Fred Thompson picked up two peculiar endorsements over the weekend, reports the Hotline, both from Missouri -- Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder and Speaker Pro Tem of the MO House Carl Bearden.

"Fred Thompson is the real deal, the closest thing to a natural we've had (or are likely to see) since Reagan," said Kinder, echoing the Reagan/Thompson analogy. He also cites Thompson's solid conservative credentials as well as his "cross-over appeal."

What to say about this? Ordinarily, endorsements from two unknown Missouri Republicans isn't that big of a deal (with apologies to Messrs. Kinder and Bearden). But, as the Hotline speculates, "either Thompson, or someone operating in his orbit, has started to solicit endorsements in the hope of either pushing Thompson into the race by sheer force of will, or to begin to build momentum towards a Thomson-endorsed presidential candidacy."

Indeed, National Review Editor Rich Lowry is sensing serious movement on the Draft Thompson front:

"Now, the odds seem to strongly favor him getting in. If I had to bet, I'd say he does it."

I imagine Lowry's basing his opinion on his sources, but from a common-sense perspective rarely does a draft movement get this kind of momentum without some prodding from the unannounced candidate himself. And one also doesn't pen an op-ed for the conservative RedState.com if he's just 50-50 on the matter. I'd say what Thompson wrote energized the conservative grassroots far more than what Sen. John McCain had to say in the Washington Post Sunday, which is not to malign what McCain wrote. It's just that all the energy out there seems to be with Thompson and whether he's the man conservatives want him to be. His RedState.com article gives them reason to believe.

The base's enthusiastic support for a Thompson candidacy also tempers fears that for fundraising reasons it's too late. In fact, I think that's nonsense. The Politico's Jonathan Martin has some thoughts yesterday that I think support this:

The empirical evidence -- namely the $15 million+ the '08 Dems raised online in the first quarter -- is compelling. Indeed, when it comes to using the web as both a fundraising and organizing tool, Dems and their liberal allies have clearly blown the Republicans and conservatives out of the water.

The reason for this is that the Democratic liberal base is pumped about its choices -- namely, John Edwards or Sen. Barack Obama (with Sen. Hillary Clinton picking up the establishment enthusiasm). There is no equivalent excitement coming from the right, and it shows in the GOP candidates' inability to generate Internet buzz. Perhaps that's because the possibility of a Thompson candidacy is stealing whatever buzz there is.

Consider, for instance, conservatives' melancholy at the present moment: The frontrunner has just said he thinks abortion is a constitutional right that deserves public funding; the self-described conservative in the race keeps getting reminders about the many ways he hasn't been conservative over his career; and the heir apparent has just had to rejigger his entire campaign.

Thompson of course couldn't have foreseen all these scenarios playing out at exactly the same time. But he waited, because, as he said, he wanted to see how "the lay of the land" would look in a few months. It looks pretty good right now.