Tommy Thompson’s U.S. Senate campaign has been far from perfect. And with only weeks left in the race, the latest gaffe could not have come at a worse time.
The former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services under President George W. Bush and former Wisconsin governor is, or at least was one year ago, one of the most well-known living political figures in the state. He was certainly the most well known candidate running for the open U.S. Senate seat.
This summer, Thompson had to endure a heated and expensive primary election just to get the Republican nomination. Throughout the race, Thompson was always the favorite, benefiting from a huge advantage in voter recognition compared to his fellow Republican candidates and the Democratic nominee Tammy Baldwin.
Throughout the summer, Thompson led the pack of four contenders. A Marquette University Law School Poll from July showed Thompson had the support of 35 percent of voters, with the closest challenger sitting at 24 percent.
Even political newcomer and GOP challenger Eric Hovde’s more than $4 million of attack ads against Thompson, much of which came from his own pocketbook, couldn’t put a big enough dent in the political giant’s armor. He ended up winning the primary election by double digits.
But since that primary election, Thompson has been in the fight of his life.
In a MU poll done days before the primary, 48 percent of voters preferred Thompson in the general election while 43 percent preferred Baldwin. In a poll from the same organization done one month later, Baldwin led Thompson 50 to 41.
While many factors may have contributed to the switch, among them Thompson’s dwindling campaign funds after he had to spend millions more than he wanted to during the primary, exposure, positive or negative depending on how you look at it, from the heated primary, Baldwin’s successful fundraising and campaigning efforts throughout the summer and fall, and debates between the two candidate, Thompson’s fall from relative grace may very well be his own doing.
First, there was the email sent out by a Thompson campaign official that contained a video of Baldwin at a gay pride event, accompanied by text that questioned her ability to discuss “heartland values.” The email caused a stir, as Baldwin is trying to become the first openly gay person ever to be elected to the U.S. Senate.
Then, a video(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHrVh4qevfU) from a fundraiser late September showed him telling a group, “Who better than me… to do away with Medicaid and Medicare?” The Baldwin campaign quickly began using the statement in ads against Thompson.
And now, with just weeks to go until the election, Jason Thompson, the former governor’s son, distastefully brought up the politically taboo “birther argument,” saying at an event in Milwaukee Sunday voters have the chance to send President Barack Obama back “to Kenya,” according to video footage(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRs0tCOI5mc).
Amidst laughs from the crowd, a women is heard saying, “We are taking donations for that Kenya trip.”
In addition, during a news conference at the same event Sunday, Thompson called Baldwin “anti-Jewish,” although he later corrected his statement, calling her “anti-Israel,” according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Dan Bice.
Coming into the election, Republicans have had huge success in Wisconsin over the last 2 years. Gov. Scott Walker was reelected in an historic recall election and Congressman Paul Ryan is the vice presidential nominee. Additionally,
Republican Ron Johnson defeated Democrat Russ Feingold for the other Wisconsin U.S. Senate in 2010. If Thompson wins in November, it would be the first time two Republicans will represent Wisconsin in the Senate since 1957.
While it is important to not to take anything away from the campaign Baldwin has run so far, it seems the tightening of the race, at least according to polls, has coincided with negative press Thompson and his campaign have received over the last few months.
Thompson has never been a tight-lipped, cautious politician. He calls it how he sees it, and Wisconsinites have always loved him for it. But this day in age, when everyone has a camera phone and the press is itching to pounce on even the
slightest slip of the tongue, perhaps Thompson’s style is too vulnerable to the type of negative press his campaign has recently received.
