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:
* Rudy Giuliani is trying to rally support in Iowa, without looking like he’s rallying support in Iowa. His campaign is relying on “a surge of radio advertisements, telephone calls and mailings,” while lowering expectations and pretending that he’s not focusing on the state at all. (Presumably, if he finishes third or fourth in Iowa, he’ll say, “See? Look how well I did without even trying,” despite trying very hard.)
* Thomas Kean Sr., the chairman of the 9/11 Commission, will endorse John McCain today. The Politico reported, “Kean will help McCain make the case to voters in New Hampshire, his must-win state, that strength on national security encompasses a lot more than the divisive issue of Iraq, the sources said.”
* Speaking of McCain, the senator said he would try to go without Secret Service protection if elected. “It’s my intention, if we win this nomination, to reject Secret Service,” he said during a weekend campaign event yesterday, adding, “The day that the Secret Service can assure me that if we’re driving in the motorcade and there’s a guy in a rooftop with a rifle, that they can stop that guy, then I’ll say fine. But the day they tell me, ‘well, we can’t guarantee it,’ then fine, I’ll take my chances.”
* Hillary Clinton racked up another union endorsement, earning the support of a 230,000-member labor group that will soon be formed through a merger. As CNN explained, “SMART, the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers, will merge the Sheet Metal Workers’ International Association and the United Transportation Union in January. The New York senator had previously received the endorsement of the transportation union, which is the larger of the merging unions with 125,000 active and retired members in the railroad, bus and public transit industries.”
* With Mike Huckabee’s support growing, Fred Thompson’s campaign appears to be challenging Huckabee’s conservative credentials: “In particular, they pointed to Mr. Huckabee’s support as governor for awarding state college scholarships to the children of illegal immigrants.” The Iowa state director of Thompson’s campaign described Huckabee as “the equivalent of John Edwards in a Republican suit.”
* Speaking of Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor has unveiled his first TV ad, and it’s rather amusing. The spot is, oddly enough, built around Chuck Norris’ endorsement.
* And in still more Huckabee news, he told Fox News yesterday that simply returning abortion rights over to the states — the effect of overturning Roe — isn’t good enough. “It’s the logic of the Civil War,” Huckabee said yesterday, comparing abortion rights to slavery. “If morality is the point here, and if it’s right or wrong, not just a political question, then you can’t have 50 different versions of what’s right and what’s wrong.”
* Last week, John Edwards mocked Clinton with a website called, “Plants for Hillary.” It came down after one day. An Edwards spokesperson said the site “was just a fun one day thing to set up the debate. Takes too much ‘gardening and tending.'” That doesn’t sound right — the campaign went to the trouble of writing, designing, and creating an entire website for just one day?
* Barack Obama is redoubling his efforts to appeal to senior citizens in Iowa. Apparently, most of his support is among younger voters, but it’s seniors who are most likely to participate in the caucuses.
* Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore (R), who launched an awful presidential campaign for much of the year, announced this morning that he’s running for his state’s open Senate seat. He’ll apparently run unopposed, and will face his successor, former Gov. Mark Warner (D), who is expected to win next November.
* And finally, CNN’s Lou Dobbs said he’s not running for president. “I don’t know where this is coming from,” he told the NYT. “I have no interest in running, and I’ve said that throughout.”