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
* Citizens for Community Values, an anti-pornography group in Ohio, is blasting Mitt Romney<\/a> because he didn’t stop Marriott Hotels from offering adult movies to guests while he served on the company’s board of directors. “Marriott is a major pornographer,” Phil Burress, president of the group, said. “And even though [Romney] may have fought it, everyone on that board is a hypocrite for presenting themselves as family values when their hotels offer 70 different types of hardcore pornography.” (There are 70<\/em> different kinds of porn?)<\/p>\n * John Edwards’ presidential campaign added<\/a> a few top staffers yesterday and shifted the responsibilities of some senior staff. Joining Edwards’ team is Paul Blank and Chris Kofinis, leaders of the “Wake Up Wal-Mart” effort. Blank also served as Howard Dean’s political director. Following a lackluster fundraising quarter, campaign manager David Bonior is apparently losing some of his responsibilities, but will step up his role as a campaign spokesman.<\/p>\n * Barack Obama has embraced an across-the-board pay raise for teachers as part of his domestic policy agenda, but yesterday, he risked drawing teachers’ unions’ ire by endorsing scales of merit-based pay<\/a>. “I think there should be ways for us to work with the NEA, with teachers’ unions, to figure out a way to measure success,” the Obama told the National Education Association’s convention. “I want to work with teachers. I’m not going to do it to you; I’m going to do it with you.”<\/p>\n * South Dakota State Rep. Joel Dykstra (R) officially entered<\/a> the race for the Republican nomination to face Sen. Tim Johnson (D) next year. Dykstra is perhaps best known for saying<\/a> during a debate on banning abortions in South Dakota, “I think ‘rape and incest’ is a buzzword. It’s a bit of a throwaway line and not everybody who says that really understands what that means. How are you going to define that?”<\/p>\n * John McCain’s campaign staff in Iowa is down to just seven people<\/a>. Wow.<\/p>\n