Tommy was in New Hampton today ………………

……………… and Real War Correspondent Carl “Big Killer” Gilbertson was on hand to file this first hand report.

On Friday 5/18/07, the Big Killer took a long lunch hour and ventured north on HiWay 63 to New Hampton (pop 3692) in Chickasaw County (pop 13,095) to hear Governor Tommy Thompson. Of course one of the Big Killer’s most least (bad grammar but I really do not like the guy) favorable DemocRAT State Representative calls this area home; none other than the spineless one – Brian Quirk. In addition this area will be the scene of a 2008 Sheryl Crow concert as Ms. Crow makes good on the siren’s song promise that she blew in Quirk’s ear- “I will get you re-elected"-that made Quirk quake and renege on his pledge to his priest and to fellow house members and cast the deciding vote to pass the Clone and Kill Bill. But I digress - I am here to speak of Governor Tommy Thompson on the stump.

The Governor was introduced by Jon Nicolaisen, a very successful local businessman and former Iowa Small Businessman of The Year. Nicolaisen’s mom and the Governor’s wife Sue Ann taught in the same school in Wisconsin. There was a nice lunch provided and about 27 attendees.

Thompson has the great record regarding welfare reform and school choice and he talked about that. He told how R politicians went to Washington to change Washington and Washington changed them. He tells the story of his youngest daughter’s egg being frozen as she experienced cancer and its treatment and how that egg was implanted in her older sister and was born this past January. He says that makes him so appreciative of life and how special life is. He always mentions something that the Big Killer believes hurt us last fall - our Republican Congressmen and Senators spending like DemocRATS. “The voters would rather elect the professional spenders the DemocRATS than the amateur spenders, the R’s” says Thompson. He called himself the candidate with big ideas. He laid out his three pronged plan for IRAQ: (1) Make them vote – if they want us there we stay; if not we come home. (2) Set up the 18 territories similar to our states. These territories are built around the Sunni, Shia and Kurd elements (3) Distribute the oil revenues: 1/3 to the Iraqi federal government; 1/3 to the territorial governments mentioned above and 1/3 to each man woman and child as we do in Alaska.

A brave questioner asked a question that caused the Governor some trouble in the South Carolina Shootout: “What areas of government would you cut/reduce to strive toward fiscal restraint?” Thompson claimed he answered it but that the moderator did not give him time to elaborate. I will not go into great detail, but by asking for budgets to be submitted at various levels of increase it would allow the President to evaluate what is important to the program, or departments, as Ron Paul mentioned, and put forth a budget that would fall under the realm of “Zero Plus 2 Budgeting”. I will leave that to your Econ guys to figure out.

Thompson looks and acts so much better in person than he has on TV in either debate. He also says that he is running number 4 in the most current polls. If you have not had a chance to hear Thompson you should. He has been in 50 counties and says he will be in the other 49 before the Straw Poll.

Carl is a State Central Committee member for the First District and Assistant Treasurer of the Republican Party of Iowa. Carl will not endorse any presidential candidate until they are selected as the Republican nominee.