Conservative Features.com

BY SCOTT SCHNEIDER

Ed Thompson has some fight left in him from his younger days but instead of taking the fight to a physical opponent, he’s taking the fight to Kathleen Vinehout. The former club boxer (retiring when he was 42) and Mayor of Tomah, Wisconsin has decided to take on one last bout, this time not in the boxing ring but the arena of State Politics. At stake is Wisconsin Senate District 31, a seat that Vinehout has held since 2006. A casual observer may think Ed has the added challenge of having to stand in the shadows of his big brother, former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson, but his fighting background makes him stand out in his own right.

Raised in Elroy, Wisconsin, Ed’s father ran a small grocery store while his mother taught in a one-room public school house. Ed helped his father in the family store in his spare time and also worked summers on a nearby farm. Successful in drama and sports in high school, he briefly attended the University of Wisconsin Madison before he enlisted in the US Navy during the Vietnam War. After an honorable discharge he married his then-wife, Kathy, and began a family.

His life has been just as remarkable in many respects as Tommy’s. While working several different physical labor jobs and owning a couple of taverns to help feed his family, Ed competed in the Golden Gloves boxing circuit for a number years, quitting at the age of 42. Once out of boxing, he turned his sights on a new venture and restored an old, bankrupt supper club called the Tee-Pee on Main Street, Tomah. He renamed it Mr Ed’s Tee-Pee Supper Club and for the past 20 years has expanded this one-man risk-taking operation into a city landmark that employs over 30 people. He hosts the annual Tomah Free Thanksgiving Day Dinner, free meals to the less fortunate, in the club and last year (2009) served over 1,200.

He was first elected mayor of Tomah in 2000, ousting a 2-term incumbent democrat, then decided not to run for relection as mayor in 2002, opting instead to head up the Libertarian ticket for Governor. Though he lost, he garnered more 3rd party votes than any candidate in the Governor’s race in 60 years. His run was the subject of a 2005 documentary titled “A Remarkable Man”, which also details other aspects of his life and his fight against the Doyle-run Attorney General’s office in 1980s when it was trying to crack down on video poker in small taverns. So popular was Ed as Mayor of Tomah that the people in the city hoisted him back onto the City Council in 2005 as a write-in candidate. His success as a city council member translated to another run as Mayor in 2007, this time ousting a three-term incumbent.

Ed has again stepped down as Mayor in order to concentrate on his race against Kathleen Vinehout. He and former wife Kathy (Nelson) have had 4 children and 8 grandchildren. In the spotlight today, I interview Ed, and he reveals why he is running, and what sparked his desire to take on this next fight in his life:

1. WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO RUN FOR THE STATE SENATE DISTRICT 31 SEAT AGAINST KATHLEEN VINEHOUT:

I really liked being Mayor of Tomah. I enjoyed it. It was easy for me. I walked right across the street and all I had to do, it was right there. Kathleen, well first of all I couldn’t stand what she was doing with this health insurance she was pushing (state-run health insurance reform program). It was her first time in she was really pushing it hard and as a small businessman, I couldn’t take the 10% payroll tax that she wanted to push and I knew my employees just couldn’t get any more taken out of their pay and so I was very upset about it. And when she asked me how I thought she was doing, I said, “I’m very disappointed in this socialized medicine, Kathleen.” And she said, “Well businesses just don’t pay their fair share!” At that moment, at that instant, I knew that I wanted to run regardless of what happened. I said, “How can you say that, Kathleen, how can you say that! They’re the job providers, are the businesses, they provide the work.” But she was pretty determined that, that was how she felt and that is why I am running. It was just a totally different perspective. I truly believe that there has not been a more clear case where there is one person who believes that government doesn’t do enough, should do more, more for spreading the wealth around, raising taxes, the government should raise sales tax, and I really believe that she believes that’s the truth. I, on the other hand, am totally the opposite. I believe that government is way too much involved, much smaller government is where I want to be, and much more business-friendly. I don’t believe there is any race going can you find two more distinct views. If you want bigger government, Kathleen is your choice, there is no question about it. If you want smaller government, to have less government involved with your life, more freedom, more the way our Founding Fathers wanted it, then I am obviously your choice. I think it is just that clear.

2. DO YOU FIND THAT YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH TOMMY IS AN ASSET FOR YOU OR A HINDERANCE FOR YOU?

I think it is a tremendous asset. My brother, Tommy, has been there 100%. He has already written a letter for me, has been asking people to help me; wherever I go, “Your brother was a great governor,” so I am very, very, very proud of my brother and I am honored that I can follow. He left some pretty big footprints out there but I am going to do my very best. I am very conservative, maybe more conservative than Tommy, but I am dedicated to doing the right thing.

3. THERE ARE SOME ISSUES THAT THE TWO OF YOU DON’T AGREE ON, HOW THAT DOES WORK?

Well, there might be some minor issues. I mean, there might be some social issues that we’re not right on the same page on, but they’re minor. The whole thing is taxes, jobs, and spending, and borrowing to me. That’s this race and it is so far out-of-whack the way they are going now with a 62 billion-dollar budget, you know that’s out-of-whack and unless we take back control it’ll just be too late for anything else. Nothing else will matter. We are spending our grandchildren’s inheritance right now. We are right there together on that, in lockstep.

4. THE BUSINESS OWNER ASPECT IS REALLY BIG FOR YOU?

Small business people have it so tough. The Tee-Pee Supper Club was built in 1960 and I’ve been running it for 20 years. I took it over when it was in bankruptcy, actually, and brought back. It went from myself being the only employee to we now have 32 employees; started from a small building in the middle of the street to now a whole block. Everything I’ve made in my life has gone into that business, everything, and so to hear her (Kathleen Vinehout) say that, “Well business doesn’t pay it’s fair share,” just irritated me to no end. Everything I made went into that so everybody can keep their jobs so it’s very important to me that people keep their jobs. After I was first married, I was boxing and I was running the businesses and owned a bar, I always had 2 jobs, as a real estate broker and a bar owner. I worked for 5 years in a Federal Penitentiary and owned a bar so I always had 2 jobs.

MORE ABOUT ED:

ED THOMPSON