Michigan

[palmspringsbum]

The other side

Four Democrats hoping voters ignore the more widely publicized GOP race for 7th District seat

Tuesday, August 01, 2006
By Susan J. Demas
sdemas@citpat.com -- 768-4927
The Jackson Citizen-Patriot

One is a card-carrying National Rifle Association member. Another wants to impeach Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

There's a former Republican who led a successful push to legalize medical marijuana. And the real estate mogul who contends the GOP filched his ideas.

There's no shortage of diversity among the four Democratic contenders in the 7th District U.S. House primary.

Daryl Campbell, Chuck Ream, Sharon Renier and Fred Strack hope voters will look away from the almost $2 million spending spectacle in the Republican primary between U.S. Rep. Joe Schwarz and Tim Walberg -- and see what their campaigns are about.

"It's not easy to get the message out," said Jon Hart, a Democratic activist and owner of the Thunderbird Coffee House. "But it doesn't mean you just sit down and let them run you over."

The district is reliably Republican, encompassing Branch, Calhoun, Eaton, Hillsdale, Jackson, Lenawee and Washtenaw counties. But candidates take heart that President Clinton carried the district in 1996.

Money makes that a challenge this time around. With $6,716, Renier is neck-and-neck with Strack, who has brought in $6,645.

Campbell and Ream say they've raised less than $1,000.

The economy, health care, education, and the Iraq war are the themes the quartet hit upon the most.

Still, some prominent Jackson-area Democrats, including county party treasurer Travis Fojtasek, place their bets on Republicans.

"I'm supporting Rep. Schwarz even though he might not always vote the way you want him to," Fojtasek said. "But he'll always vote for the general good."


<span class=postbold>Former nominee</span>

Renier isn't worried about the heat of the campaign. She coasted past two challengers in the 2004 primary before being whomped by Schwarz 58-36 percent in the general election.

"I've done this before," Renier said. "I've overcome the odds."

Renier, who touts her NRA membership, highlights that she's the only woman in the race.

"I'm a mother. I'm a woman," she said.

"I look at education and health care differently. I wouldn't just send people off to war. Right now women don't have a voice in Congress."

To provide universal health care, Renier supports removing the cap on Social Security so people would be taxed for wages above $90,000. She also advocates a $10 minimum wage.

As for the Iraq war, Renier says the U.S. needs to pull out and let the Iraqi government secure the peace.

"We need to get our face out of the Middle East as an aggressor," she said.


<span class=postbold>Veteran of Navy, Ford</span>

Strack chaired a local veterans group boosting Sen. John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign.

He's fond of introducing himself as the fifth of seven children born into a military family in Gettysburg, Pa., where Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous address.

"I was born in a little town where America was born again, conceived in liberty," said Strack, now a Dexter resident. "We could use a little more of that again."

Styling himself in the mold of state Sen. Mark Schauer, D-Battle Creek, Strack also admires Franklin D. Roosevelt and U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn.

With eight years in the Navy under his belt, Strack says he has the experience to lead on the Iraq war. He supports redeploying U.S. troops to the perimeter and a gradual drawdown. Strack says Rumsfeld should be impeached.

"You have units that still don't have the right equipment," he said. "It is a failure of leadership."

After moving to Michigan five years ago as a buyer for Ford Motor Co., Strack said he's seen the effects of the poor economy up close and personal. He backs job-retraining programs for laid-off workers and efforts to stop devaluing Chinese currency.

"Jobs are the No. 1 issue for people right now," Strack said.


<span class=postbold>Republican refugee</span>

Ream led a revolt on the Scio Township Board of Trustees in Washtenaw Township two years ago, transforming it from a solid Republican bloc to an overwhelming Democratic majority.

The retired kindergarten teacher, who grew up in a steadfast Republican household, switched parties in 2000.

"George W. Bush just got to me," Ream said.

He said the president's mishandling of the war proves his decision right. U.S. troops should withdraw immediately, he said, to make way for a three-nation solution of Sunni, Kurdish and Shiite states.

Ream is used to spearheading social fights. He's won campaigns to legalize medical marijuana in Ann Arbor and halt a Washtenaw County jail.

"I'm the only candidate who's ever been elected to anything," Ream said. "I've led one effort after another and I can get things done."

Ream supports a Canadian-style, single-payer health-care system. Employers will create more jobs if they don't have to contend with crippling health costs, he contends.


<span class=postbold>Self-styled moderate</span>

Campbell is a former high school middleweight wrestling champ. He says that's a metaphor for his campaign.

"I am a middle-of-the-roader in every way," the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office sergeant said with a laugh.

The father of an autistic child, he threw his hat into the ring after Congress threatened to slash special education.

"My campaign is all about education," he said. "I would gut No Child Left Behind, keep the name and replace it with common-sense legislation that works."

An Army veteran, Campbell also stresses homeland security. He would beef up police forces as President Clinton did, but he doesn't favor a timetable for withdrawing from Iraq.

Campbell credits his second career owning a Keller-Williams real estate franchise for his platform of fiscal responsibility. He wants Michigan to get $1 back for every $1 it sends to Washington so it can better repair roads.

That's a theme he said Walberg and Schwarz picked up on in a debate last month.

"I know I'm in tune with the 7th District because (my opponents) are imitating me," he said.
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