Outgoing U.S. Rep. Tom Petri (R-Fond du Lac), in office since 1979, is known for his reserve, and has been called the last of the “Rockefeller Republicans,” moderates who predated Reagan’s conservative revolution. Still, when a journalist from his local paper, the Fond du Lac Reporter, spoke with Petri last week, she found him “reminiscing over old photos,” including one of the Gipper that prompted this PG-13 anecdote.
One photo of the late, former President Ronald Reagan brings to mind a 1987 speech given by Reagan at the Winnebago County Courthouse.
“There were some ladies who came over from Madison to protest and were in the back of the room. Suddenly they took off their shirts and bared their breasts and Reagan was poking elbows with the guy next to him. These are the quirky things you remember.”
The reporter asked Petri if he would endorse Republican State Rep. Glenn Grothman, who staked out a place on the ballot partly by criticizing the incumbent, but Petri scoffed. “I don’t want to smother him with love or anything like that,” he said (although, in deference to tradition, he recently helped host a D.C. fundraiser for the candidate and pitched in $5,000 toward his campaign). Petri spoke more approvingly of his Democratic opponent, Winnebago County Executive Mark Harris.
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