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:
* How strong was the turnout in Hawaii’s Democratic caucuses yesterday? The state has never topped more than 5,000 participants. The Obama campaign speculated a few days ago that as many as 18,000 might show up. The final number? Over 37,000. Wow.
* It’s safe to guess why John McCain is desperate to keep the general election within the public-financing system: “Republican Sen. John McCain raised nearly $12 million in January, propelled by victories in New Hampshire and South Carolina that solidified his place as the leading candidate for the GOP presidential nomination. According to filings with the Federal Election Commission late Tuesday, McCain had $5.2 million cash on hand at the start of February and $5.5 million in debts, including a loan of nearly $4 million.”
* What’s the current state of the delegate race? Different news outlets, of course, show different results, but everyone seems to agree that Obama is ahead, whether superdelegates are included or not, by a fairly comfortable margin. According to NBC News Political Director Chuck Todd, Obama is up by about 150 pledged delegates, and leads overall (counting superdelegates) by 80 delegates. The margin, Todd said, is probably too large for Clinton to catch up before the convention.
* Clinton is poised to get a little help making more attacks against Obama: “A group of Hillary Clinton backers have set up a new 527 called the American Leadership Project, with the intention of running ads in Ohio and possibly Texas and Pennsylvania. The ads will compare Hillary and Obama on various issues, and be an appeal to look beyond mere rhetoric in politics. The tag-line for the ads: ‘If speeches could solve problems…'”
* Obama has an op-ed in USA Today on his willingness to participate in the public-financing system.
* The Clinton campaign launched a new ad in Ohio this week, called, “Night Shift.” It tells viewers, “You pour coffee, fix hair, you work the night shift at the local hospital,” a voice says as images of blue-collar workers flash across the screen. “You’re often overworked, underpaid and sometimes overlooked. But not by everyone. One candidate has put forth an American family agenda to make things easier for everyone who works so hard… . She understands. She’s worked the night shift, too.” Critics have noted that Clinton has not, in fact, worked a night shift, though the campaign insists the ad is referring to the nights Clinton has worked during her political career.
* Clinton ally Lanny Davis told Fox News yesterday that Obama is like Ned Lamont, while Clinton is like Joe Lieberman. I don’t think that’s a helpful message right now.
* More fuel for the electability fire: in Pennsylvania, McCain beats Clinton, 44% to 42%, while Obama beats McCain, 49% to 39%.
* In Texas, CNN shows Clinton with a two-point lead over Obama, 50% to 48%, while SurveyUSA shows her up by five, 50% to 45%.
* Not helpful: A co-chairman of Hillary’s Michigan campaign and has a line that’s sure to drive a whole bunch of red state governors up the wall: ‘Superdelegates are not second-class delegates,’ says Joel Ferguson, who will be a superdelegate if Michigan is seated. ‘The real second-class delegates are the delegates that are picked in red-state caucuses that are never going to vote Democratic.'”
* And in Mississippi: “Ronnie Shows, a former Democratic congressman from Mississippi, announced today that he has dropped his nascent Senate bid against Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and endorsed the candidacy of former Democratic Gov. Ronnie Musgrove. ‘After weeks of talking to my family and friends, I have come to the conclusion that we would not be able to raise the millions of dollars needed to compete with a former governor and the handpicked candidate from the sitting governor,’ Shows said in a statement.”