarz last time, but when you consider their alternatives, what choice did they have?

Berryman is the best suited to beat Walberg and can draw on a ton of experience in the state and local governments as well as with Walberg.
 

I think I will support Berryman this next election. I loved Sharon. I voted for her last year, however, she has no experience in government. We need someone with experience this time around.

GO BERRYMAN!!!!

NICK SMITH
 

I'll support Berryman unless Schwarz runs. Schwarz is hands down the most informed and well connected person we have in this district. His background in military and medicine are what we need right now. However, if he's not a factor, Berryman is a person of great integrity who will represent us well. Bottom line, anyone but Walberg.

It's interesting to note that the GOP is still in self-destruct mode and it looks more and more like DeVos is lining up to run for Gov again which is good news for Dems. If he runs, it will ensure a solid Democrat majority in 08.
 

This comment has been removed by the author.
 

To all those who voted for Berryman and especially to anonymous who said, "That's none other than Berryman, and the sooner we all rally together and unite against Walberg, the better for us all”. Go to
http://www.actblue.com/page/murch

What do you make of the vote so far? I am surprised Nacht has only 4 votes.
 

Interesting comment regarding a rematch between DeVos and Granholm. I wish I could be so confident that Granholm would win again but I'm finding some prominent Dems who voted for her both times but who are now really upset with her.
 

The question was why did I vote the way I did. I said I chose Berryman and gave reasons why. I then made comments about rallying together. Why was this removed?
 

Berryman is the only qualified candidate in the field -- Nacht doesn't have any experience to speak of, and Renier is kind of a nut. (Wasn't it the Jackson Citizen Patriot that compared her to Tom Cruise jumping on the sofa?)
 

I am sorry about the removed comment I did that by mistake. Please repost.

Doug
 

Granholm is term limited and not able to run again.
 

To not just watch but actually remove Walberg, this primary of two candidates that have no chance against the Club for Growth/Carl Rove machine, and one who can really win needs to end at some point, long long before August 2008.

These primaries have ruined our chances two times now, leaving us with a three-time-loser who no one who knows the truth and reality of her would touch with a ten foot pole.

There has never been any sort of conspiracy in the fact that Renier can get no one to endorse her. The fact is, no one wants to be associated with her rants, crazy ideas, fictional lives, and the like. A congressperson wins and succeeds through the maximun number of people who want to associate with him or her. Renier is applying to be a lifeguard, but she can't swim, does not want to swim, and says the other life guards are in conspiracy against her.
 

Running up and down the beach screaming and blaming other people while we all go under?

Sounds right to me.
 

Yes, Walberg's ideas are disturbing. But the biggest thing is that he's not qualified to be in Congress. He doesn't have an original thought in his head. He's bought and paid for by CFG, Right to Life and other far-out groups.

Sharon Renier is a nice person with sincere but confused ideas. But she is equally unqualified for the job. She does not know how Congress works. She does not have good advisors. And she does not have the ability to represent the 7th District.

We did have an experienced, reasonable and thoughtful representative. If the Dems are smart, they'll set aside their own litmus tests about being pro-choice and backing a Democratic frontrunner for president.

If the Dems really want to do the right thing and win in the 7th, they should nominate Joe Schwarz.
 

We do not need a Republican to win this seat for the Democrats. Joe Schwarz has been a long time Republican with heavy support of the Engler policies that have put this State in the shape it is today. When he was in Congress, he voted with the Bush administration 80% of the time. The District needs a real Democrat, a Democrat that will stand up for the average person and that Democrat is Jim Berryman.
 

I could not agree more about Joe Schwarz
 

What's a REAL Democrat? What's a REAL Republican? Sounds like the kind of crap Walberg said last year. That's why so many people are tired of politics.

Schwarz has done more for the district and the state than any of the candidates combined. He has friends in both parties and can actually get things done. If he runs, I bet Berryman will endorse him.
 

Forget the easy comments like, "That's why so many people are tired of politics." Ask a 1000 people why they are tired of politics and you will get 1000 different answers. Many will say they are not tired of politics, this site is a good example.

As for what is a real dem. or rep. there are some clear core values that are important to me and they are consistently supported by democrats and not Republicans.

In 04 Joe Schwarz used Democrats and independents to win the primary. He went to Labor and said he would be their friend, but voted for CAFTA. He told us he was an independent thinker and would not vote the party line, but voted in his words 80 to 85% of the time with the President. He even caved in to the far right and voted with his leadership in the Terri Schiavo(spelling?)case. His thinking of running as a Democrat is a ploy, because he knows he can't win the Republican primary.

Berryman is not going to back out.
 

The reason Renier did so well in the last race is simple...she's not Walberg! Half the GOP voted for her.
 

Man, Doug has it out for Schwarz, huh?

Schwarz never promised to vote independant, but he always considered it, which is a trait very few politicians possess. Schwarz is a moderate republican, in the spirit of the party as it was before it became captured (his word, I think) by ultra-conservative zealots.


As a moderate myself, there are plenty of times I consider voting for a moderate democrat. Not all the time, but when the choice is as bad as some of the ones we've had lately (Walberg and DeVos come to mind,) I look at democrat options.

Knowing Schwarz a little, I don't think he promised labor anything but an open ear. Doug, it was labor that used Joe Schwarz as an example of what happens if you don't support their agenda. He did not have nearly the support from labor the second time around and they basically sat on their hands.

And, what are the core values of democrats? If there are not any republicans who support them, they must be pretty darn liberal.
 

I'm sorry, while I agree she got votes via ana anti-Walberg sentiment, to say half of the GOP voted for Renier is numerically incorrect. Problem is that *none of the GOP could stand to vote for her,* not even the Schwarz people. This wasn't because she was a super Democrat, but that she is so far outside the mainstream and considered (quite correctly) to be someone who is clueless and ridiculously radical.

Note also that Renier is not even an activist. She really gives zero to the community and has real leadership experience. She just pops up every year to run for Congress, sometimes drunk, speaking of fiscal responsibility and responsibility in Washington, while telling everyone she walks along the road collecting pop cans for gas money.

Sounds like someone who maybe shouldn't be making decisions about trillions of tax dollars, war strategy, job creation and the like.
 

Sorry, second paragraph should read "no leadership experience"
 

Reiner was the lesser of two evils, unfortunately, that's the way many of us have to vote and that's why she got the numbers she did. Neither candidate was qualified to hold the office.