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Thread: Ed Thompson: The problem child of the Wisconsin GOP

  1. #1

    Ed Thompson: The problem child of the Wisconsin GOP

    Ed Thompson: The problem child of the Wisconsin GOP

    Jack Craver on Wednesday 08/18/2010 12:17 pm

    Wisconsin Republicans should be careful what they wish for. For some in the party, a couple of eccentric GOP Senate candidates make the prospect of a Republican majority in the Upper Chamber almost as frustrating as another session of Democratic control.

    Take Tommy Thompson's little brother, Ed. A die-hard libertarian, whose 2002 gubernatorial bid (with Tommy's endorsement) as a third party candidate ruined Republican Scott McCallum's chances at retaining the governorship, Thompson is the presumed candidate to challenge incumbent Democrat Kathleen Vinehout in the 31st Senate district, which comprises a wide stretch of land south of Eau Claire.

    Thompson's switch to the GOP has not tempered his political ideology. On his website, his second issue, "Live and Let Live," describes the epiphany he had when state agents raided his supper club and confiscated his illegal poker machines. He explains his realization that all government power implies the threat of force –– a concept that is entirely true but nonetheless traditionally reserved for political theory courses and late-night college bull sessions (at least in my experience).

    A libertarian might not be as pesky for the GOP at the state level as at the national level, however, Thompson could still prove a headache for the caucus on crime policy, and I can already imagine the embarrassment he could cause during budget deliberations. Republicans spend too –– and he won't shy away from saying it.

    However, as one Republican recently put it, if the Republicans hold the Senate by one seat, Thompson could become the de facto majority leader. The party will have to court his vote on every bill, and he can stop its agenda at the wag of a finger.

    And yet, a GOP majority is unlikely without a Thompson victory. The GOP only has a few places to look for pick-ups. The race against Jim Sullivan in Wauwatosa will be close, as will the race in Door County which may feature former Rep. Frank Lasee, the other problem child of the GOP who will be the topic of a future post on the Senate.
    http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/ar...?article=30194
    Knowledge is Liberty!




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  3. #2
    Nice....take back the govt from the state level - onward.

  4. #3
    Take Tommy Thompson's little brother, Ed. A die-hard libertarian, whose 2002 gubernatorial bid (with Tommy's endorsement) as a third party candidate ruined Republican Scott McCallum's chances at retaining the governorship, Thompson is the presumed candidate to challenge incumbent Democrat Kathleen Vinehout in the 31st Senate district, which comprises a wide stretch of land south of Eau Claire.
    Take Ed Thompson, who's older brother Tommy wishes he could fill Ed's shoes. A die-hard libertarian, whose 2002 gubernatorial bid (with Jesse Ventura's endorsement) as a third party candidate had his chances at retaining the governorship ruined by Republican Scott McCallum, Thompson is the presumed candidate to challenge incumbent Democrat Kathleen Vinehout in the 31st Senate district, which comprises a wide stretch of land south of Eau Claire.


    fixed it...
    Definition of political insanity: Voting for the same people expecting different results.

  5. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by Elwar View Post
    Take Ed Thompson, who's older brother Tommy wishes he could fill Ed's shoes. A die-hard libertarian, whose 2002 gubernatorial bid (with Jesse Ventura's endorsement) as a third party candidate had his chances at retaining the governorship ruined by Republican Scott McCallum, Thompson is the presumed candidate to challenge incumbent Democrat Kathleen Vinehout in the 31st Senate district, which comprises a wide stretch of land south of Eau Claire.


    fixed it...
    I was gonna say that I remember Tommy turned a cold shoulder to Ed in 2002. I really hope he wins. This guy is STRONG in his state senate/US House district.

  6. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Nathan Hale View Post
    I was gonna say that I remember Tommy turned a cold shoulder to Ed in 2002. I really hope he wins. This guy is STRONG in his state senate/US House district.
    Tommy donated to Ed's campaign in 2002. He also said he endorsed Ed, right after he endorsed McCallum.
    Last edited by Galileo Galilei; 08-19-2010 at 11:58 AM.
    Knowledge is Liberty!


  7. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Galileo Galilei View Post
    Tommy donated to Ed's campaign in 2002. He also said he endorsed Ed, right after he endorsed McCallum.
    Yes, when your brother is running for office, if you want to have any future in politics, you donate to his campaign and endorse him or you'll face a never-ending media assault about how heartless you are. Tommy did was what genetically and politically required of him, and not a stitch more.

  8. #7
    Ed Thompson got over 10% of the vote when he ran for governor. He is the man and a true leader for liberty! I wish he got more attention because this guy will surely be an excellent asset in Wisconsin. BELIEVE ME, he is needed here! This place has become a liberal haven in the past decade because Crappy Gov Doyle. He has brought the state on a steady decline!

    Ed Thompson in the senate will be an absolute asset and I am going to send him some money very soon!
    Tu ne cede malis sed contra audentior ito

  9. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Nathan Hale View Post
    Yes, when your brother is running for office, if you want to have any future in politics, you donate to his campaign and endorse him or you'll face a never-ending media assault about how heartless you are. Tommy did was what genetically and politically required of him, and not a stitch more.
    Yep, and Ed endorsed Tommy for president in 2008. Of course, once Tommy dropped out, he didn't have to put family first and endorsed Ron Paul.
    Don't taze me bro. Don't touch my junk. Don't tread on me.

    Maybe you need a friend not into politics... http://saveadogrescue.com/ http://www.petfinder.com/pet-search?shelter_id=TX1472



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  11. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by libertybrewcity View Post
    Ed Thompson got over 10% of the vote when he ran for governor. He is the man and a true leader for liberty! I wish he got more attention because this guy will surely be an excellent asset in Wisconsin. BELIEVE ME, he is needed here! This place has become a liberal haven in the past decade because Crappy Gov Doyle. He has brought the state on a steady decline!

    Ed Thompson in the senate will be an absolute asset and I am going to send him some money very soon!
    Not only did he get 11% statewide, but he got 18% in his district - and he won outright in something like 4 counties in his district.

  12. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Nathan Hale View Post
    Not only did he get 11% statewide, but he got 18% in his district - and he won outright in something like 4 counties in his district.
    He got 18% in the congressional district, which is 4 times larger than his state Senate district. He won two counties, Monroe and Juneau outright. He got 58% in Tomah.
    Knowledge is Liberty!


  13. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Galileo Galilei View Post
    He got 18% in the congressional district, which is 4 times larger than his state Senate district. He won two counties, Monroe and Juneau outright. He got 58% in Tomah.
    Here's the article in full:

    Ed Thompson vs Ron Kind, CD3 2006 by Justin Somma

    A certain alignment of planets is required to create an opening for a Libertarian candidate to have a huge effect on a major race (i.e. Governor, US House, US Senate), but as luck would have it, the planets are aligned in Wisconsin’s 3rd United States House of Representatives District for one Mr. Ed Thompson of Tomah, WI.

    Though Thompson’s last foray for major office (Governor, 2002) didn’t go as well as Libertarian big-wigs had expected, for those of us in the trenches it was a major victory. Thompson’s 11% was the highest by a Libertarian that year in any major, three-way race.

    But it wasn’t Thompson’s 11% that I found exhilarating. It was Thompson’s 18%. Isolate Congressional District 3 from the vote totals in the 2002 gubernatorial race and Thompson’s vote total increases by 7.2%. The Green Party candidate’s vote total actually drops by 0.2% in the district, so this wasn’t just a tendency for the district to vote “third party”. It was Thompson.

    And understandably so. Thompson’s home town of Tomah (where he served as mayor) is smack dab in the middle of the district. He was recently elected to Tomah’s city council in 2005 without even campaigning for the position. According to the numbers, Thompson actually won the 2002 gubernatorial race in the county of Monroe (where Tomah is located) and Juneau. He scored over 20% in 8 of District 3’s 18 counties.

    Keep in mind that these amazing numbers were generated with Thompson having to campaign for governor in 7 other Congressional districts.

    But great numbers alone don’t make him a contender. If numbers were the only factor in play, they would put Thompson into the mid-twenties – not enough to win in a three way race. There are other planets aligned that give Thompson the opportunity of a lifetime.

    Did you know that Ed’s brother Tommy Thompson, former Governor and Presidential Cabinet Member, might be running for US Senate? Tommy has immense popularity and will walk all over Herb Kohl if he decides to run, especially with a powerful Green Party candidate (Rae Vogeler – www.voterae.org) draining votes from Kohl’s pool.

    What does Tommy offer his little brother other than the obvious paper campaign name recognition boost? He also might be open to joint campaigning within the district, if he’s brave enough to break ranks with his party and support a member of his family. Combine this factor with standard campaign dynamics and Ed Thompson can pull more than 30%. In a three way race, high thirties can be a winner.

    Here is a brief rundown of the campaign dynamics for the 2006 District 3 race as it stands, February 10, 2006. On the surface, five-term Representative Ron Kind (www.kindforcongress.org) seems untouchable. Kind most recently defeated Republican Dale W. Schultz in the 2004 contest by 56% to 44%. In 2002 he won 63% to 34%, with a libertarian drawing off 3%. In 2000 he won 64% to 36%.

    This year his GOP challenger is a third-stringer named Paul Nelson, who has never held elected office and currently works as a real estate agent. Nelson is half the candidate Schultz was (Schultz served in both houses of the state legislature), so in a vacuum, Kind would have the 2006 race wrapped up.

    But if Ed Thompson is in the game, the dynamics change.

    First, if you review the numbers from the 2002 gubernatorial race, McCallum lost 6.5% in District 3. Doyle only lost 1.7%. Many of Thompson’s gains likely came from Republican voters as the district is only slightly biased toward Democratic voters (52%). If the GOP fields a weak candidate in a race where Thompson is present (and Nelson is a weak candidate), Republicans will quickly defect to Thompson. I would imagine the number of defecting Republicans would increase if Thompson gains traction – especially if big bro Tommy appears in public with him a few times during the race (though this is not a guarantee, Tommy turned a cold shoulder to him in 2002).

    Second, Kind isn’t as strong as he used to be. His margin of victory in 2004 was 12%, down from 29% in 2002 and 28% in 2000. His platform is also making him look like a cog in the Washington machine, a paradigm that isn’t going to win an election in 2006, even if you’re a Democrat. The “progressive” left and greens will go along with Kind as the lesser of two evils, but if Thompson is in play, and he strategically targets voters on the left, he can extract quite a few points from Kind’s totals.

    In other words, Thompson is capable of drawing many voters from both sides of the spectrum. He has the opportunity to ride a name-recognition tsunami. He has the numbers to be a contender, especially when he no longer has to campaign statewide.

    But he has to do it right. He has to divorce himself from the extremism of the Libertarian Party national platform. He has to prepare himself as a candidate, not just a nice guy seeking office. Sometimes libertarians have a problem doing what needs to be done to win major office, believing that somehow they’re supporting their principles more by surrendering an opportunity to actually make a difference on the national level. If Thompson offers a moderate platform that emphasizes popular positions such as our hideous foreign policy, he can outmaneuver Kind and Nelson and possibly even win the seat.

  14. #12
    If Lasee and Thompson both win then libertarians will have real power in the Wisconsin state Senate.

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  17. #15
    Ed Thompson scores 100% on Campaign for Liberty Quiz!

    And Ed is endorsed by Ron Paul

    Wisconsin Candidate Questionnaire State Senate Responses

    Mr. Ed Thompson Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

    http://www.campaignforliberty.com/blog.php?view=38002
    Knowledge is Liberty!


  18. #16
    Ed Thompson won his primary yesterday.
    Knowledge is Liberty!




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  20. #17
    Ed's primary results:

    Total: Ed Thompson, 10,592; Kathleen Vinehout, 7,249

    Ed was neck-and-neck with Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen throughout the district as the most popular Republican on the ticket, in some cases inching ahead, in some cases inching behind, with a vote difference ranging from one to six (votes, not percentage, which is a tie).
    Knowledge is Liberty!


  21. #18
    State Senate Candidate Diagnosed with Cancer

    Ed Thompson, state senate candidate in Wisconsin’s 31st District,
    today revealed that he has been diagnosed with cancer. “They caught it early,”
    said Thompson, a boxer in his younger days who vowed to fight on during the
    campaign. “I’m going to fight this thing and beat it, and I’m going to fight
    on to win this campaign.”

    http://edthompson.com/press-releases...d-with-cancer/
    Knowledge is Liberty!


  22. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by Galileo Galilei View Post
    State Senate Candidate Diagnosed with Cancer

    Ed Thompson, state senate candidate in Wisconsin’s 31st District,
    today revealed that he has been diagnosed with cancer. “They caught it early,”
    said Thompson, a boxer in his younger days who vowed to fight on during the
    campaign. “I’m going to fight this thing and beat it, and I’m going to fight
    on to win this campaign.”

    http://edthompson.com/press-releases...d-with-cancer/
    saw that on facebook. very sad. I know he will beat it. i'm hoping to send him some money if my paycheck is decent.

    Stay strong ed!
    Tu ne cede malis sed contra audentior ito



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