Tammy Baldwin
The state is set for Wisconsin's Senate race after yesterday's primary election. In the hotly contested race on the Republican side, the guy people heard of before won. So Democrat Tammy Baldwin is going to be facing former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson. Your Daily Kos Elections crew
brings us two of Thompson's greatest hits from his ill-fated 2008 presidential run:
Republican presidential candidate Tommy Thompson told a Jewish group Monday that earning money is "part of the Jewish tradition," a remark for which he later apologized.
And:
Tommy Thompson cited a dead hearing aid and an urgent need to use the bathroom in explaining on Saturday why he said at a GOP presidential debate that an employer should be allowed to fire a gay worker.
So, yeah, he won. He's not just a buffoon, though. He's a
corporate "consultant" worth something like $13 million who "has sold his influence and connections to firms to whom it would benefit on Capitol Hill, but did so in a way—as a consultant—to avoid having to register." What's the difference between being a consultant and being a lobbyist? Having to register as a lobbyist and potentially endangering a future political career.
Not surprisingly, Thompson's got a tax plan that would give himself, and all the other millionaires and billionaires, a hefty tax cut. He's also, repeatedly, promised to support the Ryan budget. He says he's got a plan to do away with Medicaid and Medicare. Think of him as an older, less charismatic Paul Ryan.
Obviously, this is an agenda Tammy Baldwin has fought in the House, and an agenda she promises to fight in the Senate.
"I will fight to do what’s right for the middle class and Thompson will put those at the very top and the big monied special interests in Washington ahead of Wisconsin’s hard working families," she said. "I will take on these powerful interests in Washington, and in the Senate, I will stand up for Wisconsin’s middle class, as I always have."
Working to keep Thompson out of the Senate is good. Working to get Tammy Baldwin into the Senate is even better. And it will take work. All of the
polling in a Baldwin-Thompson race shows it very tight, but definitely winnable for Baldwin.
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