Not Fred Thompson, whom I wrote about earlier today... Tommy Thompson, former Governor of Wisconsin, former HHS Secretary under Bush, has announced that his hat is officially in the ring.
He has some interesting ideas:
I don't have much of a problem with any of those, not even the vote from the Iraqi people, because I am pretty sure I know how it would turn out.Discussing some campaign issues, he said:
_He would have "a completely different Iraq strategy" from the president's. Thompson said he would "demand" that the Iraqi government vote as to whether it wanted the U.S. to remain in the country. If the answer were yes, "it immediately gives a degree of legitimacy." If the answer were no, "We would get out, absolutely. It's a duly elected government."
_He would veto the war spending bills in Congress that have timelines for a U.S. exit from Iraq. "This is an invitation to continue the kind of civil war that's going on right now. I think it's the worst mistake," Thompson said.
_Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has made "terrible mistakes" in the handling of the fired federal prosecutors. "I would not have appointed Mr. Gonzales. I would have appointed somebody that was loyal to me," Thompson said.
He's also the one with the most executive branch experience, serving 14 years in the Wisconsin Governor's Mansion. That beats Rudy's 8 years as a mayor handily, Romney's 4 years as a governor, and McCain's big fat zero seconds of executive experience.
If Tommy Thompson starts gaining traction, this will become a completely different race. I'm not quite ready to slap a "Tommy 2008" banner on this here blog yet, but I'm interested enough to sign up for his newsletter, which I haven't done for any of the other candidates yet.
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