On Thursday, former governor and former Health and Human Service Secretary Tommy! Thompson, who has spent the last five years making millions of dollars working on behalf of wealthy special interests including health insurance and pharmaceutical companies and the finance industry, came back to Madison to give a speech on health care. After his speech he spoke to members of the media, and when asked about the 2010 U.S. Senate election here in Wisconsin, Thompson noted, “This election… it’s going to be decided on things, you know, that really are not that particular to Wisconsin.”
Watch for yourself as Tommy! makes it clear this election won’t be about issues that matter to folks here in Wisconsin:
If Tommy! thinks the 2010 U.S. Senate election won’t be about issues that matter to folks here in Wisconsin, he’s sorely mistaken, because the 2010 U.S. Senate election will be all about issues that matter to folks here in Wisconsin.
The 2010 U.S. Senate election here in Wisconsin can’t and won’t be won by any candidate who doesn’t focus on the issues that matter most to voters here in Wisconsin, and the fact that Tommy! Thompson doesn’t recognize that fact speaks volumes about how out of touch he is with Wisconsin’s voters after so many years spent making millions of dollars working on behalf of wealthy special interest groups.
It’s not clear what he meant here, but couldn’t he have meant that this fall’s elections might be more focused on a national mood in much the same way that many races in 06 and 08 were basically referendums on Bush, even local and state races that had little to do with Bush, Iraq, etc.
He didn’t say he didn’t care about issues facing Wisconsin, he merely said the election might not hinge on those issues.
Zach,
I think you’re confusing the word “particular” with the word “important”. The economy and health care are hugely important to Wisconsin. They are also important to Illinois, Michigan and Ohio (which have suffered just as much or more from the decline in U.S. manufacturing). The election is unlikely to hinge on legalizing the sale of raw milk, or the scandals surrounding Supreme Court Justice Gableman or Assembly Speaker Mike Sheridan.
I have no desire to see Tommy! run; nor would I vote for him if he did. There are many things to criticize in his ideas and his often-clumsy public statements. However, this particular criticism is unfair, in my opinion.