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Posted: June 13, 2007 2:47 PM
Tommy Thompson Big Announcement? He's Still in Race
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Tommy Thompson called a telephone press conference Wednesday to make a “major announcement about the future of his political campaign,” but it turned out to be a promise to compete in this summer’s Iowa straw poll.

After acknowledging that most of the reporters had signed in to find out whether he was dropping out of the race, Thompson said that, in fact, he was not. Instead, he reiterated his commitment to taking part in the August Iowa straw poll, and said he hoped the Republican candidates who are planning to skip the straw poll, including front-runners former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Sen. John McCain, D-Ariz., would reconsider their decision.

“[The straw poll] is in every way a good thing for our country, for Iowa, and certainly for the Republican Party,” Thompson said. “I believe it is a mistake to skip the straw poll. … Let’s start the race.”

Thompson has focused his strategy on winning Iowa from the beginning; he’s visited the state at least once a week since December.

Thompson also said, in response to a question, that the second quarter fund-raising numbers that will be released soon will show that his fund raising has been “adequate but not great.”

Also this week, Thompson released his first radio ad . The 60-second spot, which is running in Iowa, features Thompson describing his three-point plan for Iraq. His plan includes asking the Iraqi parliament to vote on a continued U.S. presence in the country, working with Iraqis to form governments in 18 self-governing provinces, and dividing oil revenues evenly among the Iraqi federal government, provincial government and individual citizens.