Tommy Thompson And The Politics Of Exhaustion

I went out of my way Tuesday afternoon to listen to John Mercure on WTMJ-AM radio interview apparent US Senate candidate Tommy Thompson, and frankly, Tommy brought nothing to the conversation.

Short answers.

No pep.

No snappy three-point program, no fresh pitch to listeners and voters who may have little information about a Governor-turned-corporate insider who last held office in Wisconsin 11 years ago.

And even his offering up a contemporary conservative talking point to prove he could speak in modern Tea Party lingo about taking the country back and denying Barack Obama a second term had theh inspirational content of used Cliff Notes and the energy of a batting practice toss.

There wasn't anything worthy of writing down and quoting.

His campaign hasn't even started formally, the election is a year away and already Tommy sounds weary.

I think a lot of voters are going to react that way, too, because it's been 13 years since he ran a statewide campaign in Wisconsin, 12 years since he was for the Amtrak system he's now willing to oppose, and four years since his self-generated Presidential boomlet became best known for debate stumbles and a slide into Jewish stereotyping.

Quoting from the AP about the debates, as posted by Fox News:

LAKE GENEVA, Wis. —  Expanding on his reason for saying at a debate that an employer should be allowed to fire someone for being gay, Tommy Thompson on Saturday blamed a dead hearing aid and his need to use the bathroom.

Thompson, speaking to reporters after giving an address at the state GOP convention, also said he was suffering from the flu and bronchitis and had been admitted to a hospital emergency room three days prior to the May 3 debate...

"I didn't hear the question. All I was thinking about was getting off the stage," Thompson said Saturday. "I said it, I'm sorry, and it won't happen again but it's not my record. ... There's nothing discriminatory about me at all."

That gaffe, as well as one in April when he told a Jewish group that earning money is "part of the Jewish tradition," have been a distraction for Thompson's campaign. But he told party faithful at the convention Saturday that he can still win.

Flash forward to these here times, and Tommy 2.0 has taken the pledge.

Enough: It's day one of the new Tommy, and like the candidate, I'm already exhausted.