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:
* As part of the GOP gear-up to take on Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) next year, State Republican Party Treasurer Hiram Lewis IV threw his hat into the ring over the weekend. Lewis, an Army National Guard captain who served in Iraq, picked the second anniversary of the fall of Baghdad to announce his plans. This will be Lewis’ third attempt at a statewide campaign, after failing in a Senate primary in 2002 and the state attorney general race in 2004.
* Speaking of West Virginia, the National Republican Senatorial Committee claims to have polling data pointing to Byrd’s vulnerable position going into next year’s race. According to this admittedly biased source, Byrd led Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R) 52% to 42% in a hypothetical head-to-head match-up, which is more competitive than most expected.
* Sen. Barack Obama’s ability to generate support for his friends is proving to be quite impressive. In the first quarter of 2005, the rookie senator raised almost $1.5 million for some of his Dem colleagues up for re-election next year. In one particularly stunning instance, a letter to MoveOn.org members from Obama on behalf of Robert Byrd raised more than $500,000 — in just nine hours. Obama also helped raise money for Sens. Ben Nelson (Neb.), Bill Nelson (Fla.), Maria Cantwell (Washington), and Kent Conrad (N.D.), on top of support for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
* In a pitch to supporters than bordered on hysterical, New York GOP Chairman Stephen Minarik kicked off a national “STOP HILLARY NOW!” fundraising effort to thwart her 2006 Senate re-election bid over the weekend. “Stopping Hillary Rodham Clinton is the most important thing you and I can do as Republicans in the next two years,” the unhinged letter explains. “You could say it’s our duty as Republicans.” Minarik’s fund-raising letter, dated Friday, promises a Republican “truth squad” that will “monitor Hillary’s appearances and expose her lies.”
* Over the weekend, Iowa state Rep. Ed Fallon became the first Dem to announce a campaign for governor. Fallon, who said campaign finance reform would be among his top issues, also reached out to Hispanic voters be delivering portions of his speech in Spanish.
* And just to update an item from last week, Boston Herald op-ed columnist Charles Chieppo, who was hired by Gov. Mitt Romney’s administration promote its environmental policies, will no longer be writing for the conservative tabloid. Though the paper initially said it would continue to run Chieppo’s weekly column, a few hours later, Publisher Patrick Purcell announced the Herald “has decided to sever our relationship with Charles Chieppo.”