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:
* A poll conducted by the University of Virginia Center for Survey Research asked Virginians who they’d prefer for president: Gov. Mark Warner (D) or Sen. George Allen (R). Virginia may be a consistently “red” state, but it wasn’t even close — Warner beat Allen, 49% to 32%. As Kos noted, Allen has to feel very lucky that Warner isn’t challenging him for the Senate this year.
* Speaking of Virginia, newly sworn-in Gov. Tim Kaine (D) will deliver the Dems’ response to the president’s State of the Union address this month. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi are scheduled to call Kaine Thursday morning to officially ask him to accept. They, along with Gov. Bill Richardson, the chairman of the Democratic Governor’s Association, are expected to make the announcement later this afternoon. “Gov. Kaine has proven that his message can win in a predominantly Republican state that George Bush carried twice,” said one Senate Democratic aide. “Having him speak about the Democratic agenda and our vision for 2006 after the president’s State of the Union address is obvious.”
* In New York, state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer (D) continues to enjoy huge leads over all potential rivals. In a new Quinnipiac poll, Spitzer enjoys 30-point leads over Republicans William Weld, Thomas Golisano, and Randy Daniels. As for a potential primary challenge from Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi (D), the poll shows New York Dems prefer Spitzer, 72% to 8%.
* Elsewhere in New York, Buffalo City Councilman Antoine Brown (D) has been threatening to take on Rep. Louise Slaughter (D) in a Dem primary, but announced this week that he will instead run for a vacant state Senate seat.
* Though campaign fundraising is not always indicative of support, humorist and Texas gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman (I) has surprised a lot of people by raising more than $1.5 million between July and December. Unfortunately for Texas Dems, Friedman’s total is more than the two main Democratic contenders — former Rep. Chris Bell and former state Supreme Court Justice Bob Gammage — raised over the same time period. Combined.
* The Wall Street Journal and Zogby Interactive have just published their monthly polling data for all of the nation’s upcoming gubernatorial and Senate campaigns. As with previous months, the WSJ is now making the data available to everyone, including non-subscribers.