Bridging the partisan divide.

Question: Do you have a personal philosophy?

Tommy Thompson: Sure. It is doing good, and doing as little harm as possible. But looking at the overall good and finding ways in which you can make things better. I’m driven by . . . by results. I’m driven by ideas. And you know I think that is what is failing in American politics right now. Because right now we have . . . I’m a builder, and right now we have people who want to tear down. Democrats hate Republicans; Republicans hate Democrats; everybody hates the Independents. And nobody wants to cross over and say, you know, “Who cares who gets the results? Who cares who gets the credit? Let’s get the results, and let’s change the system for the better.” And that’s what drives me. I wanna . . . I wanna make the system stronger, be more healthy, and make things better tomorrow than they are today. And that’s what I think should drive every person that puts his name or her name on the ballot. They should be smitten with the passion to make things better for the people that elect them.

Recorded on: 7/6/07