Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., is trying to link his Democratic challenger to filmmaker Michael Moore in a new television ad.
Walberg, a first-term Republican, released a new ad Thursday juxtaposing images of the liberal documentary maker with state Senate Democratic Leader Mark Schauer, who is seeking to oust Walberg in a hotly contested south-central Michigan congressional district.
Walberg's ad says that Moore supports Schauer "and it's easy to see why. They both share radical liberal views." It criticizes Schauer on immigration and taxes and says Moore and Schauer have a "lot in common with each other. But nothing in common with us."
Moore, in a statement, said Walberg "made the mother of all rookie mistakes -- he voted with Bush/Cheney 93 percent of the time!"
"Desperate to insure that his first term won't be his last, he's trying anything he can to save his seat. Showing pictures of me without a ballcap on will do nothing to help him at this point," Moore said.
Moore, who won an Oscar for his 2002 documentary "Bowling for Columbine," is a Flint, Mich., native who maintains a home near Traverse City, Mich. A Moore spokesman said the filmmaker has contributed to Schauer's campaign and two other Michigan Democrats, Gary Peters and Bob Alexander, who are seeking to unseat GOP incumbents.
Peters, a former state lottery commissioner, is challenging Rep. Joe Knolleberg, R-Mich., while Alexander, an East Lansing consultant, is taking on Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich.
Walberg's campaign cited a Sept. 2 story in The Hill, a Washington, D.C., newspaper, which reported Moore was helping Democrats running against Walberg and Knollenberg, who represents an Oakland County district. Moore had not made the contributions through the June 30 fundraising period, the most recent records available.
Schauer, in a fundraising e-mail to supporters, called it "yet another desperate attack ad" and countered that Walberg's "bold solution to fix our economy is to blame someone else and talk about a guy who makes movies."
Schauer's campaign released an ad that accused Walberg of admitting that he's "bought and paid for" by the Club for Growth, an anti-tax, pro-business group which pumped more than $1 million into Walberg's successful 2006 primary campaign. The ad contends Walberg has supported free trade deals and the outsourcing of jobs during his first term in Congress.
Justin Roebuck, Walberg's campaign manager, said Schauer's campaign used an impersonator in the ad, which cited comments Walberg made to the Jackson Citizen Patriot, a Jackson, Mich., newspaper. Walberg said in July 2006: "If I go to Congress and lower taxes, reduce pork-barrel spending and kill the tax codes of the IRS ... you can say, 'Yep, I'm bought and paid for by them."'
Roebuck said Schauer was "clearly willing to say anything and make anything up to try to win a campaign."