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:
* In Pennsylvania, two new Rasmussen polls offer Dems good news and very good news. In the Senate race, after Rick Santorum (R) closed the gap recently against Bob Casey (D), the Democrat appears to be rebounding of late and now leads by double digits again, 49% to 39%. Green Party candidate and GOP ally Carl Romanelli garners 5%. In the gubernatorial race, incumbent Gov. Ed Rendell (D) has expanded his earlier leads and is now ahead of retired football player Lynn Swann (R), 56% to 36%.
* In Nevada, the news for Dems isn’t nearly as good. A new Rasmussen poll of the state’s Senate race shows incumbent John Ensign (R) leading Democratic challenger Jack Carter (D), 50% to 41%. The nine-point gap is slightly bigger than the seven-point gap in July. Rasmussen also shows Republicans with the edge in Nevada’s gubernatorial race, with Rep. Jim Gibbons (R) leading state Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus (D), 49% to 35%. In July, Gibbons led 46% to 37%.
* In Vermont, a new Research 2000 poll conducted for WCAX found Rep. Bernie Sanders (I) with a big lead over Republican businessman Rich Tarrant in the state’s open Senate race, 58% to 33%.
* It’s not a particularly competitive race anyway, but California Republican Senate candidate Richard Mountjoy, Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D) opponent, has claimed that he served about the battleship Missouri during the Korean War, but the LA Times reports today that “his military record shows no assignment on the famous vessel.”
* And in Arizona, just two days after David Duke expressed his support for Randy Graf’s (R) U.S. House campaign in Arizona’s competitive 8th district, the National Republican Campaign Committee (NRCC) announced that it would no longer devote resources to the district, effectively giving up on the race.