The Welcoming Void
Ed Morrissey

The New York Sun reports that recent polling has encouraged Fred Thompson to seriously consider a run for the Republican Presidential nomination. Jim Geraghty, the blogger behind NRO's HillarySpot, says that Thompson fills a void left by the unexpected loss of George Allen in last year's midterm elections:

When George Allen fell to Jim Webb in the Virginia Senate race, it opened up a slot in the upcoming Republican presidential primary: the role of the reliable longtime lawmaker who has no serious disagreements with the conservatives who make up the party's base.

That slot is moving closer to being filled by a former senator of Tennessee, Fred Thompson. The potential candidate is about "50–50" on running "because the polls have caught his eye," a source close to Mr. Thompson told National Review. ...

With Rudy Giuliani defending federal funding of abortions, that opening may have widened considerably in the last 24 hours.

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Video: Rudy stands by support for public funding of abortions; Update: McCain looks “tired and … cranky,” says Rudy
Allahpundit

He took that position in 1989 and by god he’s sticking to it. I’ve already written about his strategy in this vein before. Suffice it to say, it’s too late for him to flip-flop convincingly, and so, with his two rivals looking squishy in their own commitment to social issues, he figures he might as well position himself as a man of his word who’ll stand on principle. Because if he’s willing to do that for principles conservatives don’t like, he’s probably also willing to do it for principles that they do.

More interesting than the abortion comments is what he says at the end in response to the question about Peter Pace’s opinion of gays. Is he suggesting that it’s inappropriate, at least for Christians, to make personal moral judgments? Or just inappropriate for Christian politicians?

Needless to say, this isn’t going to hurt him in California. Click the image to watch.

Update: Captain Ed says it’s game over for Rudy.

Update: John Dickerson of Slate was in New Hampshire on Monday for a Rudy house party: ...

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Zogby N.H. poll: McCain 25, Giuliani 19, Romney … 25; Update: Rudy to social cons — love me for who I am
Allahpundit

It’s Zogby so the results are presumptively wrong, but compare them to the RCP numbers for New Hampshire and you’ll see they aren’t that wrong. Mitt’s the local boy up there and he’s riding a wave of good buzz right now from his fundraising numbers. He was only six points off the lead in the American Research Group poll conducted last month. Given Z’s usual margin of error, figure he trails McCain in reality by five points or so at the moment.

Emphasis on “at the moment.” Because he’s gone and said something that further damages his credibility as a supposedly committed, red meat conservative.

Ace thinks Rudy finished himself off yesterday with his abortion remarks, but this wish list from Gallup makes me wonder: ...

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Romney calls himself a longtime hunter 

BOSTON - In boasting about his lifelong experience as a hunter, Mitt Romney may have shot himself in the foot.

The Republican presidential contender has told audiences on several occasions, most recently this week in gun-savvy — and early voting — New Hampshire, that he has been a longtime hunter. But it turns out he has been on only two hunting trips.

Critics said it was the latest example of a White House aspirant willing to say anything to reach the Oval Office. ...

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Giuliani On Federally-Funded Abortions, Take 3
Ed Morrissey

It appears that Rudy Giuliani, intelligent man that he is, understands the damage he did to his efforts to connect with conservatives in his CNN interview yesterday. As Kathryn Jean Lopez posted at The Corner, Giuliani has started to climb down from his support of funding abortions with tax dollars: ...