Tommy says something stupid

Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, whose candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination has been a secret to all but the most politically-minded of Americans, managed today to diminish his already miniscule chances.

In a speech to a Jewish group, Thompson approvingly referred to a centuries-old negative stereotype of Jews. He later apologized, but the remark could not be dismissed as a mere slip of the tongue.

Atrios has the story.

What I don't understand about Thompson is why he thinks his bid for the White House is worth the bother. Absent the most unlikely sequence of events imaginable, he isn't going to make it. Maybe he sees himself as a dark horse candidate for the vice-presidential nomination on the basis of geography and his Catholicism.