Chris Orr points out this Ambinder transcript from Hugh Hewitt’s radio show, in which the executive director of the NRLC lamely explains Fred Thompson’s supposed electability:

But he’s running strong in Nevada and South Carolina.

Oh, well, if he’s running strong in Nevada, let’s just declare him the winner now and save everybody some time and money.  O’Steen, the director, also kept coming back to Thompson’s national poll numbers, but relying on these is a major error.  I think my WWWTW colleague Lydia McGrew has the most convincing explanation for this endorsement:

The obvious, and probably the only, answer is this: Once you are the friend of the folks at NRLC, you are their friend forever.