Tommy’s future

Tommy Thompson is a required telephone call for reporters pondering Wisconsin’s political future.

Make it clear – Thompson and the reporters like the exchange. Thompson always has liked being on the political stage. He is gregarious and he likes the people who populate the political world, including reporters and a lot of Democrats.

Reporters, especially those who covered his 14 years as governor, like to chat with him. He’s always good copy, and he’ll return telephone calls. He could get angry about some coverage, but that, too, would quickly pass.

Recently Thompson was asked about his political plans. He replied he’d love to have run against Gov. Jim Doyle in 2010. This was after Doyle had announced he wouldn’t seek a third term as governor.

Doyle’s popularity has plunged, and Thompson would have been the favorite in such a race. There already are three Republicans in the gubernatorial race – Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, former Congressman Mark Neumann, and Appleton businessman Mark Todd. Extensive and expensive campaigns are likely.

Next year will be a big political year. Those elected governor and legislators will in 2011 draw new congressional and legislative districts after the U.S census is completed.

At stake is the potential control of the Legislature for a decade. This is mundane for the average citizen, but it is big time stuff for the political world. That’s why both political parties will spend a lot of money trying to elect legislative candidates in the 2010 election.

In the background, at least for now, is the race for the U.S. Senate seat held for the last 17 years by Democrat Russ Feingold.

Republicans need a wealthy candidate who is willing to spend a lot of his own money challenging Feingold. If Republican leaders find such a candidate, they probably won’t mention that barring some large personal scandal it is very, very difficult to unseat a three-term U.S. senator.

A wealthy Republican might overlook that in exchange for the ego trip of running for the U.S. Senate. Thompson understands that situation. He also knows that Feingold has crisscrossed the state for 17 years holding town hall meetings in every county. Feingold is bright, and the public seems to like him.

The Republican candidate (or candidates) for Feingold’s seat won’t get much attention from the press next summer. Both political parties are likely to have hotly contested gubernatorial primaries.

Some will suggest that Thompson would love to be a U.S. senator. But he doesn’t want to be a loser in his final election campaign. Should he run and win, he would at age 69 end up being a junior senator probably in the minority party.