Political Football

Tommy Thompson made a quick visit to Muscatine today to talk to a small group of interested citizens.

Looking for a candidate to support, it appears to me he stands equally with Romney as a favorite of mine for the 2008 run for President of the United States. [POTUS] I could support this man.

You can read more here about his exploratory efforts for POTUS. Tommy Thompson is a good man, has a lot of the right experience running government and has a good track record.

Some of the things he talked about today:

He thinks he’s got a great shot of carrying critical Midwestern states – Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan – key to a republican victory and something not many candidates can say (he was a four term governor in a typically democratic state). He’s got a farming background, and a supporter of Ethanol.

He cited success in Wisconsin with movement on welfare reform by inviting welfare mothers into the governor’s mansion for dinner to discuss their general situation and what would most effectively remove them from welfare roles.

He’s very much in favor of POTUS line item veto power to control spending.

When asked about immigration, he said, “People in this country must comply with the law”. However, when asked about the current 12 million illegal immigrants in the US today, he said he would not have a problem with new laws that allowed those in the country illegally to gain citizenship over time.

The Global War on Terror – this is the issue that most concerns me; and unfortunately Thompson did not articulate a strong position. I would like to see someone with more international experience and savvy.

I was also looking for strong support of our current POTUS, but Thompson thinks we went into IRAQ with too few troops and he left me with the impression he was not in favor of the surge. I am tired of people (especially republicans) not supporting the POTUS – not that a conversation in Jerry’s kitchen is a national stage.

I totally support the POTUS when he said yesterday [January 12] “Those who refuse to give this plan a chance to work, have an obligation to offer an alternative that has a better chance of success.”

He is concerned about the current state of the military and also believes that a draft would be extremely counter productive to this modern volunteer force. Thompson spoke of increasing the number of active duty citizens so the national guard members are not extended as much as they currently are, and the money it would take to “refresh” supplies of tanks and other material.

Thompson is suggesting winning the hearts and minds of the women and children of the Middle East through massive medical support and training. During his time in Muscatine, he discussed something he supported in 4 trips to Afghanistan when Thompson served in W’s first term Cabinet as HHS Secretary.

Tommy Thompson does understand what will work in the long run to dismantle the Global War on Terror. Thompson calls it “Medical Diplomacy”. I’m just not sure we have time for this “multi-generation” long term approach without some long term ugliness. Read more here about one medical mission in Afghanistan in 2002.

Stay tuned in IOWA.

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