"I don't think Hillary will have me."

— Former Republican presidential candidate Tommy Thompson, in response to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's question about whether he would want to serve in the next president's cabinet.

That "major announcement" that the Tommy Thompson campaign is promising on a conference call with reporters today at 3 P.M.?

It is not that Thompson is dropping out of the race. Rather, the announcement is about whether Thompson is participating in the Iowa straw poll.

"We are not dropping out of the race," Thompson spokesperson Rennick Remley tells us. "The conference call will be about the Ames straw poll."

MSNBC just reported that Tommy Thompson is planning a "major announcement" for today at 3 P.M.

Dropping out? Yesterday, CNN released a New Hampshire poll finding that of 304 people polled, exactly zero chose him.

Yesterday's GOP debate did offer one moment worth noting that truly was a rare occasion: A Republican said he was all for legal discrimination against gays — but then quickly backed off and apologized for it. More after the jump.

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It was like a scene from the Borat movie.

— Ha'aretz correpondent Shmuel Rosner, commenting on Tommy Thompson's recent remark to a Jewish group that making money is "part of the Jewish tradition."

"What I was referring to, ladies and gentlemen, is the accomplishments of the Jewish religion. You've been outstanding business people and I compliment you for that."

— GOP Presidential Candidate Tommy Thompson, quoted by Ha'aretz in an attempted apology for having earlier said that money-making is "sort of part of the Jewish tradition and I do not find anything wrong with that."

Here are a few updates on the movements of the Presidential candidates:

* Sen. Barack Obama is set to forgo public financing for both the primaries and the general election. Obama follows Sen. Hillary Clinton, former Sen. John Edwards, Sen. John McCain, and former MA Gov. Mitt Romney in opting out of federal matching funds.

* Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani will deliver the commencement speech at the Citadel military academy in South Carolina on May 5th.

* Despite his placement in the second-tier of Dem presidential candidates, CT Sen. Christopher Dodd led the pack in fundraising -- yes, including Hillary -- during the 4th quarter by raising $3 million over the last three months of 2006. Dodd's position as chairman of the Senate Banking Committee is thought to have brought increased donations from the financial-services industry.

* Two bloggers, Amanda Marcotte of Pandagon and Melissa McEwan of Shakespeare's Sister, recently hired by the campaign of former Sen. John Edwards are drawing fire from a conservative religious group, The Catholic League, over comments they made on their non-Edwards-related blogs before joining his campaign. Media Matters has a look at the inconsistent history of outrage by The Catholic League's president, William Donahue.

* Sen. John McCain has gained the endorsements of Ohio Rep. Stephen C. LaTourette and former Alabama state GOP chairman Winton Blount.

* Former MA Gov. Mitt Romney, Sen. Barack Obama, and former WI Gov. Tommy Thompson will each be traveling to Iowa this week. Romney will be in the state tomorrow, Thompson on Saturday, and Obama on Saturday and Sunday. Obama's visit will come on the heels of his official announcement of candidacy on Feb. 10.

* One of the biggest free agents left in New Hampshire, Bill Shaheen, the chairman of John Kerry's 2004 New Hampshire primary campaign and husband of former NH Gov. Jeanne Shaheen, was offered an unspecified campaign job when he met with Sen. Hillary Clinton in Washington, DC last week. Shaheen did not except immediately, but said he'd "make a decision in the near future." He will meet with Obama on Monday and has already fielded calls from Dodd, Edwards, and Sen. Joe Biden.

* Romney and Sen. Sam Brownback will address the Michigan Republican convention on Saturday while MN Gov. Tim Pawlenty will speak as a surrogate for John McCain. Pawlenty is the co-chairman of McCain's national campaign.

* Former IA Gov. Tom Vilsack blasted Senate Republicans yesterday for blocking a resolution critical of the Bush administration's Iraq policy and also criticized the non-binding resolution itself as "inaction."

* GOP Rep. Nathan Deal made it clear in an interview with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he's not jumping on the Mitt Romney endorsement train, but that he has warm feelings towards both former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and Rep. Duncan Hunter.

* Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, speaking at a press breakfast in DC yesterday, said he was optimistic that he had no where to go but up in the Republican primary. "When you’re in first place right now, there’s only one direction you can go, and it’s not a good one," he told reporters.

* Meanwhile, Huckabee will visit New Hampshire this Friday while NM Gov. Bill Richardson is scheduled to attend a Feb. 17 fundraiser for Concord City Democrats and Sen. Christopher Dodd is set to attend the Merrimack County Democrat's St. Patrick's Day dinner on March 17.

* Rep. Dennis Kucinich re-introduced the Department of Peace and Non-Violence Bill yesterday with 52 co-sponsors.

* Rep. Tom Tancredo is stepping down as the chair of the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus, which Tancredo has led since his first Congressional term in 1999.

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

* Former NYC Mayor Rudy Guiliani made two big hires: Former New Hampshire GOP chair Wayne Semprini will run Rudy's operation in the state and Rick Wiley, the executive director of the Wisconsin Republican Party is leaving his post to become the national deputy political director for Giuliani's exploratory committee.

* In his latest Roll Coll column, political handicapper Stuart Rothenberg says that the hype about of significant shift towards Democratic political dominance in the Mountain West "has overwhelmed the reality."

* After officially filing papers to form an exploratory committee today, former AR Gov. Mike Huckabee will head to Iowa for a two day swing through the state.

* Red Sox ace Curt Schilling will not run for John Kerry's Senate seat in 2008, but he will endorse John McCain's Presidential bid.

* Former MA Gov. Mitt Romney is in South Carolina today campaigning with Sen. Jim DeMint. In SC, Romney will attend an event hosted by former Gov. Jim Edwards and former Congressman Tommy Hartnett, who have endorsed him.

* On the heels of her heavily covered weekend trip to Iowa, Sen. Hillary Clinton met privately today with the board of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, a group with 1.3 million-members.

* Sen. Barack Obama smacked the Bush administration for its sluggish pace in rebuilding New Orleans while speaking at a Senate committee hearing in the embattled city. Addressing the committee, Obama remarked that "there is not a sense of urgency in this administration to get this done. You get a sense that will has been lacking in the last several months."

* And speaking of Obama, with more than 159,000 members, Obama's facebook group has more than 100 times more members than any other Democratic candidate.

* Documentary filmmaker Robert Greenwald, the director of Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War On Journalism, is now setting his sights on Sen. John McCain's Presidential ambitions by assembling clips of McCain for a series of two-minute Web videos that can be found here.

* Former NM Gov. Bill Richardson campaigned in Nevada over the weekend, while former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson campaigned in Iowa.

* Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, the Chair of the Democratic Governor's Association, announced the group's executive board today.

* Ex-GOP Rep. Jim Ryun announced over the weekend that he plans to run again in 2008 against Dem Nancy Boyda, who narrowly defeated him last year in an upset.

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.

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.

It's unfortunately a slow news day for Presidential candidates — most of them are back in Washington today, actually doing their jobs. But there's still some news popping up:

* Mitt Romney took his ceremonial "lone walk" last night, and Democrat Deval Patrick was sworn in today — making Romney officially the former Governor of Masschusetts.

* Hillary Clinton was upstaged at her swearing-in today by her husband, as Bill loudly glad-handed with reporters.

* Mike Huckabee's fifth book, From Hope to Higher Ground: 12 STOPS to Restoring America's Greatness, is being released today. 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.

* Tom Vilsack is still working hard to nail down his home state, appearing yesterday in Sioux City.

* Tommy Thompson, undoubtedly toward the back of the GOP pack, has pledged to visit Iowa at least once every week.

* 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.