Johnson, Cornyn Lukewarm On Tommy Thompson
Wisconsin's current GOP senator and the head of Senate Republicans' campaign arm are not quite rolling out the red carpet for a likely run by former HHS Secretary and Wisconsin Gov. and Tommy Thompson for the Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) next year.
In 2009,Thompson endorsed a Senate health care bill that was an early version of the measure that eventually passed. That is sharp contrast from freshman Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), a former businessman who did not hold elected office until defeating Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) last year. Johnson has said he entered the race due to opposition to Democrats' health care overhaul, and made that position a centerpiece of his campaign.
Asked about that contrast Tuesday, Johnson said he hopes Thompson will "change his mind," and was noncommittal on a run by Thompson, who is likely to face primary opposition from the right.
"My guess is that maybe other people will hop in the race and I think we'll have a number of pretty good candidates that might vie for the nomination," Johnson said. "We'll wait and see."
National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn (R-Texas) said Thompson "would obviously be a strong candidate" and is "very well known."
But Cornyn suggested Thompson may not win the GOP nomination. "I don't know whether others would run anyway, whether they'll be a contested primary," he said. "We've seen politics change quite a bit, electoral politics, in the last few years. And, primary voters I think are going to jealously guard their right to make that selection. So I don't think anybody would go in necessarily as the favorite."
Asked about Thompson's support of Democrats' health care bill, Cornyn said "everybody who runs in elections has pluses and minuses and you've got to deal with those in the context of the primary ... I think there are gonna be plenty of other good candidates."
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