Only a day after reports that Gingrich would put up a Web site seeking pledge money for a presidential campaign, an aide now says that he is backing off and will not run, after all.

"He will continue to bring the American people solutions to the challenges America faces through American Solutions, not as a candidate for president," said Gingrich spokesman Rick Tyler, in a phone interview with CNN.

Tyler said that Gingrich realized he could not run his American Solutions political action committee and form a presidential exploratory campaign at the same time.

Newt Gingrich is poised to enter the presidential contest on Monday with an interesting device: A self-made draft site.

The site will ask people to pledge money for his campaign if he were to run, and will lay out his ideas for the country.

And if he does officially declare, Gingrich will campaign in an unorthodox way, too. He'll skip the group debates, considering them to be useless pageants, and will instead challenge the others to one-on-one dialogues. Instead of sound-bite TV advertising, he'll mail DVD's to voters in the early primary/caucus states, in which he'll present his views to them in a lengthier format and ask for their support.

So is this for real? Gingrich is not actually forming an exploratory or "testing the waters" committee, so he can't directly fundraise — thus the pledge drive. Will this snowball into something bigger with GOP activists uncomfortable with their current choices?

"Fred Thompson has departed the world of television in order to enter the world of television."

It can now be said that Newt Gingrich has officially destroyed the Republican Party — on one college campus, at least.

The Associated Press reports that the College Republican chapter at the University of Vermont at Burlington has been decertified due to its inability to repay a loan from the student government. The expenditure that necessitated said loan and thus drove them to financial oblivion?

A speaking fee for a visit by Newt Gingrich in October of 2005.

It hasn't been disclosed just how high Newt's fee was, but apparently it was high enough to help put this little Republican club out of business. Here's hoping they at least got a good speech out of him.

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch's off-again, on-again romance with the Clintons looks like it may be...at least somewhat off again. According to The Australian, Murdoch -- who had reportedly been wooed by Hillary into a detente of sorts despite the fact that his media empire had gone after the Clintons for years -- described the former First Lady a "very intelligent, very considerable lady" but also added that she's "divisive" and "calculating."

When his interviewer remarked that he didn't have a clear picture of Murdoch's opinion of Hillary, the mogul answered: "Nor do I."

Interestingly, Murdoch also called on Newt Gingrich, of all people, to run for President. Why? "I think he would lift the debate," Murdoch said. "He would make all the primaries a lot more serious."

Here are some updates on the movements of the Presidential candidates (plus one House '08 item):

* Speaking to activists in Iowa yesterday, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney conceded that the Iraq war has been poorly managed, but refused to go against President Bush's current plan for the war.

* Speaking of Romney, he has been named the keynote speaker at a Lincoln Day dinner jointly sponsored by two Republican county committees in New Hampshire.

* Republican Minnesota state Sen. Dick Day has filed papers to challenge freshman Rep. Tim Walz (D-01) in 2008. Walz, an Afghanistan vet, beat incumbent Gil Gutknecht this past November in what many considered an upset.

* Sen. Barack Obama's fundraising practices -- and how they mesh with his call for higher fundraising standards -- come under scrutiny in the Chicago Sun Times.

* Did someone say "rock star"? Obama's Monday event at the University of New Hampshire is sold out despite being held in a gymnasium with a 3,500 person capacity.

* A bill being considered by the New Hampshire state Legislature is is meant to solidify the secretary of state's ability to schedule New Hampshire's primary -- traditionally the first in the nation -- before the Nevada caucuses.

* Sen. Hillary Clinton has hired New Hampshire Democratic Party executive director Nick Clemons as her state director. Clemons supervised the political and field operations that successfully gained two House seats for the Dems in 2006 and was the state director in New Hampshire for the Kerry-Edwards campaign in 2004.

* In other Clinton hiring news, former Iowa Democratic Party communications director Mark Daley will serve as her communications director in New Hampshire.

* On the campaign trail today, Hillary Clinton is speaking in New York City, Sen. Christopher Dodd is in Florida to address the National Association of Home Builders' Board of Directors, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich is the keynote speaker at the TD Ameritrade Partnership 2007 National Conference in San Diego, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is speaking to business leaders in New Hampshire and Mitt Romney is speaking at the Republican Party executive committee meeting in Alabama.

* Former Sen. John Edwards recieved a positive reaction at a crowded International Longshoremen's Association Hall in Charleston, South Carolina where he spoke yesterday about his health care plan and the need to withdraw from Iraq. Also in South Carolina, Mitt Romney fielded questions about abortion this morning when he spoke to a crowd of 100 in Anderson.

* Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is on course to have 14 New York City fundraisers in the bag by March 14, according to Ben Smith.

* The 2008 Presidential ad blitz is about to begin and far earlier than in previous elections due to the lack of a White House incumbent running and the gobs of cash in the race.

* New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said in a foreign policy address yesterday that the United States must reduce its stock of nuclear weapons, close Guantanamo Bay, and dramatically cut energy use in order to take the lead on many global issues. Richardson is both a former Secretary of Energy and ambassador to the United Nations.

* Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee announced today that that New Hampshire State School Board member Fred Bramante and former City Chair of the Manchester Republican Committee Cliff Hurst will serve as the New Hampshire Co-Chairs of his 2008 presidential exploratory committee.

* Rep. Duncan Hunter will next be in New Hampshire from Feb. 19-21.

* Speaking in Connecticut yesterday, former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack said he "can bring a degree of leadership" to the Presidential race while discussing his plans for Iraq, health care, education, and the environment.

* A fundraiser for Rep. Tom Tancredo in Greenwood Village, Colorado on Feb. 25 will be hosted by conservative talk radio hosts Peter Boyles and Robert "Gunny Bob" Newman.

Check out this video of Wolf Blitzer interviewing Tom DeLay about the GOP Presidential field. DeLay has very harsh words for Rudy Giuliani and John McCain. On Rudy: "I can't vote for somebody that's for abortion. I never have, and I never will." On whether Rudy opposes gay marriage: "Now he does. He didn't just a year ago." On McCain: "I don't think he'll get very far, because he does not reflect the vast majority of the party ... on many issues." To watch the video, click here.

Here are few updates on the movements of the Presidential hopefuls (and others, too):

* Former Vice President Al Gore is expected to announce a series of concerts "bigger than Live Aid" tommorow that will seek to raise awareness about climate change. The concerts will take place on July 7 in seven cities including London, Washington DC, Shanghai, Rio de Janeiro, Cape Town and Kyoto.

* Sen. John McCain will make his first 2007 trip to Iowa next weekend. McCain will also travel to South Carolina on Feb. 18 while his wife, Cindy McCain travels to New Hampshire around the same time in his place. Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former MA Gov. Mitt Romney will also visit South Carolina during the following week. A straw poll of SC Republicans set for March 1st, which is expected to draw 2,000 people, could explain why the GOP frontrunners are all visiting the Palmetto state so close to each other.

* CNN will host a Democratic debate in Nevada on November 4th, 2007.

* The New Mexico attorney general issued an opinion today that Gov. Bill Richardson's fundraising for the Democratic Presidential primary does not conflict with a state ban on fundraising during the legislative session.

* Sen. Hillary Clinton will fundraise in San Fransisco on Feb. 23, charging $250 a head.

* John Edwards is holding a town hall meeting in South Carolina today to discuss his universal health care proposal, Mitt Romney is making various stops across Iowa, Rudy Giuliani is fundraising in New Jersey, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich to the World Money Show in Florida and both Chris Dodd and Bill Richardson are speaking in Washington, DC.

* Meanwhile, Giuliani will be making various stops in California in the days ahead as he seeks to broaden his fundraising base beyond the Tri-State area, which accounts for three-fourths of the money he has raised.

* Sen. Joe Biden will make his first trip to Iowa as an announced candidate on Feb. 16.

* Ohio state Sen. Eric Kearney is organizing a fundraiser for Sen. Barack Obama in Cincinnati on Feb. 26 that will charge between $100 and $2,300 per ticket. Kearney's wife, Jan-Michele Kearney, was in Obama's class at Harvard Law School and the couple attended Obama's wedding.

* When former AR Gov. Mike Huckabee visits New Hampshire on Friday, he will focus on fiscal policy with special attention paid to defending himself against the anti-tax Club for Growth, who released a 5-page report critical of Huckabee's record on taxes and government regulation as Governor of Arkansas after he decided to explore a Presidential run.

* Rep. Dennis Kucinich began distributing a 15-minute campaign DVD after his Feb. 2 speech before the Democratic National Committee. The Cleveland Plain Dealer has the video here.

* Sen. Sam Brownback has won the endorsement of grammy award-winning contemporary Christian singer/songwriter Michael W. Smith, who will act as a surrogate for the campaign.

Here's a quick look at the movements of the Presidential candidates:

* Barack Obama has a new policy in the aftermath of Fox News' decision to broadcast the phony madrassa story: He's not talking to their reporters.

* Hillary Clinton is following up last weekend's Iowa trip with a campaign stop in New Hampshire this weekend. Hillary will visit to Concord High School on Saturday and will meet with Democratic activists in Keene on Sunday -- her first trip to New Hampshire in ten years.

* John McCain has just announced via press release the support of all the state legislators in New Hampshire's Coos County, the northernmost and least populated county in the state. Oh, and he just so happens to have made the announcement the day before a scheduled trip there by Mitt Romney.

* While campaigning in Iowa, The Des Moines Register reports, Mike Huckabee put forth a position not often seen from Republican candidates: Restoring music and art funding in public schools. He also said that while he supports building a fence along the Mexican border, he would not deport illegal immigrants living in this country, but would instead make them pay a fine. That's what passes for compassionate conservatism these days, we guess.

* Sam Brownback — deviating from his usual campaigning on social conservative issues — said during an Iowa visit that he would like to focus on issues with wider consensus, such as human rights, climate change and poverty, The Des Moines Register reports. "The political discourse automatically goes to the most difficult issues, and then we can't talk about them," Brownback said.

* Mitt Romney's campaign has announced the support of Jim Bopp, the general counsel for the National Right to Life Committee, further honing Romney's credentials with social conservatives.

* John McCain — whose moderate stances on campaign finance and immigration have caused friction with hard-line House conservatives — has unveiled his campaign's House whip team in a press release today. The whips for campaign are: Fred Upton of Michigan, Spencer Bachus of Alabama, John Shadegg of McCain's home state of Arizona, John Shimkus of Illinois, Mark Kirk of Illois, and Dan Lungren of California. McCain will be playing catch-up with Mitt Romney for House support, as Romney has already attracted extensive support, including former Speaker Dennis Hastert.

* The New Hampshire Union Leader reports that George Pataki, on a campaign stop in the state, expressed his skepticism of troop escalation in Iraq: "I oppose sending more troops into Baghdad in the midst of the sectarian civil conflict between Sunni and Shia before the al-Maliki government shows its intent and ability to fight both radical religious extremes equally."

* John McCain has rolled out some newly-won support from Romney's original home state of Michigan -- he's earned the endorsements of former State House Speakers Chuck Perricone and Rick Johnson.

* Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich will both be addressing a summit of about 50 House conservatives this weekend in Baltimore, according to the AP.

Here are a few quick updates on the Presidential candidates and their movements:

* Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney traded barbs yesterday over Hillary's slam of the President over the weekend. Hillary demanded that the President extricate the troops from Iraq rather than passing the war on to his successor. Romney hammered her yesterday while speaking in South Carolina, and Hillary's rapid response team yesterday struck back. Expect much more of this.

* Hillary, meanwhile, has enlisted a new senior spokesperson, Mo Elleithee, who is a veteran of many national campaigns including Bill Bradley's in '00 and Wesley Clark's in '04.

* Draft Newt! A former aide to Newt Gingrich has launched a new effort to draft him for a Presidential run. Gingrich has said that he won't make an '08 decision until Labor Day.

* The Romney campaign is trumpeting the news that it's hired former Iowa House Speaker Brent Siegrist and former First Congressional District candidate Brian Kennedy as advisers to his exploratory committee.

* Sen. John McCain's campaign announced that Dax Swatek is joining the team as a senior advisor to the exploratory committee in Alabama. Swatek recently served as general consultant and campaign manager for Gov. Bob Riley's reelection campaign.

* Speaking at Wake Forest University yesterday, former Sen. John Edwards acknowledged that he may have been too inexperienced when he ran for President in 2004.

* Tom Vilsack's aides announced that he met his 2006 fundraising goal by raising $1.1 million between Nov. 6 and Dec. 31.

* Sen. Chuck Hagel,a rumored '08 candidate, has the least cash-on-hand of the 33 Senators up for reelection in 2008, according to his most recent campaign finance filings.

* Rep. Duncan Hunter spoke in New Hampshire yesterday, focusing on national security, border control, and trade.

Great Moments In Fox News Dept. ... That cultural black hole of cable news, where serious issues and the trivial collide, has just sucked in an innocent victim named Newt Gingrich. While being interviewed by Greta Van Susteren a few days ago, Gingrich was asked about an all-important issue: the public feuding between Rosie O'Donnell and Donald Trump. A flabbergasted Newt, shocked that he was being asked to "admit or deny" following the gossip — he has not — summed up his feelings: "I think it's a sign the country's desperately trying to avoid thinking about Iraq or George Bush." Pay attention, because Election Central won't be saying this too often: Right on Newt! To watch the video, click here.

Here are some updates on the movements of the Presidential candidates:

* Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani has just hired a consulting firm with ties to Karl Rove, Olsen & Shuvalov, to assist with his exploratory committee.

* Sen. Sam Brownback is set to make his bid for President official in a formal announcement from Topeka, KS on Saturday.

* Former Sen. John Edwards will speak in Iowa City on Saturday about Iraq and other public concerns.

* While both Sen. John McCain and former MA Gov. Mitt Romney held cocktail receptions for fellow Republicans at the RNC's winter meeting on Thursday, former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani was no where to be seen at the annual gathering of GOP movers and shakers.

* Rev. Jesse Jackson, who ran for President in 1988, told CNN that he is all, but certain to endorse Barack Obama in the 2008 Democratic primaries.

* Former WI Gov. Tommy Thompson will be attending events and fundraisers in Nebraska today before heading to Iowa tomorrow to eat pizza with some College Republicans.

* Former IA Gov. Tom Vilsack is attending events in New Hampshire today while Sen. Christopher Dodd will campaign throughout the state's Southern Tier tomorrow.

* Former MA Gov. Mitt Romney will head to Israel next week to speak at a conference on Israel's national security while former Speaker Newt Gingrich and Sen. John McCain will both address the conference via satellite.

John Edwards and Newt Gingrich may be trailing in their respective Presidential fields, but there's one place where both candidates are running strong: North Carolina. Today's News Observer reports that a new poll by the Raleigh-based Public Policy Polling shows that among Democrats, native son John Edwards holds a solid lead with 29%, with Hillary Clinton second at 16% and Barack Obama essentially tied with Clinton at 15%. Meanwhile, on the Republican side, Rudy Giuliani and Southerner Newt Gingrich are statistically tied, with Rudy at 30% and Newt at 29%, followed by John McCain at 22% and Mitt Romney with 6%. North Carolina and a slew of other states will host a primary for both parties on February 5, 2008.

From Ned Lamont to Macaca, the internet is clearly gaining in importance with every new campaign season, so we here at Election Central thought it might be helpful to compile a list of blogs covering the 2008 presidential election on the local level. We've pulled together blogs ranging from professional newspapers covering the primaries in their state to lone individuals supporting their candidate of choice. Each offers a unique perspective on the dynamics of the already burgeoning race for the White House in 2008. Take a look.

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Some updates on the candidates and their movements:

* John Edwards held a town meeting today in New Hampshire at a Porsmouth elementary school — and with more than 800 people showing up, about a quarter of them had to stand outside.

* Tom Vilsack's campaign has scheduled campaign appearances next week — but they're in his home state of Iowa. He'll be working hard to nail down his home state, as current polling shows him trailing.

* Hillary Clinton is on vacation with her husband in the small Caribbean country of Anguilla. She has said she'll make a decision on whether to run after New Year's Day.

* Mike Huckabee, commenting on when he might enter the race, said, "I'm not on anybody else's clock when it comes to making an announcement."

* Barack Obama is on vacation in Hawaii with his family, staying away from the press while he contemplates a final decision about his potential candidacy.

* Mitt Romney is also on vacation with his family, at a Utah ski retreat, making a final decision with his family.

* Newt Gingrich will go to Florida in February to be the keynote speaker for the annual Lincoln-Reagan Dinner for the Republican Party of Lee County (Fort Myers).

What are they going to announce and when are they going to announce it? There are so many potential Presidential candidates out there that it's easy to lose track of who's announcing an official candidacy and when. Here's a quickie rundown on the candidates and their announcement timetables.

* Hillary Clinton confirmed to reporters that she will make her announcement after New Year's Day.

* John McCain is expected to officially roll out his campaign in early February — but he already has an exploratory committee site up and has made extensive staff hires for his campaign.

* Barack Obama is on vacation in Hawaii, where he's reportedly making up his mind, and he's expected to unveil his 2008 plans shortly after New Year's Day. Nonetheless, though Bob Novak reports that the answer is already a firm "Yes."

* Mitt Romney will announce his official candidacy as soon as the week of January 8th, according to an adviser. He will set up his exploratory committee just after New Year's Day.

* Rudy Giuliani already has an exploratory committee site up. Though he lags behind his rivals in organization and is staying mum on the timeline of his announcement, he is giving a big speech in New Hampshire next month and is reaching out to Iowa caucus activists.

* John Edwards will reportedly kick off his campaign by the end of the year, starting his announcement tour in New Orleans's Ninth Ward, to highlight the problems of poverty in America.

* Sam Brownback says he will announce next month whether he will run — but already has an exploratory committee and a "Sam Brownback for President" web site.

* Newt Gingrich says he might not announce his plans until as late as Labor Day 2007, the idea being that he'll have plenty of time this way to see whether one of the frontrunners has it sewn up by then.

* Mike Huckabee says he will announce his plans after leaving office as Governor of Arkansas in Janurary.

* Joe Biden is telling anyone who will listen that he's already stated -- frequently, definitely, unequivocally -- that he's officially running for President.

* Tom Vilsack, meanwhile, is the only other candidate to officially announce; he held a campaign kick-off ceremony earlier this month in Iowa.

* Chris Dodd is expected to announce his 2008 plans next month.

Okay, here it is: We've just compiled our massive Election Central chart of every single staff member that's been hired on every one of the 2008 Presidential campaigns. You'll probably never hear the vast majority of them quoted, and will rarely see their names in print, if at all. But they are the ones who will largely determine -- through thousands of choices large and small -- what the 2008 Presidential race will be like. They'll help set the course of the campaign's larger narratives and subplots alike. They'll get the credit if their candidate soars -- and take the blame if he or she sinks. So you should know who they are. We'll be updating the list constantly, with every new hire, so check back whenever you like. And if we've missed anyone, let us know. Meet all of them right after the jump.

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If you want to know whether or not Newt Gingrich is running for President, well, you're going to have to wait awhile to find out. In an interview yesterday on Meet the Press, Gingrich said that if he enters the Presidential race, he'll do so late and only if none of the current GOP frontrunners appear to have the nomination locked up. From his interview with Tim Russert:

GINGRICH: Romney’s had a good year. He’s emerging as a serious player. Giuliani is wildly popular for national security reasons. John McCain has built a base for years of hard work. If one them seals it off by Labor Day, my announcing now wouldn’t make any difference anyway. If none of the three having from now to Labor Day can seal it off, the first real vote is in 2008. And there’s plenty of time in the age of television and e-mail between Labor Day and 2008.

Gingrich noted that both John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan announced their candidacies late and confirmed to Russert that he wouldn't announce his plans until September.

Newt Gingrich is getting an early start on appealing to the Christian Right in preparation for a prospective Presidential bid — and he's doing it with the invaluable help of Fox News. The network is set to run a special hosted by Gingrich called "One Nation Under God — Religion and History in Washington, D.C." airing this weekend. Fox is running an ad touting the program, promoting a central place for religion in the country's politics, and featuring footage of Ronald Reagan. The ad goes on by asking, "why are classrooms, courtrooms and even our government fighting to force God out of public life?" The ad for Newt's show was awfully similar to a political ad for him. Really, the only thing missing from it was a disclaimer: "I'm Newt Gingrich, and I approved this message." To watch the ad, click here.

"It's a two-way contest between McCain and Romney."

—Rich Galen, strategist for Newt Gingrich, admitting his candidate doesn't stand a chance yesterday at a forum of GOP strategists. Galen spoke of Gingrich's potential role as a candidate who could pitch ideas and affect the debate, but had little optimism about an actual victory.

As Election Central reported yesterday, potential GOP Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich is hard at work trying to out-hawk John McCain by suggesting that our new prescription for success in Iraq should be "victory or death." Now Gingrich has done it again: He's told an audience of power brokers in the key primary state of New Hampshire that we should be re-examining free speech in the age of terrorism, lest we "lose a city" to the terror threat. From the Manchester Union Leader:

Incidentally, anyone wanting to know whether Gingrich will run for President will have to wait nearly a year to find out. In a pre-speech interview with the Union Leader, Gingrich revealed that he won't make a decision about running until September 2007.

Just what exactly is Newt Gingrich's game plan as he tests the waters for a White House campaign? His latest column in Human Events suggests he may be trying to out-hawk John McCain, who's called for additional troops to be sent to Iraq, for the designation of über-hawk in preparation for a possible GOP primary. Gingrich pre-emptively criticizes the Baker-Hamilton Commission, then goes on to bring up the fact that things looked grim for George Washington during the American Revolution, too. He then asks:

Imagine there had been a Baker-Hamilton Commission — the group charged with assessing our options in Iraq — advising Washington that cold Christmas Eve. What "practical, realistic" advice would they have given him?

Gingrich also invokes the password famously used by Washington and his men as a prescription for success in Iraq: "Victory or death." And just in case you were wondering whether he's serious, Gingrich ends the piece by promoting an upcoming book-tour appearance: "I will be in the 'Live Free or Die' state of New Hampshire today and tomorrow talking about, among other things, my new book, Rediscovering God in America."