Thompson’s March Toward Exploratory Committee: Day 10
According to Thompson Insiders, Likelihood of Thompson Run Drops 20 Points
MADISON – As lobbyists and “lots of people in Washington” continue to push former Bush administration Secretary Tommy Thompson (R-DC) into the GOP primary for U.S. Senate in Wisconsin, news reports yesterday indicate that the likelihood of Thompson running for Senate has dropped 20 points in just one week.
According to a March 1 story in Politico, an anonymous Thompson aide said of the chances of a Thompson run, “If you talked to me two weeks ago, I would have put it at a 50-50 shot. Now it’s at 70.”
But in a story yesterday from the Washington Post’s “The Fix” column, another, or the same, anonymous aide pegged the chances of a Thompson run at “50-50.”
“Secretary Thompson must not believe the Republican polls if he is now walking away from running,” said Mike Tate, Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, “This wouldn’t be the first time he walked away from Wisconsin. After taxing and spending for 16 years, Thompson walked away from a huge budget deficit when he left Wisconsin for Washington.”
The Green Bay Press Gazette recently highlighted Tommy’s tenure stating: “The Wisconsin budget’s $2.3 billion structural deficit has its roots in the Thompson years.”
While appearing on Mike Gousha’s “UpFront” television program, longtime Thompson aide and health insurance industry “uber-lobbyist” Bill McCoshen, said that there will be an
exploratory committee set up by Thompson before the end of March.
An exploratory committee would allow Thompson to raise money from many of the corporate interests he represents. Politico recently reported that Thompson has already collected over $200,000 in pledges from donors. Thompson has spent the last five years as a Washington D.C. insider who has made millions of dollars working on behalf of special interests – including health insurance and pharmaceutical companies and the finance industry. Thompson recently told the media on camera
he doesn’t know how many corporate interests he works for. He has refused to release his current list of clients.
