Someone let Tommy know what happened to his party (Joshua Lott / Reuters)
Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson wants to run for Herb Kohl's vacated seat, and his lackeys are trying to build
an air of invincibility.
“Tommy Thompson would be the front-runner in the race. There isn’t a facility in this state that doesn’t have his name on it. There isn’t a person who hasn’t met him or shaken his hand. He is quintessential Wisconsin,” said Brian Schimming, a Madison-based GOP strategist who worked in the Thompson administration. “It’s a hard hill for anyone to climb to challenge Tommy.”
Problem for him, is that he lives in Wisconsin, land of Scott Walker and a healthy and active teabagging base. And, let's just say Thompson doesn't come close to passing the purity test -- he supported last year's health care law, calling it "important step toward … providing affordable high-quality health care for all." He has vocally opposed GOP efforts to repeal the law. He opposes cutting Medicare. He opposed his governor's efforts to destroy the public unions.
That might all work to his advantage in a general election (but probably not, PDF), but he has to get out of a primary first. And apparently, his team is oblivious to his predicament.
Republican consultant Mark Graul acknowledged that Thompson would most likely focus on improving the current health care bill, rather than calling for a repeal. But, he argued, charges that the former four-term governor isn’t conservative enough would fall on deaf ears.
“He cut more taxes than any governor in history. The idea that he’s somehow not conservative doesn’t really make sense to us because we watched Democrats bash him for years,” Graul said.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha! There was a time when obsessing over tax cuts might have been enough, but today's GOP would've booted Ronald Reagan to the curb a long time ago. The modern-day Republican has to kiss Paul Ryan's ring while ranting against the global climate change "hoax." He must hump Rush Limbaugh's leg while pretending that Sarah Palin is a serious person. He must believe that Obama is a Kenyan muslim, while simultaneously believing he's also a secular humanist out to destroy religion. And he must believe that the new health care law is worse than Hitler, and that Newt Gingrich would still be with his first wife if Massachusetts and Iowa gays hadn't been allowed to destroy "traditional marriage".
And he has to froth at the mouth.
That's the new litmus test. Sorry to say, the Thompson Republican is obsolete.
In fact, he was already obsolete when Thompson flamed out hilariously in the 2008 presidential race. And speaking of litmus tests. Who did he endorse after he was ignored by the GOP electorate? Rudy Giuliani. (Even if no one cared or noticed.)
There isn't a bone in him that will appeal to the teabaggers.