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 lost his South Carolina campaign chairman, Thomas Ravenel, last week to federal cocaine-distribution charges. Yesterday, Giuliani picked a replacement, Ravenel’s father, Arthur. The new chairman is perhaps best known for referring to the NAACP as the “National Association for Retarded People.” The Giuliani campaign has heard of Google, right? The team that can’t vet campaign chairmen can be trusted to run the White House?
* The Republicans’ free fall is hurting party fundraising badly. Chris Cillizza reported, “Through May, the DSCC and the DCCC had raised $48.6 million as compared to the $36 million collected by the NRSC and the NRCC. And, even though the two Republican committees have been outraised by $12 million by their Democratic counterparts, they have actually outspent the DSCC and DCCC $31.3 million to $23.7 million.”
* Barack Obama is launching his first television ads of the 2008 cycle, with two new spots in Iowa, while John Edwards is doing the same in New Hampshire.
* Mitt Romney is rumored to have the most successful fundraising operation of the Republican presidential candidates, but he nevertheless found it necessary yesterday to dip into his personal fortune to give his campaign a loan. We’ll know exactly how much after Q2 reports come out next week.
* John McCain’s website tells visitors, “Too often the special interest lobbyists with the fattest wallets and best access carry the day.” It’s odd, then, that McCain has “more lobbyists working on his staff or as advisers than any of his competitors, Republican or Democrat.”
* The rumors are getting louder that Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) will not seek re-election.
* And in North Carolina, Brad Miller announced he will not take on Sen. Liddy Dole (R) next year. Speculation now turns to state Rep. Grier Martin of Raleigh and state Sen. Kay Hagan of Greensboro.