In the wake of his loss in the primary last month, U.S. Rep. Joe Schwarz says he won't endorse or vote for the Republican pastor who defeated him and accused "right-wing intimidators" of running moderates like himself out of the party.

"The far right, the religious right are driving moderates out of the party. In the end, that can only hurt because it takes a critical mass to have a successful party," Schwarz said in his first extensive interview since losing the Aug. 8 primary to Tim Walberg.

The Battle Creek physician said several friends told him they plan to leave the party after watching him be hammered on social issues and then lose in spite of endorsements by establishment Republicans including President Bush and Saul Anuzis, chairman of the Michigan Republican Party.

Schwarz said he could see circumstances under which he would join them.

"We've created a situation, more and more, where centrist moderates who once identified with the Republican Party find themselves with no place to go. That will have national implications," he said.

Schwarz's race drew national attention because it pitted a moderate Republican freshman against a social conservative challenger backed by the powerful Club for Growth, whose members from around the country donated about $800,000 to the race.

Walberg won, 53 percent to 47 percent. Walberg, who served in the Michigan House from 1983-99, will face Democrat Sharon Renier in November. The heavily Republican 7th Congressional District is in the south-central part of the state.

Schwarz lost his primary on the same day as did U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut Democrat who was defeated by antiwar challenger Ned Lamont.

Some political analysts saw the two primary defeats as barometers for voter discontent that could turn the November elections into a painful night for congressional incumbents.

Schwarz accused Walberg of running a "character assassination" campaign, which was aided by a series of "moral absolutist" votes on the U.S. House floor in mid-July -- three weeks before the primary.

Joe Wicks, Walberg's campaign manager, denied they ran a negative campaign.

"This election suggests that Republicans want Republicans representing them that reduce taxes and defend traditional values. That's what we ran on," Wicks said.

Schwarz said he asked Republican leaders not to schedule the hot-button votes so close to his primary, but voted his conscience rather than "pander" to right-wing Republicans.

Schwarz was one of 27 Republicans to vote against an amendment to the U.S. Constitution banning same-sex marriage; one of 15 Republicans to vote in favor of developing stem cell research; and one of 51 Republicans to vote unsuccessfully to override Bush's veto of a bill allowing federal funding for stem cell research using surplus embryos from fertility clinics.

The votes were "at least contributory to me losing the primary," he said.

"I felt like I was thrown under the bus a half-dozen times, and I never did get the tread marks off my neck."

But Lou Sheldon, the founder of the California-based Traditional Values Coalition, said Schwarz lost because he was too liberal for his Battle Creek district, but he could have been viable in Connecticut , for example.

"He became a misfit for his district -- that was the problem," Sheldon said. "He's blaming it on ideology -- and it's not that way at all."

Anuzis, noting that Schwarz is supporting Republicans Mike Bouchard for U.S. Senate and Dick DeVos for governor, said the congressman is understandably still smarting over his primary loss, but Anuzis expects him to stay in the party.

"Joe is the kind of guy who could end up in somebody's administration, like a Bush or a DeVos administration. There is clearly room for moderates," Anuzis said.

"There will always be people who would like to push some other groups out -- that is the nature of politics. But that isn't the overall feeling. The party is trying to grow and be as inclusive as possible," Anuzis said.

But Schwarz said some moderate Republicans in the House fear voting based on their true convictions.

"There is a fear among some good people in the House that they will somehow bring the ire of the far right down upon them and that it will endanger their ability to get re-elected," he said.

"If re-election is your raison d'etre and there is nothing else, then that's a pretty strong weapon."

Schwarz decried the growing role religion is playing in politics.

Schwarz, who at 68 hasn't ruled out running for elective office in the future, said, "There are people out there who believe that this country should be a theocracy."