Any last-minute presidential candidates now have a firm deadline to meet. New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner has selected November 2 as the filing deadline to get on the ballot for the state's primary — meaning that if Newt Gingrich or Al Gore decide to get in, they better do it before then.

It's still unclear when the actual primary will be, though. Gardner has a unique latitude among state election officers in setting the dates, and he has declined to pick that one yet so as to maintain his own leverage and head off any state trying to leapfrog over New Hampshire.