Small Town Tommy

There's something about a small town that tends to inscribe men with certain principles. Work, faith, and honesty, among them. Tommy Thompson's hometown of Elroy, Wisconsin is one such small town.

Last week, I sat down with Thompson in Milwaukee -- a far cry from Elroy, but his small town story was oh so near.

Thompson's father ran the town's grocery store and at the age of five, Tommy polished eggs and worked on the family farm. Even though Tommy now finds himself in a tight race to be Wisconsin's next Senator, he still works that farm in Elroy.

Thompson's parents were important in forming Tommy's political philosophy, but only one "dominated the religious upbringing." "We never missed Sunday Mass," Thompson said of his Irish Catholic mother, "it was as expected as getting up in the morning."

To this day, even when Thompson is vacationing at his home on Lake Wisconsin in Merrimac, Tommy worships at the local St. Mary Health of the Sick (a church now staffed by traditionalist priests of the Society of Jesus Christ the Priest, an Association of the Faithful).

With work and faith comes honesty, as Thompson remembered his father's lesson: "You have two ears and one mouth; use them in that proportion."

"I listened to my father, who was on the County Board, every Friday night when the famers would come in around the cracker barrel and talk about what roads need to be built.

"It got me my first taste for politics," Thompson beamed.

There are some, especially those challenging Thompson for the Republican nomination, who might cringe upon hearing this story. With his first foray into politics in 1966 as a state legislator, then four terms as Governor, then Secretary of Health and Human Services, Thompson has spent most of his life in public service -- quite unpopular among Tea Party types.

Thompson fends off such criticism with an impressive record of accomplishment: "Who was the start of the conservative movement in Wisconsin? 91 tax cuts, school choice, welfare reform -- there are some looking around for somebody who's just going to replicate what I've already done."

With that, Thompson pounced on a recent Obama administration decision to waive work requirements in welfare: "I think it's ultra vires, or beyond the scope of the President's authority. And they cut out the heart of welfare reform!" Thompson lauded his reforms in Wisconsin as ones that worked and ones that no Democrat has since asked to change.

"Isn't that amazing? Nobody has ever tried to reinstate the old AFDC [Aid to Families with Dependent Children] -- years of Democratic inaction shows how successful the reform has been."

It wasn't before long that Thompson would move to his signature issue: health care. Thompson assured that he "will be the fifty-first vote to repeal and replace ObamaCare."

Thompson's opponents are skeptical. They point to a thirty-second C-SPAN clip from 2006 released by the Club for Growth where Thompson advocates for an individual mandate. "States should have the opportunity to institute a mandate if they want it," Thompson admitted.

A federal mandate, however? "Unconstitutional," Thompson said plainly as he referred to Congressional testimony he gave against the mandate in May of 2008.

From wellness education to choice to tort reform, Thompson's plan for replacing a government-run system with a market-based one is multifaceted and worth reading in its entirety.

ObamaCare isn't the only culprit for a sluggish economy, Thompson continued. "There's no reason our tax code should be longer than the Bible." In advocating for a flat tax option (admittedly unsure of a rate), Thompson asked "Can you imagine the excitement and stimulus that would create for jobs?"

At the conclusion of our chat I thanked Thompson by his first name, but immediately apologized.

"It's ok," he said. "People know me as Tommy. It's a brand that I hope people know, respect, and trust."