“Tea Party” Tommy Thompson can’t change history

While former Governor Tommy Thompson is touring the state trying to garner the support of the extremists that make up the “tea party” wing of the Republican Party, he’s going to have a hard time erasing his record as Governor of Wisconsin, a record that includes not one but TWO endorsement (1994 & 1998) of his gubernatorial reelection campaigns by AFSCME.

What’s more, according to Dennis Boyer, the former lobbyist for AFSCME, Thompson had a “cordial, collaborative” relationship with AFSCME:

“I was in his office or with one of his staff almost weekly in a cordial, collaborative way,” Boyer said. “Right from the get-go, he did some reach-out. He came in when the revenue picture was not good and made the state employees a partner in dealing with that, and set the stage for some creative solutions.”

While “Tea Party” Tommy Thompson of 2012 may be a raging conservative who hates public employees, he’s going to have to work awfully hard to erase his history as a “cordial, collaborative” ally of public employees who received their endorsement TWICE when he was running for governor.

For more on Tommy Thompson, see also: The Twelve Gaffes of Tommy.