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Rich,
What do you think the Fred Thompson “boomlet” does to Newt’s timing? It seems to me that he needs to get out in front of this if he wants to have a chance with the conservatives. Newt was banking on no one in the top three bring acceptable to the conservative base. Then, by the end of the year, he would step into the breach as the conservative’s political savior. Now, Thompson appears to be within reach of that title. If Newt is really interested in the nomination, I think he has to move forward sooner rather than later.

ME: If Thompson were really to get in—odds still against it, I’d say—it clearly would hurt Romney and make the rationale for Newt’s candidacy much less obvious.