Thursday, August 4, 2011

Worth Noting: John Torinus Thinks Tommy Will Run For The US Senate

High-profile Republican moderate John Torinus says on his blog he's betting Tommy Thompson will run for the US Senate seat being vacated by Herb Kohl.

A couple of things: Shame on me for not knowing that John had a blog.  He's a thoughtful guy and a first-rate writer, so I'll check it out regularly.

And my goal here isn't to bash anyone,

I just don't think Tommy will run because he can't get his party's nomination and won't want to round out a legendary political career - - he's be 70 in November - - with a rejection by his party, let alone voters.

To get the Republican Party nomination, Tommy would have to make and hold a hard right turn - -  which could happen - - Alberta Darling has done it - - but Tommy would have to defend to his Party a close history with public employee labor, having added something like 10,000 jobs to state government because as the penultimate political people-pleaser he wanted everybody's vote.

And the "no-new-taxes-ever" talk radio crowd would go hard after Tommy over his Miller Park stadium sales tax, a tiny tax, but a tax nonetheless, that many in Southeast Wisconsin still irrationally hate.

There was a time when a politician with Tommy's name recognition and approval numbers could have waltzed into a US Senate seat, but that era is over.

The hard-edged Republican operatives, decision-makers and primary activists a generation or more younger than Tommy would demand someone more in the Ryan/Walker/Priebus mold.

Tommy's legacy of deficits, taxes, support for public sector health care and big government probably rule out a successful run for the Senate today, relieving us of watching what would really be unpleasant: seeing Tommy at this stage of his career pretending to be something and someone he isn't.

5 comments:

RWW said...

Thanks for the heads-up on Torinus' blog. Refreshing to read well-reasoned commentary from the "other side."

xoff said...

I'm hearing Tommy wants to run only if Feingold doesn't. But I'm not exactly part of the GOP inner circle.

Paul Trotter said...

I thought Torinus disappeared.

Anonymous said...

As you point out Rowen, Thompson is not and never was a fiscal conservative.

Speaking of bashing Tommy, you did that non-stop a year ago for months on end until he finally announced he was not going to take on Feingold.

Now apparently he is a saint in your eyes.

I realize you think anyone who is a fiscal conservatives are a whack job and a terrorist.

So are we to understand you were a proponent of that Miller Park Stadium tax, I find that really hard to believe since there was no choo-choo involved.

Anonymous said...

Looks like tommythompson2012.com is for sale.