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:
* While most consider Rick Santorum the Senate’s most vulnerable Republican incumbent this year, but let’s not lose sight of the key race in Missouri. According to a new Rasmussen poll, incumbent Sen. Jim Talent (R-Mo.) trails Missouri State Auditor Claire McCaskill (D), 46% to 43%. The results are similar from November, when McCaskill led 47% to 45%.
* In an effort to find someone, anyone, to run against Sen. Hillary Clinton next year, New York Republicans are now asking state Health Commissioner Antonia Novello to consider the race. Last May, Novello expressed interest in a Senate campaign, but shied away after the state GOP successfully recruited Jeanine Pirro. Novello is perhaps best known for serving as the U.S. surgeon general for the first President Bush.
* Dem leaders in Virginia and DC have been working behind the scenes to recruit Harris Miller, a successful Virginia businessman and former state Democratic official, to take on Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) this year. Yesterday, according to WTOP (via Taegan), Miller decided he will throw his hat into the ring.
* Vermont Republicans are thrilled to have Gen. Martha Rainville, commander of the Vermont National Guard, as their U.S. House candidate this year, but their efforts are now complicated by the fact that State Sen. Mark Shepard (R) will also run, even if it means taking on Rainville in a primary.
* Retired football player Lynn Swann (R) will formally kick off his gubernatorial campaign in Pennsylvania this evening, bringing the total number of Republicans hoping to take on Gov. Ed Rendell (D) to four. Polls show Rendell with double-digit leads over each.
* Steve Schmidt, a top aide to Dick Cheney, will temporarily leave the White House in order to manage Arnold Schwarzenegger’s reelection campaign.