Posted on 05/17/2011 5:47:00 AM PDT by AuH2ORepublican
From Mike Allen’s morning newsletter today:
Tommy Thompson, the Republican former Wisconsin governor and George W. Bush’s first HHS secretary, has told friends he plans to run for the open Senate seat in Wisconsin. Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) said Friday that he won’t seek a fifth term in 2012. Thompson’s announcement gives Republicans a popular former two-term governor of state to seriously challenge for this toss-up seat. There’s no chance Thompson would run against Paul Ryan, so the former Wisconsin Governor will await the Budget Chairman’s official announcement on the race before jumping in. Ryan has suggested in private conversations with GOP officials in recent days that he will take a pass on the race and focus on his House chairmanship.
Thompson has been meeting with political associates and telling them he wants back in the game. He is working behind the scenes on campaign, fund-raising and staffing plans — and would enter as a very strong front-runner for the GOP nomination and the seat. There is one reason to think this isn’t an absolute done deal, regardless of what Thompson’s telling friends this week: He has flirted with political runs in the past, including the Senate in 2010, only to bail.
Thompson’s presidential bid in 2008 was short-lived and unfocused, but he would immediately be a top-tier Senate challenger who knows the state well and who is well-versed in health care policy. But will Bush’s HHS guy – running health policy when the Bush administration and a GOP Congress enacted the unfunded entitlement of the Medicare prescription drug benefit – be acceptable to the Tea Parties in Wisconsin?
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...
Why can’t ANY of these political has beens get a REAL job when they’re voted out/ retire/ have a change of administration?
The Presidential field is weak at the moment this is true. With the likes of Michelle Bachmann, Tim Pawlenty etc, it is awfully weak, but be of good cheer because Sarah Palin will soon be joining the field, then it will be weak no longer!
You gotta be kidding. He’s actually gonna get off the pot, now?
He should’ve run in 2004!
Guess he’s no longer afraid of Feingold since he lost in ‘10.
Dan Coats, pretty good comparison GOPster. Like Coats he should walk into the seat.
If you told me in 2004 that Thompson and Feingold would finally actually face each other, for Kohl’s seat in 2012 I’d have laughed.
Since Kohl is now OUT, this sounds like good news imo....Tommy ought to be well received in the Badger state, no?
FOX NEWS just announced Ryan will not run for the seat. I agree with you, though...he would have been a good choice.
I think according to the metaphor, he's actually going to complete a bowel movement now.
Thanks Impy!
“T.T.: Better late than never.”
I agree that Thompson should have run for the U.S. Senate, in 2004. He probably wanted to wait until his state had an open race.
LOL, Yes.
Though you could say he craped on us in the past by never running.
Go to post #1 and see who was the first FReeper to make the Coats comparison . . . : )
Michelle Litjens!!!
Coats is probably a good comparison. Good and bad.
He’s OK... but I’d have preferred Paul Ryan.
Thompson is a supporter of Obamacare. So much so that he felt the need to come out with a joint statement on the bill with Dick Gephardt.
Since we want our senators to be working on repealing the bill which way do you think he’d vote?
My mistake. ;-d
He turns 71 next year. Too old and had ample opportunity to run in 1994, 1998, 2000 and 2004. No to Thompson and no to Neumann.
The MSM won't report it but the Bush Prescription Drug Plan cut the cost of drugs to Medicare recipients by 90 billion dollars by involving free enterprise in the plan. WalMart and other large chain drugstores cooperating by greatly dropping their prices and offering generics when possible. Conservatives incorrectly blame Bush for greatly increasing the cost of Medicare when he, in fact, cut the cost.
Thompson was part of that.
I agree, but only to the extent that the guy running to Thompson’s right has the profile and skills to win the general election. I don’t want to get stuck with Feingold for 6 years because someone with no chance of winning won the GOP nomination.
In other words, I’d support Van Hollen (or, obviously, Ryan) over Thompson, but I would rather run Thompson than, say, one of the Lorge brothers or a Wisconsin version of Christine O’Donnell.
I like Tommy, but in all honesty he is better in the senate than president.
Tommy is not nearly as conservative as he was in the beginning. It is better if he can potentially do less damage in the senate than as president and do more moderate things or be steered down a wrong path.
So in a nutshell, if we had the Tommy from 1st term WI governor running, then he’d be great for president. the Tommy of today is still good but he has shifted away from the right socially and fiscally and is not the conservative he once was. The last two terms as governor showed this happening. His love for ethanol for example being a big problem.
Oddly, the coattails may pull the GOP POTUS candidate over the finish line at this point. What a weak, pathetic, field of presidential candidates. If we are going to lose, let's go down swinging and draft someone like West or Palin. (While I love having Christie as my governor, he's too...moderate)
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