Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama aren't the only presidential wannabes caught up in a war of words. On the GOP side, there's a nasty catfight brewing between Mitt Romney and- Sam Brownback? The Kansas senator and longshot presidential hopeful has played it nice on the campaign trail to date. But as pressure to break out of the pack or pack it in intensifies, Brownback has gone on the attack in recent weeks, repeatedly questioning Romney's conservative credentials on everything from agriculture policies to abortion.

Two weeks ago, Brownback issued a snarky (at least for him) press release proposing a new word for the dictionary: "Mitt-amorphasis." (Get it?) Brownback's definition: "A self-directed and self-contradictory cyclical process, occurring in even-numbered years, by which a Massachusetts politician transforms at will." Among the word's proposed synonyms, according to the Brownback campaign, was "John Kerry." Zing! Romney's camp did what anyone regarded as a first-tier presidential contender would do: They largely ignored the attacks. But that didn't stop Brownback, who has since issued at least two releases a week attacking Romney's "ocean of contradiction." Earlier this week, Brownback upped the ante, paying for a series of automated phone calls to Iowa voters questioning Romney's stance on abortion. "Mitt Romney is telling Iowans he is firmly pro-life," the message says, according to AP. "Nothing could be further from the truth." Among other things, the message mentions that Romney's wife, Ann, "has contributed money to Planned Parenthood." Calling the calls "despicable," Romney's campaign called on Brownback to apologize. (Brownback's campaign also paid for calls questioning fellow longshot Tom Tancredo's abortion position.)

Is Newt Gingrich running for president? The former House speaker has said he won't make a final decision about a campaign for the White House until this fall. But here's a big hint that Newt might be out of the game: GOP strategist Rich Galen, one of Gingrich's longest and closest advisers, announced this weekend that he's signed on as a senior advisor to former Sen. Fred Thompson, who is considering his own bid for the White House. "Assuming he gets into the race, I think Fred Thompson may well be the best combination of insider-outsider experience and possess the new kind of ideas that don't exist in either party," Galen told CNN, where he has appeared as an on-air political analyst. It's unlikely that Galen would jump to another candidate without Gingrich's blessing. Galen was Gingrich's top communications aide in the House and has been an unpaid adviser and friend since then. Last December, Galen appeared as a surrogate for a prospective Gingrich 2008 bid on a Washington panel organized by National Journal's Hotline to discuss the GOP presidential race. Indeed, the pair is so close that Galen has been considered a go-to guy for reporters looking to read the tea leaves about Newt's ambitions. Last week, Gingrich told the Associated Press that a Thompson bid would make him less likely to join the 2008 race. "If Fred Thompson runs and he does well, then I think that makes it easier for me not to run," Gingrich said. But as he prone to do, Newt still left the door open a crack, telling AP, "On the other hand, just given with you've seen with (John) McCain the last few months, how can you predict?" As for Thompson, it's anybody's guess at this point when the former Law & Order star will throw his hat in the ring. His advisers initially said he'd be in the race by mid-July, then pushed it back to August. Now rumors have Thompson entering the race by Labor Day- maybe. One thing's for sure: Fred's busy raising money for his exploratory bid--as certain a sign as any that he's really planning to run. He's scheduled to hold his first big-dollar Washington fundraiser next week.

Contributed by Jonathan Darman and Arian Campo-Flores

When Judi Giuliani referred to her "big testosterone-factor husband" in the pages of Harper's Bazaar in February, her remarks were widely ridiculed and seen as evidence that the former New York mayor's new wife might not be quite ready for prime time. But after Louisiana Sen. David Vitter, Giuliani's top Southern conservative ally, admitted he'd solicited prostitutes from the famed "D.C. Madam," Judi's description seems remarkably apt. The testosterone factor may be at play, but not in quite the way his wife intended--and it could wind up as one of the biggest impediments to Giuliani's winning the GOP nomination for the White House.