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
* Former President Bill Clinton has been very assertive the last few days, arguing that it’s “just not fair<\/a>” to characterize Hillary Clinton as a war supporter. “This dichotomy that’s been set up to allow [Obama] to become the raging hero of the anti-war crowd on the Internet is just factually inaccurate…. It’s just not fair to say that people who voted for the resolution wanted war,” Clinton said.<\/p>\n * Speaking of Hillary, the AP reported today that former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack (D) will endorse Clinton’s<\/a> presidential bid. Vilsack, who recently dropped out of the race citing a lack of money, will reportedly make the announcement on Monday.<\/p>\n * Rudy Giuliani said yesterday that it was a mistake<\/a> to coin the term “war on terror” because it allows enemies to redefine the United States incorrectly as a nation that prefers war. Giuliani told a gathering of newspaper reporters that “America is seen as a country by too many that wants to have war, or exercises its power too much, pushes its weight around too much.”<\/p>\n * Mitt Romney’s effort to convince Republicans he’s not a liberal suffered another setback<\/a> yesterday when we learned that Romney endorsed Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson, the pro-gay, pro-choice, pro-impeachment Democrat, in 2003. In fact, Romney also appeared in a TV ad for Anderson’s re-election campaign.<\/p>\n * After receiving some criticism from the gay community after a tepid response to Gen. Peter Pace’s homophobic comments two weeks ago, Barack Obama is forming a gay advisory panel<\/a> to offer the campaign guidance on GLBT issues. Campaign aides insisted the panel was in the works before the Pace flap.<\/p>\n * I mentioned yesterday that Florida may join most of the other huge states in moving its presidential primary to Feb. 5. Apparently, that’s not quite good enough — the state House approved a measure to move the date up to Jan. 29<\/a>, just seven days after New Hampshire. (thanks to Nautilator for the tip)<\/p>\n