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:
* Maybe Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney should have waited until after his re-election campaign to start making presidential moves. A new poll shows only 33% of state voters believe Romney deserves a second term, a 10-point drop since January. In a hypothetical match-up against state Attorney General Thomas Reilly (D), Reilly leads 44% to 36%.
* Speaking of gubernatorial re-election numbers, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D) is in far better shape. A new Quinnipiac poll shows the incumbent with double-digit leads over all of his potential GOP rivals, including retired football player Lynn Swann (48-35), former Lt. Gov. Bill Scranton (49-34), and State Sen. Jeff Piccola (54-27).
* Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas (R), as expected, is under intense pressure from national Republicans to run for Jim Jeffords’ Senate seat. Douglas hasn’t tipped his hand, but word in Vermont is that he’ll run for a third gubernatorial term instead.
* Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano (D) is rumored to be a top GOP target next year, but no one wants to run against her. Last month, Rep. J.D. Hayworth announced he wouldn’t take her on and will instead run again for Congress. This week, three prominent potential candidates — — former Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley, Rep. Rick Renzi (R) and former Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods — announced that they, too, are skipping the race. Rumor has it Republicans may try and pursue Marilyn Quayle for the job.
* An important confab will take place today in Texas between the three most likely Dem challengers to Tom DeLay next year. Former Texas Rep. Nick Lampson, Houston City Councilman Gordon Quan, and 2004 candidate Richard Morrison are gathering to develop a unified strategy and decide which of them has the best chance to defeat DeLay.
* Bill Frist’s political action committee was fined $10,000 by the Federal Election Commission this week, after an audit of the Volunteer PAC’s activities in 2001 and 2002 showed adequate reporting information.
* Though former Ohio Attorney General Lee Fisher (D) has not yet decided about whether to run for governor next year, he did recently reserve www.fisherforohio.com, just in case.