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 USAT/Gallup poll shows the Democratic primary race all tied up in New Hampshire: “In the poll, Clinton and Obama are tied at 32%-32%, with Edwards at 18%. No other candidate breaks into double digits. Counting only those who say their vote is certain, Clinton narrowly leads Obama, 20%-18%. Edwards is backed by 10%.”
* The same poll shows a Republican race in flux as well. Mitt Romney still leads, but his margin is shrinking: “Romney leads McCain, 34%-27%. Including only those whose votes are set, Romney’s lead narrows to 19%-15%, within the survey’s margin of error of +/- 5 points. Effectively tied for third place are former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, at 11%, and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee and Texas Rep. Ron Paul, each at 9%.” USAT adds that more than four in 10 voters in each party “say they may change their minds before the Jan. 8 primary.”
* Strategic Vision, a Republican pollster, has new numbers on the Iowa caucuses today. It finds Obama leading the Dems’ race with 30%, followed by Clinton and Edwards, who had 27% each. Among Republicans, Huckabee still leads with 31%, followed by Romney with 25%, and Fred Thompson with 16%.
* Get ready for a new round of Bloomberg rumors: “New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel have been conducting regular, private phone conversations over the past few months in an effort to “feel each other out” for a possible presidential run, sources have told the Huffington Post…. Sources with knowledge of the conversations say they usually occur every few weeks and always are done in private. As such, the topics of discussion remain unclear. But one high-ranking aide confirmed that they have discussed Hagel joining the presidential campaign should Bloomberg choose to run.”
* John McCain unveiled his own Christmas campaign commercial, but unlike Huckabee, he featured a cross in his ad blatantly, instead of obliquely: “‘One night, after being mistreated as a POW, a guard loosened the ropes binding me, easing my pain,’ McCain narrates in the 30-second spot. ‘On Christmas, that same guard approached me, and without saying a word, he drew a cross in the sand.’ The ad uses grainy footage to re-enact the moment as a man, off screen, draws a cross in the dirt using a twig.”
* Chris Dodd is on the air with a new ad, hitting one of his key strengths: “Dodd’s new ad is called ‘Together,’ but it’s really more about setting him apart in terms of experience. In the spot, which starts running statewide in Iowa this Thursday, the Connecticut Democrat takes digs at both his rivals for the Democratic nomination and President Bush on the experience question. ‘Some people say that I have too much experience to run for President,’ Mr. Dodd says to open the no-frills spot. ‘But the more you hear my opponents, the more you wonder whether they have enough.'”
* CNN: “Just one day after a challenge from presidential rival John Edwards to commit to raising the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton announced that she had already introduced legislation to do just that. ‘With stagnant wages and skyrocketing costs for healthcare, energy and college, working families in America need a break. That is why yesterday I introduced legislation to raise the minimum wage to $9.50 by 2011, and link the minimum wage to Congressional pay raises after that,’ said Clinton in a Thursday statement. The senator said the measure was ‘the first bill ever to call for a $9.50 minimum wage.'”
* The Hill reports that the Clinton campaign organized a conference call yesterday so that some of her House supporters could go after Obama on his “present” votes in the state Senate: “Democratic Reps. Anthony Weiner (N.Y.), Joseph Crowley (N.Y.) and Stephanie Tubbs Jones (Ohio) all joined Clinton adviser Howard Wolfson on the call to hit Obama for the number of ‘present’ votes he cast while in the Illinois state Senate…. ‘He took what many of us in public life would say is the easy way out,’ Weiner said.” I really wish the campaign wouldn’t do this.
* Dems are still leading Republicans in fundraising: “In financial reports filed today, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee reported raising $4.1 million in November, compared to the $2.7 million raised by the National Republican Congressional Committee. The DCCC now has $30.7 million cash on hand, significantly more than the $2.3 million banked by the NRCC…. On the Senate side, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee raised $4.1 million in November and now has $25.5 million cash on hand. The National Republican Senatorial Committee raised $2.3 million, and banked $10.4 million at the end of the month. The DSCC still has $2 million in debt, while the NRSC has no outstanding debt.”