My new daily feature about campaign-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers:
* New York 1 reported yesterday that Gov. George Pataki (R) “has decided not to seek another term next year and will concentrate instead on a bid for the vice-presidential nomination in 2008.” Pataki’s chief spokesman, David Catalfamo, denied the report.
* Just when everything looked bright for the future of Republicans in Florida, the Terri Schiavo case and the Bush plan to privatize Social Security has suddenly put the state GOP in a more precarious position. “It may be that we tried to load the wagon with too many watermelons,” said Tom Slade, Florida’s former Republican Party chairman. “There’s not … a lot of good news on our side of the aisle at this minute.”
* The first one-on-one debate between Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn and his challenger, Antonio Villaraigosa, got a little ugly yesterday. Hahn said, . “This is about trust, Antonio, and people don’t trust you.” Villaraigosa, citing investigations into the mayor’s fundraising and city contracting, said, “We can’t afford four more years of corruption probes and stagnation. We need a mayor who will restore trust and confidence in City Hall again.”
* New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R), facing a tough re-election fight in a very Blue city, “held out the possibility” of endorsing Hillary Clinton for re-election, saying she’s “worked very hard and very effectively” for the city. Bloomberg endorsed Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer last year.
* Speaking of New York’s junior senator, the ongoing feud between Sen. Kay Baily Hutchison (R-Texas) and Gov. Rick Perry (R-Texas) over which one likes Hillary less took another turn yesterday. A week after Perry recorded Clinton telling a group she’s “delighted that” Hutchison “is my partner on so many important fronts,” Hutchison returned fire yesterday, sharing a letter with reporters showing Perry praising Clinton’s health care plan in 1993.
* Having survived two tough statewide fights in one year, South Dakota Rep. Stephanie Herseth (D) remains a top GOP target. Her next likely opponent is Matt Zabow, currently Sen. John Thune’s chief of staff.
* Just months after beating Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) for the spot, Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.) is doing little to impress her colleagues as the chairwoman of the Senate Republican campaign for next year. While Schumer is lining up top-notch challengers in key states, and convincing potential candidates to avoid costly primary fights, Dole is having trouble recruiting Republicans to run against Senate Dems such as Debbie Stabenow (Michigan), Jeff Bingaman (New Mexico), Herb Kohl (Wisconsin), Ben Nelson (Nebraska), and Bill Nelson (Florida.)
* And in referenda news, the pharmaceutical industry is on the verge of panic over a ballot initiative being readied by Health Access California, an Oakland-based nonprofit, to compel drug makers to offer discounts to millions of Californians. The authors haven’t gathered enough signatures to qualify the proposal for the next election, but the industry has raised an unprecedented $8.6 million to defeat the initiative.