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:
* Washington Times: “The Republican National Committee, hit by a grass-roots donors’ rebellion over President Bush’s immigration policy, has fired all 65 of its telephone solicitors, The Washington Times has learned. Faced with an estimated 40 percent falloff in small-donor contributions and aging phone-bank equipment that the RNC said would cost too much to update, Anne Hathaway, the committee’s chief of staff, summoned the solicitations staff and told them they were out of work, effective immediately.” Several of the sacked solicitors said donations had dropped off considerably due to Bush’s immigration policy.
* One of Rudy Giuliani’s principal talking points on the stump is that he, unlike his GOP rivals, can compete in the Northeast. The claim was undercut a bit yesterday, when a Siena College poll found that he trailed both of the Dems’ top two candidates, in his home state, by double digits. In New York, Clinton leads Giuliani 52% to 39%, while Obama leads the former mayor 50% to 40%.
* Speaking of Giuliani, the Huffington Post’s Tom Edsall (congrats on the new gig, Tom) explores the growing conservative network that has come together to defeat Giuliani’s presidential aspirations. “The early success of Rudy Giuliani’s presidential bid has provoked a groundswell of opposition from disparate forces including conservative Catholics, remnants of Pat Buchanan’s presidential campaigns and regional political operatives seeking to break into the Republican firmament.”
* John Edwards ran into a little trouble yesterday when he told an interviewer that he had read the classified October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate before voting to authorize force in Iraq. Edwards, before yesterday, has maintained that he never read the report, but had been briefed on it. Campaign aides later said the former senator misunderstood the question.
* Chris Dodd unveiled his third (!) television ad of the campaign season yesterday, with a new spot emphasizing his concern about global warming.
* And Wesley Clark appears to have missed the boat when it comes to launching a presidential campaign, but he’s still involved, speaking regularly with other candidates. “I haven’t said I won’t run,” Clark told Politico.com. “I think about running every single day.”