TOMMY THOMPSON TESTING 'O8 RACE

Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson was in Iowa today, and now we know why.

Thompson, a former secretary of Health and Human Services during President Bush's first administration, said today in Des Moines he "hopes" to seek the GOP nomination for president, according to the Des Moines Register's Web site.

Thompson says he expects health care to top this list of issues in '08, and says he's more than up to speed on that issue. Being from neighboring Wisconsin may also help him in the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses.

Meanwhile, earlier this week, the Register's political columnist David Yepsen said the presence of Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack in the Democratic race for the White House may actually diminish the importance of the Iowa caucus results.

If Vilsack does well, Yepsen says, the rest of the country may view Iowa as playing favorites, which would lessen the impact of the results there and damage the credibility of the caucus process.