(H/T – Kevin Binversie)
There’s a new twist in the All My Thompsons saga – Poltico is reporting that Tommy Thompson has told his Washington-based law firm and key clients that he might indeed challenge Russ Feingold for his Senate seat this year. His former campaign manager, Bill McCoshen, told Politico that Thompson’s moves toward running are “more thoughtful and more deliberate” than those taken at any point since he departed the governor’s mansion in 2001.
Meanwhile, an anonymous ally, who says that Thompson would have at least $200,000 in donations waiting for him once he jumped in, says that it is now 70-30 that he jumps in, noting that Thompson has been asking operational questions in recent weeks.
On the other hand, his wife, Sue Ann, recently told Madison Magazine that she’s discouraging Tommy from running. Also, Thomspon has a few black marks, including being on record as supporting the Senate version of PlaceboCare.
Side note from the story – Milwaukee County Democratic Party chair Sachin Chheda noted that support would hurt Thompson in any election.
Also, I note that $200,000 isn’t exactly going to cut it in the money race. Feingold had over $3.6 million in the bank at the end of last year, and Terrence Wall, the more-moneyed of the two announced Republican challengers, raised about $240,000 not including loans to himself in his first 7 weeks.
Still, there’s the Rasmussen polls over the last 2 months that gave Thompson a margin-of-error lead over Feingold (while Feingold maintained a double-margin-of-error lead over both Wall and Dave Westlake), and the name recognition that Thompson still enjoys in Wisconsin.
The consensus in Wisconsin, from Kevin to Mary at Freedom Eden to Brad V at Letters in Bottles is that Thompson needs to make a decision soon, sooner than during the late-May GOP convention that was floated in the Politico article. Beyond the time aspect, which Wall and Westlake desperately need to get known, there’s the money aspect. If those with deep pockets (or at least deeper pockets than my empty ones) don’t know whether Thompson will or will not jump in until late-May, the cash that could have gone into this race will likely end up elsewhere.
I suppose I should fire up the polls on this one. While I didn’t include an expiration date on the poll, I will close it before the GOP convention if Thompson still hasn’t announced one way or the other.
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