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:
* As expected, the powerful and politically influential American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) endorsed Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign yesterday. “This is no time to take chances. We need someone who knows how to fight and knows how to win,” AFSCME president Gerald McEntee said. “Sisters and Brothers, Senator Clinton is a seasoned fighter. Believe me, she knows how to fight and she knows how to win.”
* Speaking of Clinton, there’s been some follow up on the flap from Tuesday’s debate about a New York effort to offer driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants. The campaign explained yesterday, “Senator Clinton supports governors like Governor Spitzer who believe they need such a measure to deal with the crisis caused by this administration’s failure to pass comprehensive immigration reform.” Greg Sargent suggests Clinton is still hedging on the details.
* Mitt Romney didn’t need to get caught in another flip-flop, but it’s happened anyway. This week Romney’s campaign insisted that the former governor “strongly opposed the McCain-Kennedy [immigration] legislation and was a vocal critic of the blanket amnesty it provided to lawbreakers with the Z-visa provision.” It didn’t take too long for Romney critics to notice that, in 2005, he called the same plan “reasonable,” and argued that it’s “quite different” from “amnesty.”
* New campaign ads are going on the air this week from John Edwards, John McCain, and Chris Dodd.
* Joe Biden got in the line of the night during Tuesday’s debate when he questioned Rudy Giuliani’s qualifications, adding, “[T]here’s only three things he mentions in a sentence: a noun and a verb and 9/11.” The comments seem to have bothered the Giuliani campaign quite a bit, because they lashed out at Biden yesterday: “Senator Biden certainly falls into the bucket of those on the stage tonight who have never had executive experience and have never run anything. Wait, I take that back; Senator Biden has never run anything but his mouth.” Note to Biden: keep it up.
* Because of Iowa’s quirky caucus system, Democratic candidates realize that being a voter’s second choice can be a key to success. The AP explains: “The key is a Democratic rule that candidates need the backing of at least 15 percent of people at a caucus meeting for that support to count. If a candidate doesn’t achieve the 15 percent viability rule, the candidate’s supporters can switch to their second choice or call it quits…. Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards are trying to establish themselves as second options to the other candidates. The assumption is that the candidates leading in Iowa polls will easily meet the viability rule, but in many of Iowa’s 1,784 precincts backers of Democrats such as Joe Biden, Bill Richardson or Chris Dodd may have to make a choice.”
* Dems are definitely eyeing next year’s Senate race in Kentucky: “Reflecting an increasingly aggressive strategy for the 2008 election cycle, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-NY, acknowledged on Wednesday that the Democrats are gunning for the seat of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY. Schumer cited McConnell as a Democratic target for the first time during an open press briefing, and took a swipe at the Senate GOP leader, suggesting that his proximity to President Bush and his sagging poll numbers put him directly in electoral limbo.”
* Comedian Stephen Colbert is taking his campaign joke pretty far: he’s poised to file for South Carolina’s Democratic primary ballot today. He decided not to pursue the Republican primary because the party has a $35,000 entry fee. As for the Democratic ballot, it’s far from a done deal: “The state party’s 26-member executive council — with representatives from each of South Carolina’s six congressional districts as well as state members of the Democratic National Committee — will meet Thursday afternoon to decide which candidates meet the criteria to appear on the ballot. To make the cut, a candidate must demonstrate two requirements: that he or she is viable nationally and has spent time campaigning in the state.” Charleston Democratic Party Chairman Waring Howe said, “Over my dead body will Colbert’s name be on the ballot.”
* Speaking of Colbert, a Rasmussen poll out this week shows the comedian lead Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich in hypothetical match-ups.
* And like practically every other state, Rhode Island moved its presidential primary to Feb. 5.