Columbia Prepares For Thompson

I'm headed to South Carolina to attend Fred Thompson's inaugural fundraiser on behalf of South Carolina Republicans, so posting will be light today.

A sign that Thompson is serious about Iowa: he's hired Andrew Dorr, a well-regarded former political director for Rep. Jim Nussle, to be his Midwest political director. No word yet on whether Thompson will participate in the Ames straw poll or when he'll first set foot in Iowa.

Rep. Jennifer Dunn (R-WA) endorses Mitt Romney. (She's a centrist).

Not a huge fan of national polls at this point, but since this column has been accused of cheerleading for John McCain, it cannot resist linking to Charlie Cook's write-up of his latest national poll; McCain is tied for first with Giuliani.

The left's politics of grievance: John Edwards is raising money off Ann Coulter.

Yesterday, Jonathan told you that the folks who benefit from the status quo are attacking John personally because they don't want the country to hear his message.

And you know what happened when we called them out? The attacks started pouring in.

That same day, the Ann Coulter-wannabe Michelle Malkin blasted John on her blog. Fox News has been bashing him around the clock. And Coulter herself said, "if I'm going to say anything about John Edwards in the future, I'll just wish he had been killed in a terrorist assassination plot."

That's the third fundraising appeal in three days.