COLUMN: ED THOMPSON ENJOYS HIS TRIP TO D.C.

Low Interest Rates Are Creating Both A Buyers' And Sellers' Housing Market

Although Ed Thompson visited Washington, the epicenter of political power,
last week, he was more impressed by the traffic than by the career
politicians he calls "Republicrats" - including his own brother Tommy, the
secretary of health and human services.

"I don't want the damn power," Ed said while walking through steaming
humidity on his way from one interview to the next. "I want to give it back
to the people. That's where it belongs. Not in the hands of all these
agencies and committees. That's what I did in Tomah, that's what I plan to
do as governor."

In town on a national media blitz to promote his Libertarian gubernatorial
bid, Ed was too busy to do much sightseeing. But Tommy did take him to
visit his office and the department's war room, set up after Sept. 11. Ed
also attended a speech his brother gave at the National Press Club, making
light of their sometimes stormy relationship by asking Tommy if it was true
the former governor had offered him for stem-cell research.

During the week Ed met with representatives of the national Libertarian
Party, hoping to translate the visit into financial support. The party has
given him $1,000, his second-largest donation to date. Modeling his
long-shot campaign after Gov. Jesse Ventura of Minnesota, Thompson was
quick to point out that his campaign is further ahead in fund-raising than
Ventura's was at a comparable time.

Ed took advantage of the media attention to drill home his message of
accountability, calling himself "a common man with common sense." His
platform also includes expanding school choice, excluding non-violent
criminals from prisons, shrinking the state budget, and reforming marijuana
laws so people don't "go to prison for smoking a joint."

(snip)

(Remainder of column not drug policy related)