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:
* With less than two weeks before the election, a new poll from SurveyUSA shows Sen. Jon Corzine (D-N.J.) building slightly on his lead, topping Doug Forrester (R), 50% to 41%.
* In Michigan, the state GOP’s lack of confidence in the Rev. Keith Butler’s (R) ability to take on Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D) is well founded. A poll from Strategic Vision, a Republican pollster, shows Butler trailing, 47% to 28%.
* Despite taking a series of steps to run for the Senate, Vermont Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie (R) announced this morning that he will skip the race and seek re-election, marking the latest GOP recruiting target to ignore party pressure. Without Dubie, the race will likely pit Rep. Bernie Sanders (I) against millionaire businessman Richard Tarrant (R).
* In Kentucky, Rep. Anne Northup (R), who represents the state’s most competitive district, barely eked out a victory last year, defeating attorney Jack Conway (D) by only a few thousand votes. Next year, Northup may have a rematch. Conway, widely considered a rising star by Kentucky Dems, is in DC this week meeting the top party officials about his 2006 plans. Conway is reportedly deciding between running against Northup again or running for statewide office in 2007.
* Jack Carter, the former president’s oldest son, is gearing up to take on Sen. John Ensign (R) next year. Carter has told reporters recently that he’s on a “listening tour,” but Dan Hinkley, the Nevada Democratic Party secretary, said Carter told him “he is pretty sure he is doing it, and that he has moved past the [thinking] stage.”
* A Republican polling firm, Quinn and Associates, recently polled South Carolina to gauge the thoughts of the state’s active Republican primary voters. Among the findings were a serious drop in Bush’s approval rating, John McCain well ahead of his rivals in advance of the 2008 presidential race, Lindsey Graham as the most popular political leader in South Carolina, and a surprising finding that state Republicans are not as strongly anti-abortion as they once were.