Republican and Conservative political analysis and commentary

Former Wisconsin governor Tommy Thompson has tossed his hat into the race for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination forming an exploratory committee and has tapped a former Iowa GOP chairman, Steve Grubbs, to run
his Iowa campaign. Grubbs previously worked for Steve Forbes and Sen.
Bob Dole.

From the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

One top adviser, who asked not to be named, said Thompson understood better than anyone that expectations about his candidacy are low. But Thompson thinks there's a void within the GOP field for a candidate who is Midwestern, Catholic and pro-life, and "he's all of those things," the adviser said.

Also, this:

Grubbs touted Thompson as one of the nation's "foremost experts on health care and renewable fuels." Thompson announced last month that he was a business partner in an effort to build a $195 million ethanol plant in Walworth County.

Sean Hackbarth has some analysis over at The American Mind:

Realistically it will be very hard for Tommy to get traction. Republicans don’t often pick a long-shot for their nominee. Since Wisconsin is a neighbor of Iowa success at the caucuses will be minimized. Being big on ethanol will help him in that agricultural state so I won’t discount him completely. I wish Tommy the best.

That's about right, though Thompson's entry in the race may complicate things a bit for Mitt Romney as both will be going hard after the pro-life vote.

My guess: Thompson is running for the vice presidential slot. McCain-Thompson has a nice ring to it - and would be geographically balanced Southwest/Midwest. When he was Governor of Wisconsin, Thompson was a darling of the party's conservatives.