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 new CNN poll of Dems in New Hampshire shows Hillary Clinton with a double-digit lead, but by a shrinking margin. In a September poll from CNN, Clinton was cruising in New Hampshire, up by 23 points. Now, that lead is 14: Clinton 36%, Obama 22%, Edwards 13%. It’s also worth noting that Bill Richardson saw a big boost in this poll, going from 6% in September to 12% now. No other candidate topped 5% in the poll.
* A new WaPo/ABC poll of Iowa Republicans shows Mike Huckabee surging to new heights, thanks to solid support from Christian conservatives. As of now, Mitt Romney leads with 28% of likely GOP caucus-goers, followed by Huckabee with 24%, and Fred Thompson and Rudy Giuliani tied for third with 15%. No other candidate reached double digits (McCain was far back at 6%). Huckabee’s support has tripled in Iowa since late July.
* In an interview with ABC, Bush said yesterday that Hillary Clinton is “a very formidable candidate, and one of the interesting things that she brings is that she has been under pressure. She understands the klieg lights.” He added that she “understands pressure better than any of the candidates.” Bush concluded, however, that he believes Clinton will lose to the GOP nominee in the general election.
* In response to Scott McClellan’s assertions that top White House officials were responsible for him lying about the Plame leak, Chris Dodd has called on Attorney General Michael Mukasey to launch an investigation: “During his confirmation process, Attorney General Mukasey said he would act independently. Accordingly, today, I call on the Attorney General to live up to his word and launch an immediate investigation to determine the facts of this case, the extent of any cover up and determine what the President knew and when he knew it.”
* John Edwards criticized the Commission on Presidential Debates yesterday, after the panel excluded New Orleans from the list of four sanctioned debates between the presidential and vice presidential nominees.
* Speaking of Edwards, the former senator tried to distance himself from the back-and-forth between his top-tier rivals yesterday. Asked about Clinton’s criticisms of Obama’s experience, Edwards said, “Can I honestly tell you…I spend not a nanosecond listening to what each of them are saying sniping toward each other, so I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
* Joe Biden unveiled his energy policy yesterday, vowing to make climate change one of his top two national priorities: “After ending the war in Iraq, the single most important thing I think needs (to) be addressed by the federal government of the next president of the United States — absent this president having not addressed it — is to deal with climate change policy. That must be our top national security priority — not just environmental priority, our national security priority.”
* Speaking of Biden, he may not be high in the polls, but he’s doing really well in racking up endorsements. This week he earned the backing of two influential African-American ministers in South Carolina: the Rev. Caesar Richburg of Orangeburg and the Rev. J.J. Jackson III of Greenville.
* Of the five Republicans on the 9/11 Commission, four are supporting candidates other than Rudy Giuliani.
* Former Gov. Mike Johanns’ (R-Neb.) path to the Senate just got a little easier — Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning (R), Johanns’ primary opponent, dropped out of the open-seat race yesterday.