Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers:
* For the first time this year, Bill Clinton campaigned alongside Hillary Clinton yesterday, with a joint appearance at a rally in Iowa. The former president went so far as to tell the thousands of Democratic supporters on hand that his wife is better qualified to be president than he was when he first ran for the job.
* Speaking of Clinton, Sen. Tom Harkin’s (D-Iowa) wife, Ruth, endorsed the New York senator yesterday. Ruth has a long track record with the Clintons, having served as the director of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation in Bill Clinton’s administration.
* In a battle between third-tier GOP hopefuls, Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) lashed out at Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) yesterday, blasting the Colorado xenophobe for having accepted campaign donations from a founder of a Planned Parenthood chapter. “Given Tanton’s obvious ties to Planned Parenthood, Tom Tancredo should publicly denounce his ties to Tanton and should donate all previously accepted funds to an Iowa crisis pregnancy center,” said John Rankin, Brownback’s Iowa communications director. “How can pro-life Iowans believe Tom Tancredo’s commitment to life when he has accepted money from such a prominent abortion supporter?”
* Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore (R) will be pulling back from the presidential campaign trail for the next two weeks in order to have surgery on a detached retina.
* Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) released his Q2 fundraising totals this morning, reporting $2.4 million for the quarter, placing him a distant sixth in the Democratic money chase. For the record, here are the top six candidates’ totals for the April through June: Obama $32.5 million, Clinton $27 million, Edwards $9 million, Richardson $7 million, Dodd $3.2 million, and Biden $2.4 million. (Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel did not release fundraising estimates.)
* And in Virginia, former Gov. Mark Warner (D), who unexpectedly dropped out of the presidential race earlier this year, is reportedly still interested in seeking office, running either for governor in 2009, Senate in 2008, or possibly angling for the VP nod in the presidential race.