Fred Thompson may have started his presidential campaign late, but he is the first candidate in either party to come out with solid plans to reform Social Security and immigration. And while most candidates have called for increasing the size of the military, Thompson laid out a detailed plan to achieve that end in a Tuesday speech at the Citadel Military College. On these issues, Thompson has set a standard for specificity, conservatism, and soundness that we would like to see the other Republican candidates measure up to.

Mitt Romney casts himself as tough on illegal immigration in a new ad in which he says that, as Massachusetts governor, "I authorized the State Police to enforce immigration laws." He doesn't mention that his order never took effect. It came in the closing days of his administration and was rescinded by his successor, as we wrote back in August.

He also promises, "As president, I'll . . . cut funding for sanctuary cities." Maybe so, but as governor he took no action against several such towns in his state.

We find Romney misleading on both counts.

Mitt Romney has extended his lead in the Iowa Republican Presidential Caucus for 2008 and three candidates are virtually tied for second place.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of the race shows Romney with support from 29% of Likely Caucus Participants. Trailing the frontrunner by thirteen percentage points is Mike Huckabee who enjoys support from 16%. In a virtual tie for second with Huckabee are Rudy Giuliani at 15% and Fred Thompson at 14%.

Presidential hopeful Fred Thompson has soared to a nearly 2-to-1 lead over his closest Republican rival in the latest statewide poll.

In survey results announced Wednesday by Strategic Vision, the former U.S. senator from Tennessee led Rudy Giuliani, 39 percent to 20 percent.

Thompson added 4 percentage points to the advantage he enjoyed over the former New York mayor in a Strategic Vision poll taken last month.

All the other Republican candidates are in single digits.

Like many Americans, it has been a long time since I%u2019ve felt that I could trust a presidential candidate to respect our Constitution, defend our borders, reduce the burdens of government on our families, and restore that uniquely American vision of individual freedom - and who at the same time has the natural ability to reach the millions of voters who feel that neither party stands for these principles any longer... For the first time in 20 years, I believe that such a candidate has stepped forward. And I am here today to pledge my whole-hearted support for Fred Thompson%u2019s candidacy for President of the United States.

HUMAN EVENTS%u2019 presidential preference poll of American conservatives found that former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson leads the competition for conservative support with 23% of the participants selecting him over the other candidates. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee tied for second with 19%, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney came in third at 13% and Arizona Sen. John McCain -- in what is probably a direct result of his stance on amnesty for illegal aliens -- came in dead last at 2.1%.

So now the UN wants to disarm civilians? Where was the UN when the massacres in Rwanda occurred? What did the UN do to protect the victims of ethnic massacres in Bosnia? Disarming civilians under the guise of international human rights law will only lead to more such genocides by ensuring that civilians can never defend themselves! It would be funny if it weren%u2019t so perverse.

1) Fred Thompson (72.0)
2) Duncan Hunter (37.5)
3) Rudy Giuliani (33.0)
4) Mitt Romney (25.0)
5) Mike Huckabee (24.5)
6) John McCain (-13.0)
7) Tom Tancredo (-15.5)
8) John Cox (-38.0)
9) Alan Keyes (-41.5)
10) Ron Paul (-65.5)