Tommy's in the eye of the beholder

To say that Tommy Thompson got mixed reviews at the state Republican convention hardly does it justice. He got praised and panned, both by conservative bloggers.

Kevin Binversie of Lakeshore Laments saw a Tommy who's proudly, if reluctantly, passing the torch:

During Green's speech, I took a few glances at Tommy on the stage behind him. His face was a mixture of pride and a coming realization that the torch had indeed been passed. The Dems say that Tommy isn't "behind" Green. No, I just believe like he's having a hard time letting go to the glory days.

That alone may be why he challenges Kohl.

The best analogy I can get into my head about what Thompson must be going through is knight who has served the land with dignity, honor, and style for years. He trained many of the new recruits that served beneath him on the court. After years of questing, he returns to his homeland (the Wisconsin GOP) seeing that his tales of glory are still told, songs are still sung to honor him, but one of his trusted squires has taken over rule of the land in his absence and the people are behind this squire turned knight.

Is the knight supposed to take these changes easily? Hardly, and that's what Tommy's done.

At exactly the same moment, Owen Robinson of Boots and Sabers was watching Tommy and coming to a very different conclusion:

Tommy. Tommy, Tommy, Tommy. I oscillated between being furious and disgusted with Tommy. His speech was a long, rambling amalgamation of rhetoric from his glory days. He spent what seemed like an eternity just recounting his own biography. I thought this was disrespectful and selfish. This was Green's convention and he should have been telling us why Green would be a great governor - not why Tommy thinks he was a great governor. After the speech, he sat behind Green on the bleachers and behaved like an insolent child. He was slumped over with his head on his hand and his elbow on his knee. He kept fidgeting and looked like a little boy looking out of the classroom window on a sunny day with eyes and body language that shouted to the world that he wants to be anywhere except where he is. Tommy was supposed to do a joint press conference with Green after the speech, but Tommy blew it off to catch a flight. Tommy was a jerk to Green and a jerk to the Republicans who have supported him for decades. I have very little use for Tommy.

Robinson's wife, Wendy, did a lighter, much more amusing report on the convo, and had this to say:

The lowlight for me was Tommy Thompson. Watching him speak was like watching a televangelist. Holy crap. It's like people go into a trance when he walks into a room. I was seriously waiting for Tommy to suggest people close their eyes and accept Tommy as their own personal savior (or whatever it is those wackjobs say). Good grief. And good riddance.

Wendy should write more often.