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2/8/2010 Russ-versus-Tommy would be dream cage match By Steve Walters The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com. 
Walters For a Wisconsin political reporter in this election year, the most intriguing story would be Democratic U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold being challenged by Republican ex-Gov. Tommy G. Thompson. Let's give it a professional wrestling cage-match introduction: In this corner ... in the blue trunks ... a Janesville native son, now living in Middleton ... THE INCUMBENT ... a state senator from 1982 until 1992 ... first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1992 and re-elected in '98 and 2004 ... a champion of campaign-finance reform ... 56 years old ... DEMOCRAT RUSS FEINGOLD! And the CHALLENGER ... in the red trunks ... a state Assembly member from 1966 until 1986, when he was elected GOVERNOR ... re-elected governor in 1990, '94 and '98 ... then President George W. Bush's secretary of HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES ... the state's longest-serving governor, attempting a political COMEBACK ... age 68 ... REPUBLICAN TOMMY G. THOMPSON! Wisconsin voters ... you've got FRONT ROW seats for an UGLY, EMOTIONAL, CHAIR-OVER-THE-HEAD fight about the role of the federal government, health care reform and how to curb staggering federal DEFICITS ... Watch both candidates, and special-interest groups on both sides, spend TENS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS ... all for your Nov. 2 vote! Will it happen? That's another story. Those who know Thompson say he's seriously considering running against Feingold. He was even scheduled to hold a Washington, D.C., meeting this week to take soundings on a campaign. He also gives a speech in Madison next week -- an appearance he could use to stoke Senate speculation. But why would Thompson run? Since his 2001 resignation as governor, Thompson has repeatedly said he's "got one more campaign in me" -- for everything from mayor of his native Elroy to U.S. Senate. (He always wanted to run for president, and did. But that 2007 campaign never made it out of Iowa.) He's been a consultant on health-care issues, signed on to dozens of corporate boards, and earned millions of dollars doing all that and giving speeches worldwide for five years. For the first time, the Thompson clan -- Sue Ann, their three children, and seven grandchildren -- is financially secure. He may be bored and restless, longing for a "Last Hurrah" campaign before he turns 70. He may want his political legacy to end with a "U.S. senator" notation instead of "ex-Wisconsin governor who then turned professional corporate board member." He may become convinced he can win, if he thinks he can cast Feingold as a liberal too in love with a big-spending federal government. Polls suggest that Thompson's name ID statewide remains high, so he could dramatically parachute into the race at the last minute and in a way that sweeps aside other GOP candidates. With his worldwide connections, he won't have any trouble raising money from special-interest groups. And why should Thompson not run? To a whole generation of new voters, he's "Tommy who?" Thompson's resume is now so choked with business interests that he'd have to explain what exactly he's been doing for five years, how he would avoid conflicts of interest as a senator, and why he isn't a poster child for all the health-care special interests Feingold has been denouncing in Washington. His heart may not be in it, after years as a private citizen. Thompson could lose. Feingold got 55 percent of the vote in 2004, after all. A Senate campaign may force Thompson to outline positions on issues that may be more moderate than Tea Party-types want. Thompson would be reminded -- repeatedly -- that state government spending doubled on his watch. He'd now be a deficit hawk, a reputation Feingold has nurtured? If he won, he'd be elected to a six-year term as a U.S. senator. He'd take office at age 69, and be 75 when that term would end. In the fictional book "The Last Hurrah," Mayor Frank Skeffington, 72, says this about a candidate's age in an election year: "In politics, only a young man can afford to look tired. He doesn't have to prove he's young enough for the job, you see. On the other hand, if a man well along in years still wants to be elected to office, he has to demonstrate that despite the actuarial tables, he's in the prime of life. ... I merely concentrate on not looking tired." But a Skeffington opponent, Charlie Hennessey, insists that passion trumps age: "The thing is to take the matter to the people, to let them know what's going on, to fight the good fight, to tell the truth! Marvelous!" Tommy-versus-Russ? Marvelous. --Walters, a senior producer at WisconsinEye, is the former Capitol bureau chief of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. |
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