Sunday, October 14, 2012
7:58 PM
Ryan, Walker, Priebus pay tribute to Thompson at fundraiser
MILWAUKEE – Vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan, Gov. Scott Walker and RNC Chair Reince Priebus paid tribute to Tommy Thompson at a fundraiser for the former guv’s Senate campaign, telling donors Sunday that he was a significant influence on them.
“Scott, Reince and I are protégés of the Tommy Thompson farm team,” Ryan said, according to a pool report.
Walker said that when he, Ryan and Priebus were getting interested in politics, “the person who put it on the map, who knew what it took for a better future, to get the economy going again, to get things balanced … is the guy standing up here before us.”
The comment drew Walker’s largest applause line.
Priebus, a former state GOP chair, called Thompson’s efforts to reform welfare and public education ground breaking. He said Thompson “paved the way in this state, in this country.”
Thompson repaid the praise from his fellow Republicans, calling the three the current and future leaders of the GOP.
He said Priebus helped rejuvenate the state GOP and is doing the same in Washington with the national Republican Party. He said the guv has “turned the state completely around” and called Ryan “the Janesville flash.”
Thompson touted his record as governor, including 91 tax cuts, passage of the school choice program and welfare reform. He said Dems represent “more taxes, more rules, more regulation, less freedom and less control of our health care system.” He criticized Dem opponent Tammy Baldwin for accomplishing little in Congress.
Tickets to the fundraiser at the Harley-Davidson Museum cost $250 per couple, while a photo with Thompson cost $1,000. A campaign spokesman said it was premature to say how much was raised.
In addition to Ryan, Walker and Priebus, other guests included Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen and state GOP Chair Brad Courtney.
-- By Staff
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