The big news from the presidential race so far today -- only a month and a half until the first primary; catch the fever! -- is that former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson has picked up what would seem to be a key endorsement. It seems just about confirmed now that on Tuesday, the National Right to Life Committee, one of the nation's most prominent antiabortion groups, will come out in favor of Thompson.

Now, for obvious reasons this would normally be an important endorsement. The antiabortion wing of the Republican Party is hugely influential within the party, and the blessing of one of the movement's major organizations should be a major boost for Thompson's campaign. The question is whether this will be enough to overcome the consensus about Thompson that his candidacy has been a major disappointment ever since he finally got around to officially announcing it; he's been dogged by a perception that he's ill-prepared, unenthusiastic about the race, even lazy. His polling numbers have been dropping steadily this fall, so it'll be interesting to see what, if any, effect this endorsement has.