Here are some quick updates on the Presidential candidates:

* Tommy Thompson, undoubtedly toward the back of the GOP pack, launched his Presidential exploratory Web site. And to attract some attention, he has pledged to visit Iowa at least once every week.

* John McCain has cornered the market for top GOP donors in South Carolina — the site of his key defeat by George W. Bush in 2000.

* Some bad news for Tom Vilsack: he's enough of an anonymous figure even in his home state of Iowa that people mistake his successor as Governor for him.

* Bill Richardson is heading to Sudan, where he'll try to persuade officials to allow a peacekeeping force in Darfur — and have an ample opportunity to show off his credibility on foreign policy.

* Mike Huckabee's fifth book, From Hope to Higher Ground: 12 STOPS to Restoring America's Greatness, was released yesterday. It's a safe bet that it is a more campaign-related read than his previous release, Quit Digging Your Grave with a Knife and Fork : A 12-Stop Program to End Bad Habits and Begin a Healthy Lifestyle.

* Potential candidate Chris Dodd's Senate campaign site has a new feature: Asking readers to submit suggestions for new downloads to his iPod.

And on another note:

* Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., told the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel that he's open to the VP nomination. On the one hand, Salazar's presence would be a plus for attracting Latino voters, but on the other hand his open endorsement of Joe Lieberman's independent re-election bid would probably rankle the Democratic base if he were nominated.