Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, wearing a bandage on his nose after recent skin cancer surgery, this morning lectured Iowa's convention delegates about the importance of preventive health care.

"The nice thing about what we're talking about today, chronic illness and prevention, it fits right in with our philosophy," said the former Bush administration HHS secretary. "Taking care of things before they get so bad that you can't fix it."

Thompson was direct in his discussion of the dangers of smoking and said he had banned it entirely when he worked at Health and Human Services, even going so far as to physically remove cigarettes from the mouths of smokers he came across.

He also discussed the importance of preventive health care in reference to his own cancer

"I had to go in and have some minor surgery for cancer," he said. "It's a good lesson: Don't tarry, don't wait, don't wait until something gets more serious. ... I saw I had something wrong on my nose and I went down and had a little surgery and took care of it."

Thompson, briefly a prez candidate who visited all 99 of Iowa's counties in the run-up to last August's Ames Straw Poll, said after the speech he regretted focusing entirely on Iowa and that he should have spent more time in New Hampshire. Thompson dropped out of the presidential race after a 6th place finish in the straw poll.

"It was a dumb strategy," he said of his all-Iowa, all-the-time plan. "You never overlook Iowa but don't put all your time there like I did."

This morning's breakfast the La Quinta Inn in West Bloomington was sponsored by The Partnership to Prevent Chronic Disease.

Listen to audio of Thompson's remarks

-- By Mike Schramm

Labels: RNC2008