The race for the Republican Presidential nomination heated up last week with former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson announcing he will seek his party's nomination for a 2008 bid.
With a late start relative to the frontrunners, some pundits are already blackballing Thompson as the ""dark horse"" for the GOP ticket. With the finish line still far off in the distance, if anything, Thompson's campaign rhetoric should force greater debate among the candidates and force hopefuls to address new approaches and new issues.
In Madison's recent mayoral race, Ray Allen tackled poverty, forcing the discussion despite his campaign's loss. Thompson brings education back as an important issue and his new proposal for an International Medical Corps for American doctors and nurses stresses a unique solution in using health care technology around the world to better peoples' lives and strengthen American credibility abroad.
Thompson will push his record in Wisconsin as a welfare reformer and proponent of school choice. He's already wisely distancing himself from his colleagues in Washington D.C., stating in his announcement, ""Republicans went to Washington and we lost our way.""
He supports strengthening the military and Republicans may see Thompson's plan to decentralize Iraqi governance among the 18 provinces as a realistic idea in a sea of idealistic ones.
The area where Thompson needs to catch up is in fundraising. With Mitt Romney's campaign rallying around a $25 million war chest, Thompson will face an insurmountable obstacle if his campaign is unable to keep cash coming in.
His record as former four-time governor of Wisconsin and recent secretary of Health and Human Services (he stepped down in 2003) under President Bush certainly will not hurt him in an increasingly factionalized Republican party.
Thompson identifies with many core conservative values—signing a bill banning partial birth abortion and opposing programs for government run universal health care. In his campaign kickoff speech, Thompson frequently evoked the words of Ronald Reagan, affirming his belief in the value of rolling up your sleeves to get things done and the potential of the American people.
He may force new issues in the debate, but unless he's rolling up his sleeves to sign the backs of checks, Thompson's campaign will likely fall over before it gets up.
