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:
* Barack Obama probably didn’t have any fun at last night’s debate, but he had a pretty good day with superdelegates. He picked up four yesterday, including three U.S. House members. The WSJ reported, “That is the most in a single day in recent weeks.” He picked up another this morning.
* Speaking of Obama, his campaign also released his 2007 tax return yesterday. The NYT noted that that the senator reported “a household income of $4.2 million due to a sharp increase in the sales of his books during the first year of his presidential campaign. That was a substantial jump from the roughly $1 million in income the Obamas reported in 2006, much of that also from book deals.”
* As pollsters go, Zogby hasn’t had a good cycle at all. With that in mind, Clinton fans should be encouraged by the fact that Zogby now has Obama leading in Pennsylvania, 45% to 44%. (Zogby also predicted Obama wins in California and Ohio, both of which Clinton won easily.)
* And speaking of Pennsylvania, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is jumping into the ad war with just five days left before the state’s primary, with a pro-Obama ad touting his energy policy.
* From Rezko to Wright to “bitter” to Ayers: “Hillary hit Obama hard over his ties to former Weather Underground member William Ayers at the debate yesterday. And on the call today, Hillary advisers kept up the pressure, pointing out that Ayers hosted an event at his home for Obama when he ran for state senator and that this was a legitimate topic for journalistic scrutiny. It’s an intriguing move, to say the least. The Clinton camp was so eager to get Ayers’ name into the political conversation that they were willing to risk not one, but two possible blowbacks: First, the inevitable criticism they’ll take for going so negative; and second, questions about Bill’s pardons.”
* The Philadelphia Daily News published an enthusiastic endorsement of Obama today.
* Several current Clinton campaign staffers are saying they were present for the alleged “screw ’em” comment, but argue it did not happen.
* A chance to get some early diplomatic legwork done: “Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain are all scheduled to meet with British prime minister Gordon Brown Thursday morning. The three will have 45-minute, one-on-one sessions with Brown at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C.”
* WSJ: “After several days defending himself over remarks he made about small-town Americans, Sen. Barack Obama explained himself to another demographic that has been skeptical towards him: Jewish voters.”
* Mitt Romney spoke at the Radio and Television Correspondents Dinner last night, and delivered a very funny “Top 10 Reasons for Dropping Out of the Race.” The whole thing is quite clever, but I was partial to #2: “Once my wife Ann realized I couldn’t win, my fundraising dried up.”