ED THOMPSON PREDICTS A VENTURA-LIKE SURPRISE

Ed Thompson proved again Saturday that he's no ordinary candidate for governor.

The Tomah bar owner and former mayor of the city recalled being so broke a
decade ago that he sometimes resorted to eating dog bones.

"They were the kind called 'Bonz,'" Thompson said, cracking up about 100
supporters at the state Libertarian Party convention in Madison on
Saturday. "They're good dunkers, by the way. I was fighting with the dog
over the last one."

Thompson said his tough times and hard-working life, including jobs laying
blacktop, cooking for prisoners, plowing snow and tending bar, make him
uniquely qualified to take over a state government that's $1.1 billion in
the hole.

Thompson, the younger brother of former GOP Gov. Tommy Thompson, called
himself a common man - "I'm as common as dirt" - who will defeat the
"career politicians" come Election Day.

A recent poll suggested Thompson would collect about 7 percent of
registered voters. Thompson insisted he'll do better than that by drawing
first-time and non-voters to the polls, just as Minnesota Gov. Jesse
Ventura did four years ago.

The Libertarian Party of Wisconsin on Saturday gleefully endorsed their
best-known candidate ever. Steve Dasbach, executive director of the
national party, flew in from Washington, D.C., to rally support and give
Thompson a $1,000 donation.

"He's the best shot (at winning a governor's seat anywhere in the nation)
that I've seen in my 23 years in the party," Dasbach said. "Wisconsin is
ripe for a strong independent bid."

The state Republican and Democratic parties will hold their conventions in
June in Green Bay and Madison, respectively.

Thompson said Saturday that the state should have frozen its spending last
year to avoid its current deficit. Critics, including the state's largest
teachers union and environmental groups, say Thompson's solutions are too
simplistic to work.

"I know I don't have all the answers and don't pretend to," Thompson said
during his featured speech Saturday in Exhibition Hall at the Alliant
Center. "But I'll work the hardest."

Thompson called for legalizing marijuana for sick people. He said he
supports lowering the drinking age to 18 for high school graduates and to
19 for non-graduates.

Thompson said Wisconsin citizens should be able to carry concealed weapons
under certain conditions. He said state-imposed revenue caps on schools
districts and limits on teacher salaries "aren't working."

John "Sly" Sylvester, a Madison morning talk show host and Thompson backer,
predicted that Thompson's popularity will soar if he's included in the
televised gubernatorial debates against Republican Gov. Scott McCallum and
the Democratic nominee later this year.

"When they see Ed against those buffoons - oh my God," Sylvester said.
"We've got to get him on television."