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:
* Comedian, writer, and talk-shot host Al Franken has apparently decided to launch a U.S. Senate campaign, and will seek the Dem nomination to take on Sen. Norm Coleman (R) next year. Franken has begun contacting party leaders at the state and federal level to tell them he will “definitely” enter the race. No word on who, if anyone, Franken may face in a DFL primary.
* Considered a long-shot anyway, former New York Gov. George Pataki told supporters in New Hampshire yesterday that he is not ready to jump into the presidential race and won’t object if they get behind other candidates. A former state representative who was with Pataki on Tuesday emphasized that he said he wasn’t ready “at the present time,” which suggests he may jump in later.
* Hillary Clinton was scheduled to make her first campaign appearance in New Hampshire in over a decade, but had to cancel because of the death of Bill Clinton’s step-father.
* GOP presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain is not only struggling in the polls, he doesn’t have a lot of money in his campaign coffers. In the fourth quarter of 2006, McCain raised $660,000 and raided $1 million from his Senate reelection account to his presidential fund, but he spent more than $1.2 million, mostly in support of other GOP candidates running in the ’06 cycle.
* And, as if California’s and Florida’s interest in moving up their primaries weren’t enough, a Texas state representative is “seeking to move up his state’s presidential primary in hopes the Lone Start State will play a more crucial role in selecting each party’s nominee for president.” Texas is currently scheduled to hold their primary in mid-March, but under a new proposal, the primary would be moved to the first Tuesday in February.