The road to filing day is littered with the wrecks of candidates who were once 80% or 90% sure to run for something, but never quite got to the starting gate.

Is the Tommy Thompson for Senate campaign about to join the would-be candidacies that never quite materialized?   There's already a whole section in that political graveyard with headstones marking Tommy's previous brushes with running that were stillborn.

In any case, a story by Politico and another in the Washington Post certainly make it sound much less certain that Tommy will take the plunge than his surrogate son, Bill McCoshen, has led people to believe.

McCoshen had Tommy 70% in earlier, but now the Post reports:

Now,Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson (R) is "50-50" on whether or not to challenge Sen.
"Is there any group of people held in lower regard than lobbyists? Car salesmen? Journalists? Here's one possibility: Lobbyists who are thinking about becoming politicians."-- Dan Bice column in the Journal Sentinel,Dec. 6, 2007.
Bice was writing about Bill McCoshen, left, but it could have been about Tommy Thompson, who's thinking about coming back through the revolving door to run for office again.

Bill McCoshen's all over the news these days, talking like the unofficial spokesman for the might-be, could-be but maybe-not Tommy Thompson campaign for US Senate.

McCoshen also took time this week to trash the state's (and Democrat Jim Doyle's) record on job creation, in an appearance in Beloit where he relied on data from the conservative (read Republican) Wisconsin Policy Research Institute. "Forward may be the state motto, but it's going backward," McCoshen said. Cute.

Some people watching and reading the news may be wondering just who this McCoshen guy is.

Right on cue, Tommy Thompson sneezes and the Journal Sentinel says "God bless you."

If I were Tommy (I can't even imagine that!), I might want to pay more attention to the comments than the story about his musings.

The news media and some Republican insiders may think Tommy for Senate is a great idea, but the great unwashed are unimpressed. Check it out. It's certainly not a poll, but it's a focus group of sorts. People sound like they've had enough.

Situation clarifies that a Tommy Thompson run is unlikely.

Former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson was announced as the newest advisor to a Peak Ridge Capital Group venture capital fund.

Thompson will be relied upon at Peak Ridge for his expertise in agriculture and agribusiness. The firm is currently investing its agricultural technology fund, having announced its first investment from the vehicle. Rapid Diagnostek is a Wisconsin-based company developing a hand-held device to test for illness or disease in 60 seconds. The fund is designed to invest in agricultural technology companies providing solutions for food supply, lowering the cost of production and improving efficiencies in the supply chain. The fund also invests in clean technologies, as well as chemicals, systems and biofuels processes.
With Tommy Thompson likely out of the race for governor, a desperate Wisconsin GOP is attempting an old trick.

Back in 1986 it was the dump "Tony the Taxer (Earl)" campaign [and the Thompson-pushed image of black welfare recipients in Milwaukee] that launched Tommy Thompson's entry into the governor's mansion and national prominence.

Now, a Wisconsin GOP Google ad reads:

Tom "the Taxer" Barret (sic)
Higher Taxes, Fewer Jobs
Wisconsin Cant (sic) Afford
Tom the Taxer
www.wisgop.org
Sure, the GOP misspelled Barrett's name and the word "Cant", but that's not the only mistake the GOP will make this campaign season.
A Tommy Thompson run for governor now appears unlikely.

And Thompson won't run for U.S. Senate—forget Jonathan Martin's Politico story that he's weighing it; the eventual GOP Senate nominee is toast and I want what David Blaska, Owen Robinson, and Chuck Todd are smoking.

Thompson is on a trip to the Far East for at least a week, and it's-my-turn-to-run Scott Walker and here's-a-$1 million Mark Neumann aren't dropping out.

A Thompson run for governor announced in February or March would cause catastrophic unpredictability in what the GOP already fears will be a divisive primary in this volatile environment, and in a state known for bucking the establishments of both major political parties.

Sure, Sen. Herb Kohl can parachute in the primary like he did in June 1988, refuse to debate other candidates, and win by air war.

That won't work for Thompson now as too many Republicans are vested in their chosen champion who will face a strong Democratic opponent in Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett.

Thompson is a great cultural fit for Wisconsin; but running now would just make too many enemies and confuse the already blurred political lines.

The Massachusetts voters have spoken, and Tommy Thompson has been listening.

What does he hear? That voters are so upset with politicians that they want a Washington, DC lobbyist to run for the US Senate in Wisconsin. He tells Politico:

In a brief interview Wednesday about the possibility of a Senate run this year, Thompson, a Republican, would only say: "I'm not saying no."

Will Tommy, who's been feeding at the corporate trough since leaving the Bush administration, actually run? Given that he's been threatening to run for something every two weeks for several years, it seems unlikely.

But people of Wisconsin might welcome a Tommy candidacy, so we could find out once and for all how much money he's been raking in and from whom, since he'd have to release all of his financial dealings.

Mostly, this seemed worth noting just to be able to post that remarkable AP photo.  Stand by for another in a long series of Journal Sentinel "Tommy might run" stories tomorrow.

Strategic Vision, the controversial (some say phony) polling firm that perhaps should have called itself Virtual Reality, has been a major factor in Wisconsin media's political coverage.

As we noted earlier, the media, particularly the Journal Sentinel, were all too happy to report the results released by Strategic Vision, which always claimed it had no clients paying for the polling and was somehow doing all kinds of expensive polling as a public service.

Reporters never asked to see the cross tabulations -- the breakdown of underlying responses that produce the bottom line numbers.

Remember the 2006 stories about how Tommy Thompson would beat the pants off Jim Doyle if Tommy decided to run for governor again? Here's the JS report, by Patrick Marley and Steve Walters, to refresh your memory:

Madison — Former Republican Gov. Tommy G. Thompson would trounce Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle by a nearly 2-to-1 margin if he jumped into the race, according to a poll released Wednesday.

In recent weeks, Thompson has called former aides and other Wisconsin political power brokers, soliciting advice as he considers taking on Doyle or U.S. Sen.

Big Brother arrives in the Heartland  More U.S. cities will soon have more cameras watching more Americans.

The Department of Homeland Security is funneling millions of dollars to local governments nationwide for purchasing high-tech video camera networks, accelerating the rise of a "surveillance society" in which the sense of freedom that stems from being anonymous in public will be lost, privacy rights advocates warn.

Since 2003, the department has handed out some $23 billion in federal grants to local governments for equipment and training to help combat terrorism. Most of the money paid for emergency drills and upgrades to basic items, from radios to fences. But the department also has doled out millions on surveillance cameras, transforming city streets and parks into places under constant observation.

Here at TPMCafe -- TPM Cafe Article is an in-depth look at what a dope Tommy Thompson is and how bad, very bad, his policies were. And here is a piece I did at DailyKos http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/4/13/8516/64802 This one is probably the best: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/11/16/931/76813 Of course, none of these is complete. If you have more on Tommy's record, please do share!
Today is not only the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, it is the day six years ago that Bush received the infamous “Bin Laden determined to strike in US” Presidential Daily Bulletin.  Carpetbagger has more, and there’s a blogswarm going on as well…
Sorry Dad Ronald Reagan had a famously rocky relationship with some of his children, but presumably they at least voted for him when election day rolled around. Not so for Rudy Giuliani. Slate reports that Caroline Giuliani is supporting.....Barack Obama.
Now that's ego!   "If I don't win, I'll be shocked." -- Tommy Thompson, in an interview with Pajamas Media, on his chances in the Ames Straw Poll in Iowa next month. (Confirming what I've long believed:  The man is unglued.  He has entirely lost touch with reality.  --Russ)
My Senator Feingold on Gonzo: “Based on what we know and the evidence about what happened in terms of the gang of eight and what he said in that sworn testimony in the committee, I believe it’s perjury.”
My senator, part II  Russ Feingold went on The Young Turks today to talk to Ben and Cenk about his censure resolutions and chided Senate Democrats for their inaction:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wy4qsIybLQc 

My Senator Feingold to introduce censure resolutions against Bush. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) announced today that he will “introduce two censure resolutions condemning the President, Vice President and other administration officials for misconduct relating to the war in Iraq and for their repeated assaults on the rule of law.” In March 2006, Feingold introduced a censure resolution against Bush over the NSA wiretapping program. In a statement released today, Feingold said:

At my town hall meetings, online, and everywhere I go, I hear the American people demanding that the President and his administration be held accountable for their misconduct, both with regard to the disastrous war in Iraq and their flagrant abuse of the rule of law. Censure is a relatively modest response, but one that puts Congress on record condemning their actions, both for the American people today and for future generations.

Read the full statement. Feingold discusses his censure resolution on Meet the Press. Watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2CRwnNwpa8

The gutless Harry Reid, leader of the Dems in the Senate, is brushing it off as unimportant. How about dropping him a note and politely telling him he's full of it: http://reid.senate.gov/contact/email_form.cfm

Tommy Thompson and his drug pals smear SiCKO Currently atop the Drudge Report is a gigantic ad by “Health Care America,” which states, “In America you wait in line to see a movie. In government-run healthcare systems, you wait to see a doctor.” The ad is part of the industry-led smear campaign against Michael Moore’s movie SiCKO. The group is “financed in part by pharmaceutical and hospital companies.” Its Advisory Board includes current hapless presidential candidate, my former governor and President Bush’s former HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson. In June, the organization “staged a conference call that drew nearly 20 reporters from around the country,” with the purpose of discussing “what Michael Moore left out of his movie.”

It seems to have escaped public notice that Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle has added a Republican to his cabinet, with the appointment of Rick Raemisch as secretary of corrections.

 Raemisch is a former Dane County sheriff who was appointed by then Gov. Tommy Thompson, was later elected to the post as a Republican, and ran unsuccessfully for Dane County DA on the GOP ticket, too. (Yes, he’s also a lawyer.) He had been deputy corrections secretary.

Not that there's anything wrong with that, and not that it’s a big deal, but it seems worth a mention, and neither of the state’s two biggest newspapers, the Wisconsin State Journal and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, bothered. So now you know. (WisPolitics did mention it.)

AFTERTHOUGHT: Doyle actually has another R in the cabinet, but he didn't choose him. Veterans Affairs Secretary John Scocus was named by a Republican-heavy veterans board shortly after Doyle took office. Scocos is now temporarily on active duty, but still riling people up. Yet another. I am reminded by a reader that Insurance Commish Sean Dilweg is a former Republican staffer. They're everywhere!

Other random thoughts:

A debate I might watch: Tommy Thompson vs. Michael Moore? My money’s on the fat(ter) guy.

Paul Bucher is being mentioned – probably by Paul Bucher – as a potential Supreme Court candidate. As the Whallah! Blog notes, that would be a great opportunity for the incumbent, Louis Butler, to recycle a slogan from last spring’s campaign” “Not one day as a judge.”

Almost two weeks after the press release, the Journal Sentinel gets around to reporting that Wisconsin’s former US Senator Bob Kasten has been named a foreign policy advisor to the presidential campaign of Everybody’s Mayor, Rudy what’s his name. The story says Kasten runs his own investment banking and consulting firm. Last reports we heard sometime back was that he was an arms dealer. But he and Rudy, we understand, both look good in a dress.

A former surgeon general testifies that the Bush administration forced him to put politics ahead of science on issues like stem cell research, emergency contraception, and second-hand smoke. Jim Rowen comments.

This is what struck me in the NY Times article:

In response to lawmakers’ questions, Dr. Carmona refused to name specific people in the administration who had instructed him to put political considerations over scientific ones. He said, however, that they included assistant secretaries of health and human services as well as top political appointees outside the department of health.
He served as surgeon general from 2002 to 2006. And the secretary of Health and Human Services for the first half of his term was -- Tommy Thompson.

Did Tommy sanction these restrictions, or will he claim headed a rogue agency, with his top aides running amok?

He's running for president. Someone just might want to inquire.

Kachingle!

Regular Reader? - Support Uppity Wisconsin and other sites with Kachingle! Spend $5/month across your favorite web sites, including Uppity Wisconsin. Mouse over above to find out more.

Uppity Fund
Tom Barrett (WI-Gov) $
Russ Feingold (WI-Sen) $
Paulette Garin (WI-01) $
Tammy Baldwin (WI-02) $
Gwen Moore (WI-04) $
David Obey (WI-07) $
Steve Kagen (WI-08) $
Pat Kreitlow (WI-SD-23) $
Kathleen Vinehout (WI-SD-31) $
Kristen Dexter (WI-HD-68) $
Jeff Smith (WI-HD-93) $
Recent comments