In the kabuki that is signaling your intention to enter the Republican presidential nomination contest, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum have passed a key hurdle: Fox News has cancelled their contributor contracts, reports Politico's Ben Smith. Both moves do not come as a shock. Appearing on Fox News at the end of March, Gingrich said "we'll be running" in a month. Santorum has said he'll announce his candidacy "in the next few weeks" though he barely registers on national polls. Fox News had given Gingrich until May 1 to decide. With the deadline passed, the company cut him off and now may "intensify pressure on Mike Huckabee" who has his own show on the network, says Smith.

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John Hudson