Gingrich to drop out of race next week

Newt Gingrich will officially suspend his bid for the presidency Tuesday in Washington, D.C., Yahoo News has confirmed through sources close to the campaign.

Gingrich, who was considered Romney's chief rival at the start of the official Republican primary season in January, won two states, South Carolina and Georgia. (He represented Georgia in Congress for two decades.) The former House Speaker said earlier this week he would reassess the future of his campaign based on his support in Delaware, a state he lost Tuesday in a landslide.

The former House Speaker will continue to meet with supporters this week in North Carolina before ending his candidacy next week.

Mitt Romney looks past the GOP primaries

Coming off a clean sweep of all five primaries up for grabs Tuesday, including Pennsylvania and New York, Mitt Romney kicked off his general election pitch, insisting the upcoming campaign will be about the "very different visions" he and President Obama have for the country.

Speaking to a crowd in Manchester, N.H., Romney said the country is suffering from the "failed leadership" and "faulty vision" of the current president and insisted "a better America begins tonight."

"Four years ago, Barack Obama dazzled us in front of Greek columns with sweeping promises of hope and change. But after we came down to earth, after the celebration and parades, what do we have to show for three and a half years of President Obama?" Romney said. "People are hurting in America. And we know that something is wrong, terribly wrong with the direction of the country."

Romney accused Obama not owning up to his missteps and for running a re-election campaign based on "diversions, distractions and distortions."

"That kind of campaign may have worked at another place and in a different time.  But not here and not now," Romney said. "It's still about the economy … and we're not stupid."

Notably, Romney did not specifically describe himself as the Republican nominee—in part because he has not amassed the 1,144 delegates he needs to officially clinch the nomination. However, the event left little doubt to how he views his campaign.

Romney took the stage with his wife, Ann, who promptly thanked "everybody" who had turned out to support her husband in the primaries. "Because of you a better America begins tonight," she added

Upon taking the mic, Romney echoed a similar sentiment.

"Thank you, America," Romney said. "After 43 primaries and caucuses, many long days and more than a few long nights, I can say with confidence--and gratitude--that you have given me a great honor and solemn responsibility.  And, together, we will win on November 6th."

Echoing speeches he has delivered across the country over the last week, Romney kept his focus largely on Obama, insisting the president is putting the country on a path "where our lives will be ruled by bureaucrats and boards, commissions and czars."

"We've already seen where this path leads," Romney said. "It erodes freedom. It deadens the entrepreneurial spirit. And it hurts the very people it's supposed to help."

Gingrich won’t drop out Tuesday

no matter what happens in Delaware, spokesman says.

Newt Gingrich hinted this week that his presidential campaign could come to an end soon, but regardless of what happens in Tuesday's five-state primary, Gingrich will not use his election-night speech to drop out of the race, a spokesman for his campaign told Yahoo News.

Gingrich told NBC News this week that he is basing the future of his campaign on his performance in Delaware, where he has invested resources in the primary. If Gingrich does poorly in Delaware, his campaign spokesman R.C. Hammond told Yahoo News, the former House speaker plans to "reassess with supporters" but won't immediately suspend his campaign.

In that scenario, "Gingrich will keep his campaign schedule in North Carolina but reassess with supporters whether or not there is a path forward," Hammond said in an email.

If, however, Mitt Romney scores a "razor thin win" in Delaware, a "conservative coalition" could form around Gingrich, Hammond said.

And if Gingrich wins, the campaign will press forward, full speed ahead.

"A win in Delaware builds financial and grassroots momentum going into North Carolina -- combined with the ABC news report that Winning our Future has $5 million to spend on TV in North Carolina could be the beginning of a chain of wins through DE, NC, KY, WV," Hammond said. "Then into a battle royal in Texas and California."

With Gingrich, anything could happen. A campaign staffer told Yahoo News that the people who work for Gingrich have little indication of what he will ultimately decide to do.

"He's the boss who could wake up tomorrow and decide it's all over," said the aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Democrats have a ‘one-in-three chance’ of winning

In what he called a "frank" interview Monday, House Speaker John Boehner, Republican from Ohio, said there's a "one-in-three chance" that Democrats could take control of the House of Representatives in the next election.

"I would say that there is a two-in-three chance that we win control of the House again," Boehner said during a Fox News interview Monday night, "but there's a one-in-three chance that we could lose and I'm being myself, frank."

Lawmakers, especially those in leadership positions, are rarely this candid about their thoughts on their party's odds.

Republicans won a majority in the chamber in 2010 after four years of Democratic control. Democrats need to net 25 seats to take back the House

Obama’s student loan push helps him court crucial young voters

Road trip! President Barack Obama escapes the stuffy confines of Washington on Tuesday, traveling on a two-day swing through major universities in the electoral battlegrounds of North Carolina, Colorado and Iowa. His mission: to push Congress to keep a lid on student loan costs—and reconnect with young voters who powered his historic 2008 campaign.

The campaign-style trip includes Obama's first appearance on "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon," in a segment taped Tuesday afternoon at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

At the policy level, Obama will champion legislation to keep interest rates on some popular student loans from doubling—from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent—which would tack on roughly another $1,000 each year in costs over the life of those loans, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said at the White House on Friday.

That jump, set to take effect July 1 unless lawmakers act, could force some families and individuals to put off college or forgo it altogether. It could also put a squeeze on recent graduates who have started to pay back what they borrowed but are caught in an ugly job market, as many remain unemployed or underemployed.

"We have an immediate crisis, so let's fix it right now," Duncan bluntly declared from the podium. "This has always enjoyed bipartisan support. We have to educate our way to a better economy. We know the jobs of the future are going to go to those folks with some higher education. And so to not do this together just doesn't make sense to me."

Bipartisan indeed: Presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney on Monday thumped Obama's "failed leadership on the economy" ... but came out firmly in favor of the proposal.

"Given the bleak job prospects that young Americans coming out of college face today, I encourage Congress to temporarily extend the current low rate on subsidized undergraduate Stafford loans," he said.

"Ultimately, what young Americans want and need is a new president who will champion lasting and permanent policy changes that both address the rising cost of a college education and get our economy really growing again," Romney said.

Both the Romney campaign and the Republican National Committee organized pre-emptive conference calls to assail Obama's record before he even sets foot in North Carolina. The RNC also released a Web video attempting to tie the president to a state Democratic Party scandal over alleged sexual harassment.

The onslaught aims to cripple Obama's efforts to re-engage young voters—those same 18-to-34-year-olds who handed out fliers, knocked on doors, gave money, organized and voted for Obama in droves in 2008.

And the Associated Press recently reported that 53.6 percent of bachelor's degree holders under 25 years old are either jobless or underemployed.

Senior administration officials, briefing reporters at the White House on Monday on condition that they not be named and not be quoted directly, acknowledged a drop-off in excitement with young voters and predicted that it would take hard work to build the right organization necessary to bring those supporters out. But they insisted they had always foreseen a tough election and predicted that Obama would still easily win that segment of the electorate.

So off the incumbent goes on a road trip—a taxpayer-funded spin because all of the events are billed as "official" rather than "political"—to three states that are expected to be up for grabs in November's election. The Democrats have made clear how important North Carolina will be this year: It's the site of the party's presidential nominating convention.

Obama's first stop on Tuesday will be the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The White House estimates that 160,000 students in North Carolina could be affected by higher loan interest rates unless Congress acts.

The second will be the University of Colorado at Boulder. The White House says 167,000 students in Colorado could see loan payments jump.

The president will also do a conference call with college and university student journalists—ensuring that his message reaches a national audience of young voters