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
* It was inevitable. After Mitt Romney mentioned checking with “the lawyers” about whether a president should get congressional authorization for an attack on Iran, Rudy Giuliani compared the comments<\/a> to John Kerry’s “global test” comment from 2004. Giuliani’s camp sent out an e-mail saying, “Sound familiar? Another Massachusetts politician also wanted a national security test…”<\/p>\n * John McCain has been very complimentary of Rudy Giuliani during the campaign, but that ended yesterday<\/a>. “I’m very disturbed at Mayor Giuliani’s claim that he’ll bring fiscal discipline [as President],” said McCain, noting that Giuliani sued President Bill Clinton to keep the White House from cutting spending bills with a line-item veto. McCain aides said the senator would be sharpening his rhetoric from now on. “There are big differences,” one adviser said. “And I think as we go into the fall you will be seeing more of them.”<\/p>\n * Sam Brownback conceded<\/a> yesterday that he would drop out of the presidential race unless he finishes in the top four in the Iowa caucuses. “I need to finish in that group to move on forward,” Brownback said.<\/p>\n * Mitt Romney is breaking fundraising records, but not the good ones. ABC reported today that Romney has contributed $17.4 million of his own money to his campaign, which outpaces<\/a> Steve Forbes’ self-loans from 1995, when the billionaire donated $16.5 billion to himself. * As expected, former Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns officially announced<\/a> his expected candidacy for the open U.S. Senate seat in Nebraska. Johanns, who won 69% of the vote when re-elected governor in 2002, is considered a strong contender, though he’ll face state Attorney General Jon Bruning and former Rep. Hal Daub in a GOP primary.<\/p>\n * Bill Richardson’s campaign is now featuring a baseball card with its campaign literature, featuring the governor on a mound, ready to pitch. As Eric Kleefeld noted<\/a>, it might be the wrong message — Richardson claimed throughout his career that he was drafted in 1966 to be a pro-baseball player, a claim which later proved to be false.<\/p>\n
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\n* Barack Obama unveiled his second TV ad for the New Hampshire airwaves yesterday, called “Quiet<\/a>.” It’s pretty good — Obama talks about global warming and efficiency standards, before concluding, “We can’t just tell people what they want to hear. We need to tell them what they need to hear. We need to tell them the truth.”<\/p>\n