The exciting news is the LAT poll that shows Thompson in second place even though he's not even officially in the race. McCain is actually behind him by three points, which Powerline takes as confirmation of their prediction that a Thompson candidacy would tube McCain (although Allah points out that the poll shows McCain doing better with Thompson in the race than without). Captains Quarters also does a breakdown of the poll and argues that Thompson can actually take the lead if he renounces his support for McCain-Feingold. We're not sure about that last part since Thompson already has more or less admitted that his vote was a mistake, but hope does spring eternal.

Something we haven't seen anyone mention: the numbers in that LA Times poll are probably not reliable. First, it's an LAT poll which means that it inherently sucks. Second, it's hard to match those numbers with the TIME poll that came out right afterwards. That one shows Thompson at 10 tied with Romney.

The trends, though, are pretty clear: Thompson up, McCain down, Rudy stagnant.

References:
* Poll: McCain falls behind with GOP voters [LAT]
* The Fred factor [Powerline]
* LAT poll: Rudy 29, Fred! 15, McCain 12 [Hot Air]
* LA Times Poll: Fred Gains As McCain Drops Back [Captain's Quarters'
* POLL: TIME/SRBI National Survey

Previously:
* Your End Of the Week Fred Thompson Fix
* Fred Thompson For President
* BREAKING - Fred Thompson Says He Has Lymphoma