Peters, Schauer launch re-election TV campaigns

Washington -- Reps. Gary Peters and Mark Schauer, two Democrats hoping to hold their U.S. House seats in November, unveiled their first TV campaign ads Tuesday.

Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, is pitching his record on small business legislation in his ad. Set against video clips of the congressman meeting with business owners and a shut-down storefront, Peters touts his record on holding "Wall Street accountable," his campaign said in a statement.

"When Wall Street got the bailout it didn't deserve, Main Street businesses got left behind. That's just wrong," Peters says in the ad.

"It's why I took on Wall Street CEOs and why I am making it easier for small businesses to create jobs here in Oakland County."

Republican opponent Andrew "Rocky" Raczkowski said the ad is "too little, too late ... the only thing Gary Peters has done for Oakland County is air this TV ad."

In an ad for Schauer, the Battle Creek Democrat is shown talking to voters in a cafe, saying he questions what's going on in Washington "at least 10 times a day." The ad highlights his Jan. 22, 2009, vote against a $350 billion extension of the Wall Street bank bailout and strong stance against federal dollars going toward products made in China.

Schauer's opponent in the closely watched race, former U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg, accused him of trying "to walk away from the mess you helped create in Washington."

"It won't work," Walberg wrote in an "open letter" to Schauer.

While Peters and Schauer are Democratic freshmen who rode the 2008 Obama wave to victory over Republicans in their respective 9th and 7th Congressional districts, Peters' re-election chances are considered much safer than Schauer's.

Both men have considerably larger campaign war chests than their Republican opponents.