Tommy Thompson Says It’s A Go

Tommy Thompson is planning on announcing his bid for the Republican presidential nomination on Wednesday. He is running a low budget campaign, hoping for a big win in the first caucus in Iowa. Thompson admits he doesn’t have much cash, “I don’t have much money, but I’ve got pledges for money.” It has also been 9 years since his last election, and six years since he held elective office. He was in the Bush cabinet as secretary of Health and Human Services only two years ago. He is a long shot at best, polling only in the mid single digits on his best days. He is behind even second tier candidates, Mike Huckabee and Sam Brownback. Thompson glass is half full saying, “Things are started to coalesce and I feel very, very optimistic about my future,” He really is focusing on Iowa and has been there more than any of the other Republican candidates, and he likes to compare the Iowa Presidential race to like “running for sheriff in 99 counties.” He is hoping to come from out of the pack like Jimmy Carter did 1976. Thompson calls Iraq the number one election issue, and talks about breaking it up into three different places, Sunni, Shiite and Kurd. He doesn’t think to highly of Anthony Gonzales, saying he made “terrible mistakes” in the firing of the 8 federal prosecutors. He also does not support timetables for troop withdrawals out of Iraq saying, “This is an invitation to continue the kind of civil war that’s going on right now. I think it’s the worst mistake.” He believes the Iraqi government should be forced to vote on whether the American troops should stay or go. If they vote go, we should leave. Otherwise troops stay. The Republicans could be looking for Thompson, at least that’s his hope, “The lead is going to change many times between now and January in the Republican Party,” he said. “The Republican Party in Iowa is looking for a reliable conservative, is looking for somebody that’s going to be truthful to them, is going to be loyal, is going to have ideas and can work with the other side to get things done.” Tommy Thompson, the first of the Thompson boys to officially enter this race.
Alan Cosgrove