The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com.
Tommy Thompson is an expert on government, healthcare and education. Wisconsin government, like that at the national level, is so politically polarized that little if anything gets done that benefits the people. Those we elect follow a party agenda, ignore the people and spend most of their time attacking one another to gain political points. Our state is so gerrymandered that once elected , those in positions of power, can ignore the needs and well-being of those they were to serve.
Thompson just left his position as President of the U W System. He did a remarkable job of steering the system through a pandemic; while restoring the Madison campus to the prestige it once held. Tommy demonstrated that he could hold his partisan Republican roots in check to accomplish the needs of the University.
We should not waste his expertise while our elected officials play party politics instead of governing. Thompson could be an effective “think tank” leader promoting nonpartisan solutions to problems and issues facing Wisconsin. Perhaps he could operate as part of the Wisconsin Alumni Association or funded as a non-profit to research issues impacting our state and provide solutions or suggestive legislation.
Thompson, in such a capacity, could serve as a liaison to the governor, legislature, state agencies, the University of Wisconsin and the people of Wisconsin. There is no one better to speak for the people of Wisconsin and our state would have no better salesman. Thompson, as a former governor, could cut through the partisan agendas and offer a brand of governing that moves Wisconsin and its people forward.
Whatever the outcomes of this fall’s elections those in power and the new U W president should consider asking Tommy Thompson to help our state and university grow in greatness.
– Hanson is a member of the Walworth County Democratic Party.
