Three new presidential polls of interest; Fred Thompson and the Iron Lady of Britain

First, the USA Today/Gallup national poll confirming the solidity of Thompson's second-place standing:

Giuliani leads the field at 28 percent, down 4 points from two weeks earlier. Thompson is second at 19 percent, up 8 points. McCain is at 18 percent, 1 point lower. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney is fourth at 7 percent, down 5 points.

Second, the latest Mason-Dixon poll in South Carolina shows Thompson solidly in first place over Guiliani -- 25% to 21%. Romney is a distant third at 11 percent, and McCain continues his plummet, falling to 7 percent -- barely ahead of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee at 5 percent.

Third, in the latest Rasmussen poll, prospective voters were asked about head-to-head matchups between Hillary Clinton and Fred Thompson, and between Clinton and Mitt Romney. Thompson lost a point against Clinton since May: it was 47%-44% then, and Clinton now leads 48% -43%.

Romney has dropped significantly against Clinton - it was 47%- 44% in May, and now Clinton has opened a 50% - 41% lead. Also interesting to note, in light of claims from the Romney camp that his national polling numbers are poor because people just haven't heard about him yet, are his latest personal Rasmussen numbers.

Rasmussen's polling indicates that respondents are increasingly familiar with him -- and yet his favorability rating dropped from 37% to 36%, while his unfavorable rating rose from 38% to 42%. All in all, his unfavorable to favorable gap rose from 1 percentage point to 6 percentage points -- apparently to know him is not necessarily to love him.

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Meanwhile, Fred Thompson, who is in the thick of things in spite of not being in the race, is off to London to visit the queen -- or at least someone whose understanding of how to wield power resembled (in her heyday) that of a real medieval queen.

Before meeting with Lady Margaret Thatcher and getting photos taken with her on Wednesday (we know that she is a fan of law and order -- unknown is whether she is a fan of "Law and Order,") he will deliver an address at the Policy Exchange, a conservative think tank based in London on "Strengthening the Transatlantic Alliance."

...we shall fight them on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender... until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.