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 fourth debate for the Democratic presidential candidates — the first “official” debate sanctioned by the DNC — will be tonight in Charleston, S.C. As you may have heard, the questions are coming by way of regular people, who submitted content via YouTube. The debate starts at 7 pm ET and will be moderated by CNN’s Anderson Cooper.
* As an extension of the increasingly apparent enthusiasm gap, the WSJ notes that Dem candidates are outraising Republican candidates, not just at the presidential level, but also at the House and Senate level. All told, Democratic congressional candidates have outraised their GOP counterparts by a stunning $100 million — $388.8 million to $287.3 million — in the first six months of 2007.
* Mitt Romney got into a little trouble over the weekend for holding up a supporter’s hand-written sign that read, “NO TO OBAMA OSAMA AND CHELSEA’S MOMA” [sic]. After the story quickly made the rounds on the blogs over the weekend, Romney was asked about the sign at a town hall gathering in Iowa. “You know what? Lighten up slightly,” Romney said.
* Speaking of Romney, a senior strategist for the Massachusetts governor penned a new memo, which was quickly leaked to reporters, explaining why Giuliani has lost his edge and should no longer be considered the GOP frontrunner.
* And if Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) is gearing up for a re-election campaign in Nebraska, he has a funny way of showing it. The two-term incumbent raised only $387,215 in the last quarter, as compared to state Attorney General Jon Bruning, who’s willing to face Hagel in a GOP primary, who raised $723,688 in the same period.