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:
* The competition between Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D) and retired football player Lynn Swann (R) is heating up so much that different polls show different candidates in the lead. An IssuesPA/Pew Poll shows Swann pulling ahead of the incumbent, 35% to 29%, though undecided voters clearly make a sizable chunk of the poll. A Wall Street Journal/Zogby Interactive poll, meanwhile, shows Rendell up by five points.
* Kathleen “KT” McFarland hasn’t had much luck lately, but she’s still leading former Yonkers Mayor John Spencer in New York’s GOP senatorial primary. According to the latest Quinnipiac poll, McFarland is up, 35% to 22%, despite a series of recent controversies that should have soured her prospects. The Spencer campaign noted that the poll described McFarland as a “former Reagan administration official,” which Spencer aides said tipped the scales in her favor.
* Florida may be poised to shake up the presidential nominating calendar by moving the state’s primary up to just one week after New Hampshire. The initiative is a favorite of incoming Speaker of the Florida Assembly Marco Rubio (R), who said, “Florida is a socioeconomic microcosm of the United States, [and it] has very little voice in the selection of the nominees.” In 2004, Florida held its primary six weeks after New Hampshire, after 27 other states plus D.C. had already gone.
* On a related note, Utah is no longer happy with its spot on the calendar either. Several Utah officials, including Gov. Jon Huntsman (R), are pushing for an earlier date, as part of a drive to improve the significance of Western states.
* In Arkansas, both former Rep. Asa Hutchinson (R) and state Attorney General Mike Beebe (D) officially filed the paperwork this week to run for governor. Arkansas has a two-week filing period, which marks the official kickoff of Arkansas’ election season. Neither is expected to have a serious primary opponent, and recent polls show Beebe with a fairly significant lead.
* In Ohio, Rep. Deborah Pryce (R), a top Dem target this year, has a narrower-than-expected lead in a poll commissioned by her opponent, Franklin County Commissioner Mary Jo Kilroy (D). In the initial head-to-head match-up, Pryce was ahead of Kilroy, but only by a 44% to 41% margin, despite Pryce’s far broader name ID. Ohio’s 15th congressional district was one of the nation’s more competitive in 2004, at least at the presidential level, where Bush beat Kerry by just 2,000 votes.
* And in 2008 news, Wesley Clark fans will enjoy hearing that the retired general’s weekly podcasts, called ClarkCasts, are the most popular political podcasts in the country right now. ClarkCasts even top those of Sean Hannity, John Edwards, and Barack Obama. On a related note, Clark will deliver the Dems’ national radio address tomorrow.