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:
* A new national USA Today/Gallup poll shows the Democratic presidential race narrowing considerably over the last month. Hillary Clinton still leads, but her margin has been cut nearly in half. According to the results, published this morning, Clinton leads the field with 39%, followed by Barack Obama with 24%. The 15-point margin is still large, of course, but Clinton’s lead was 28 points in the same poll as recently as early November. John Edwards was third with 15%, and no other candidate was above 5%.
* The same poll also shows a Republican race very much in flux. Rudy Giuliani still leads the field, but his support has dropped considerably, and now stands at 25%. Mike Huckabee, fueled by the backing of religious right activists, has shot up to second place with 16%. John McCain and Fred Thompson are right behind them at 15% each, while Romney is fifth with 12%. No other candidate was above 5%.
* Push-polling on Mike Huckabee’s behalf in Iowa has been exposed as a project of a group called Common Sense Issues, which conceded its attack tactics yesterday: “The group’s executive director, Patrick Davis, dubbed the calls ‘personalized educational artificial intelligence,’ and admitted they are designed to promote Huckabee.” Huckabee denounced the calls, but Davis said he will not stop his efforts.
* On Sunday, the Clinton campaign went after Obama over an essay he wrote while in kindergarten. This morning, Clinton adviser Mark Penn told MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough that the press release was “serious,” but the kindergarten bullet-point was a “joke.” I really doubt that it was, but I get the sense the campaign is probably embarrassed about it now.
* Some evangelicals have complained that Fred Thompson hasn’t been nearly theocratic enough for their tastes, prompting the former senator to defend his religiosity on CNN yesterday: “‘As far as faith is concerned, I have not made any secret as to where I am. I am a Christian,’ Thompson said, noting that, while he doesn’t attend church while at home in McLean, Virginia, he did attend church with his mother when he visits in Tennessee.” He concluded, “I’m OK with the Lord, and the Lord is OK with me as far as I can tell.”
* As part of the Clinton campaign’s hyper-aggressive new style, the New York senator continued to go after Obama yesterday in Iowa, accusing him of being inexperienced, overly ambitious, uninformed, inattentive, and cowardly. The Obama campaign responded, “The truth is, Barack Obama doesn’t need lectures in political courage from someone who followed George Bush to war in Iraq, gave him the benefit of the doubt on Iran, supported NAFTA and opposed ethanol until she decided to run for president.”
* On a related note, the Obama campaign seems anxious to use Clinton’s latest round of attacks to boost his fundraising.
* On a more substantive note, Obama campaigned in Iowa yesterday, emphasizing what he sees as a need for a “Credit Card Bill of Rights” to “crack down on predatory credit card companies using deceptive practices to make big profits while driving families deeper into debt.”
* Rudy Giuliani is doing his best to cozy up to Abramoff-tainted activist Grover Norquist. The Americans for Tax Reform chief wrote to the former mayor, noting a recent letter he received from Giuliani. “The information you put in your letter certainly more than achieves the spirit and letter of the Americans for Tax Reform National Taxpayer Protection Pledge,” Norquist said.
* We won’t be able to watch it, but Iowa Public Radio will host a debate for Democratic candidates today in Des Moines. There will be no audience and no cameras, though NPR will stream the event online.