John McCain will be coming to Ann Arbor Oct. 15 to give a boost to the otherwise stagnant Michigan gubernatorial campaign of state Sen. John Schwarz (R-Battle Creek).

The Republican U.S. senator from Arizona and former presidential candidate will be hosting a fundraiser for Schwarz at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.

Schwarz, who chaired McCain"s successful presidential primary campaign in Michigan to the dismay of the GOP establishment led by Gov. John Engler, a Bush supporter, is now facing an uphill battle for the nomination against Lt. Gov. Dick Posthumus, who seems to have locked up most of party hierarchy"s support.

Schwarz, the state Senate"s president pro-tem, says he does not enjoy fundraising and has been slow to raise significant amounts of money. But he pointed out that the candidate with the biggest war chest is not always the winner, citing third-party candidate Jesse Ventura"s upset win in the 1998 Minnesota governor"s race.

He touts himself as a moderate Republican, expressing his belief that a woman"s right to have an abortion is "settled law" and that the desire to carry a concealed weapon is not justification for receiving a permit to do so.

"This is going to be a low-cost campaign, but I have to believe people are sick and tired of the money in politics," he said.

Schwarz predicted a three- to four-year economic recession in the state and presented himself as the best person to deal with the crisis.

"These are going to be the toughest time we"re going to see in Michigan probably in 30 to 40 years," he said. "The state is going to need someone who is not a doctrinaire partisan politician."

One measure he said he favored to weather a state revenue crisis would be to postpone indefinitely the phase-out of the state"s income and single business taxes. But he also warned of the need to trim spending.

"People have got to understand there"s going to be a cut," Schwarz said.

Schwarz, however, faces name recognition problems in his run, and one pundit, Bill Rustem, a senior vice president with Lansing-based think tank Public Sector Consultants, ventured so far as to say, "Dick Posthumus has pretty much got it locked up right now."

Rustem said Posthumus has effectively used the perks and prominence of his office to meet with groups around the state and build up his name recognition.

But Schwarz said enough Michigan voters will know who he is by next August for him to be a successful candidate.

"I don"t give a rip right now what my name recognition is," he said.

Inside Michigan Politics Editor Bill Ballenger said that McCain"s support is necessary for Schwarz to have a chance in the primary but cautioned it would by no means be enough for him. Everything else, he said, would have to go his way in order for the former Battle Creek mayor to win. "He"s just not a great campaigner," he said.

Democrats face an even more divided primary. In that race, former Gov. James Blanchard will face state Attorney General Jennifer Granholm, U.S. Rep. David Bonior of Mt. Clemens and state Sens. Gary Peters of Bloomfield Township and Alma Wheeler Smith of Salem Township.

Rustem said Schwarz, in order to win, would have to convince a number of Democrats and independents to vote.