Remember how we said that Sen. Thompson needs to officially declare relatively soon, lest people start to think that he's engaging in a vanity exercise? Yeah, maybe not so much with the American political analysis from us any more.

Instapundit says new fund-raising techniques means he's got more leeway rather than less. Red State goes even further. In the process of mocking a Hotline story about Thompson holing up with House Republicans (who were quite enthused, reports have it), they were conclusive on this question:

Captain's Quarters has the latest polling. The big news is that Giuliani is slipping back and rejoining the rest of the pack. There's also the obligatory When Will He analysis, with the guess being some time next month. There'll be an exploratory committee before that, so we're still pretty far off from an official go.

Exit fun: we're kind of partial to today's Daily Fred Thompson Fact from IMAO. It's semantically unsound, but there's still a certain je ne sais quoi about it that makes it compelling.

References:
* Monday Morning Thompson Updates [MR]
* IS FRED THOMPSON IN? [Insta]
* Hey Hotline, It Was 63, *NOT* 53 (Oh, and It Looks Like Fred! Is Really Running) [Red State]
* Giuliani Slips In Latest Polling [CQ]
* Daily Fred Thompson Fact [IMAO]

Previously:
* Fred Thompson For President
* Fred Thompson On How To Be A Careful Conservative
* Your End Of the Week Fred Thompson Fix