I can only imagine that that poll would have been better for Romney if last week didn’t move from being about his money-raising ability back to flip-flopper from Massachusetts.

He’s going to have a real hard time ever breaking away from that, at least in the short term, if Fred Thompson gets in. And the short term matters because if Thompson’s rallying people and taking big donors (and little ones who are withholding at the moment), will Q2 look as good for Romney as Q1? Maybe money-wise …but with the conservative grassroots he wants to energize? Fred moves in on them if he gets in.

So as a Romney fan, I continue to casually float an early Thompson-Romney ticket. Solves Fred Thompson’s initial money and organization problems. They can get Rudy to be their secretary of Defense. John McCain as ambassador to Iraq (by putting someone of his stature there we emphasize how important we think it is to help Iraq succeed). John Bolton as secretary of State. Pat Toomey for Treasury. Santorum as DOJ. (Yes, I did those last two together on purpose. Permanently make peace over Pennsylvania on the Right.)

I’m thinking on HHS. Who would be PERFECT? I’m coming up with some fun ones, including Phyllis Schlafy.

And, of course, Ponnuru for SCOTUS.