A Weblog of Centrist Voices in American Politics
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A Weblog of Centrist Voices in American Politics | |
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November 16, 20062008 UpdateMy old boss from HHS and the former Governor of Wisconsin, Tommy H. Thompson, has announced that he is forming a committee to explore a run for President. Thompson, among other things, was implementing Welfare Reform in Wisconsin before it was cool. He is an incredibly talented executive and had he been allowed to have more influence on the Medicare/Prescription Drug debate, seniors would have gotten a better deal. A major theme from the former Bush Cabinet member is putting more of a focus on health prevention rather than treatment. Tommy is a long shot at best, but has many good ideas that will add substance to the process. He could be an interesting choice for the second spot on the ticket, given that he is a popular former Republican Governor from a blue state. Ron has an interesting point regarding Hillary and Vilsack: Both Rolling Stone and the New York Times seem to be implying Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack's campaign for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President may actually be a tactical blocking maneuver coordinated with and intended to help Hillary Clinton's likely White House bid. His candidacy diminishes Iowa as a key contest state, allowing Clinton to skip the state's famed "retail politics" in favor of big budget media campaigns in larger media market states. Hmmm.... You have got to love the drama in it all. McCain's effort has a website. Posted by Starbucks Republican at November 16, 2006 12:57 PMComments
"Retail politics?" Is that different from "smoke-filled rooms?" Does a caucus preclude secret handshake deals? I've always found the Iowa caucuses a bit confusing, and hard to follow, like an NFL exhbition game during the 4th quarter. Who is this guy, who is that guy? And usually I get a whiff of stinky party insider toe cheese, too. So I'm enthusiastic about the further minimization of the Iowa caucuses. New Hampshire is PLENTY retail. Nice to have a Clinton conspiracy theory lift off so soon after the 2006s, though. Posted by: bk at November 16, 2006 01:16 PMI did I write-up on Thompson the other day. The attack-ad fodder on him is his presence on the board of Applied Digital Solutions, who makes a VeriChip data implant that scares both civil libertarians and premillennialists, looking like Big Brother and the Mark of the Beast all at once. His work on welfare reform made the '96 revamping possible; he also put the first school voucher program in place. He deserves a tip of the hat from the readership here for those, but the VeriChip might just weird out enough people to make overtaking McCain, Rudy and Romney problematic. Posted by: Mark Byron at November 20, 2006 05:06 AM |
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