Dick Leinenkugel just resigned as Wisconsin's commerce secretary because he plans to run for the Senate as a Republican against Russ Feingold, WisPolitics reports.
If that's true, Tommy Thompson is out of the race, and Leinenkugel knows it. (His sister Kate is married to Mark Bugher, a Thompson confidant and booster.)
So the Republican primary would be a three-way affair, with Leinenkugel the RINO (Repub in Name Only) in the race against conservatives Terrence Wall and Dave Westlake, who have not gotten much traction.
How will the Tea Partiers in the GOP like a guy who's been in Jim Doyle's cabinet, oversaw the stimulus money, and champions Doyle's climate change bill?
More at 11 -- or whenever we get around to it.