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:<\/p>\n
* Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama “locked arms with civil rights icons Sunday and marched through thousands of well-wishers, crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge to cap the 42nd anniversary Right to Vote and Bridge Crossing Jubilee,” the Birmingham News reports<\/a>. “Though the tone of Hillary Clinton’s and Obama’s speeches was polite and reverent, Sunday was obviously one of the early campaign showdowns between the rivals for the Democratic nomination for president.”<\/p>\n * John Edwards, who continues to look strong in Iowa, is looking to shore up his current standing by mailing DVDs to more than 70,000 Iowa households this week. The Politico reports<\/a> that the idea is to introduce likely caucus-goers to his plan for universal health care “with a combination of passion, wonkiness, and implicit comparison with his rivals.”<\/p>\n * Though the results were largely overshadowed by Ann Coulter, a straw poll was conducted at the end of the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday. Mitt Romney was the first choice<\/a> for the GOP nomination, with 21% support. Rudy Giuliani was second with 17%, followed by Sen. Sam Brownback (Kan.) with 15%. Newt Gingrich, who was very well received, was a close fourth, with 14%.<\/p>\n * There were some rumors that Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) was contemplating retirement next year, but the senator seems to have put those rumors to rest. Harkin has hired<\/a> veteran Democratic operative Jeff Link as his general consultant for his 2008 re-election campaign.<\/p>\n