Tommy's Past Coziness With Unions May Boomerang

Interesting story in The Hill (and Ruth Conniff found a nice spot for it in a fascinating piece, too) that highlights a problem for Tommy: He's seeking the Republican nomination for US Senate from a party that has turned decidedly farther-right and anti-union:

Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson's (R) work with unions might come back to haunt him in his race for the Senate.

Thompson worked closely with the state employees’ chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), which endorsed him in his 1994 and 1998 reelection campaigns for governor. Thompson supported a $4 billion expansion the state employee pension system in 1999, a change pushed for by the union.

Those efforts stand in stark contrast to Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) anti-collective bargaining efforts and could turn off GOP primary voters...

That difference could hurt Thompson’s campaign — Walker will likely face a recall election in the spring or summer, just before Thompson’s August primary. The arguments Walker has made for why it was necessary to fight public employee unions seem to directly contradict Thompson’s actions as governor.

If partisan passions remain inflamed on the issue through Thompson’s primary, that could be problematic for the former governor.