Coming home

Published: December 13, 2004

Matt Pommer

Tommy Thompson is coming home early next year.

Thompson, the longest-serving governor in Wisconsin history, has submitted his resignation as a member  of President Bush’s cabinet. Thompson said he is looking forward to serving  in the private sector.

In addition to 14 years as governor, Thompson spent  18 years in the Assembly, representing a largely rural district in west-central  Wisconsin. Thompson ran for the Assembly shortly after getting his law degree  from the University of Wisconsin.

He delights in telling about his first  campaign, running for the Republican nomination against an incumbent lawmaker.  The legislator went on a vacation to Alaska, and Thompson stayed home and hit  all of the small towns scattered across that district.

Thompson said his  father would give him $10 to campaign each day. He’d start the day campaigning  in the taverns, one of the social spots in small towns in the 1960s.

Thompson  said he’d use part of the $10 to buy a drink for the town drunk.

That  was good politics, winks Thompson. The town drunk would be there all day “telling  people what a great guy I was,” quips Thompson.

He refuses to rule  out another run for governor, but veteran politicians think Thompson merely delights  in having people speculate about his role in Wisconsin Republican circles. He  is the proverbial “800-pound gorilla” in politics. That means he can  sit wherever he wants.

Three people already are being mentioned for the  Republican nomination for governor in 2006 — Congressman Mark Green of Green  Bay, Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker and Assembly Speaker John Gard of  Peshtigo.

An endorsement from Thompson could certainly put any of the three  out front, but that also would take Thompson’s name out of the newspaper  speculation. In the private sector, Thompson will be able to command a magnificent  salary and stock options. He has spent 36 years on the public payrolls, and the  chances of becoming wealthy have been limited in those years.

Thompson marked  his 63rd birthday on Nov. 19, and he has just a few years to play a significant  role and make big money in the private sector. If he again ran for governor and  won in 2006, he’d be 69 years old when the term ended. Chances for the big  bucks would be eroding quickly.

More interesting will be Thompson’s  stance on proposals to amend the state constitution to restrict spending and taxation.  That sort of an amendment could be seen as saying Wisconsin governors — among  the most powerful in the nation — can’t handle the fiscal issues.

No  one knows the issue better than Thompson.