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
* In light of Sam Brownback’s popularity among Christian conservatives, there’s been a fair amount of interest in which of his former presidential rivals he’ll endorse. Apparently, he’s made his decision — he’ll announce his support for John McCain<\/a> today at an event in Iowa. The two will then travel together for a couple of campaign events elsewhere in the state.<\/p>\n * The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) announced in September that it would unveil a whole slew of recruiting successes, with a “flurry of candidates that will be coming forward in the next few weeks.” As it turns out, there is no flurry<\/a>, and the campaign committee is struggling to find candidates to run next year: “The NRCC said in late September that it would have challengers emerge in five specific top-targeted districts within a few weeks, but so far only one of those races has a nationally recruited challenger officially in the race.”<\/p>\n * Hillary Clinton told CNN<\/a> yesterday that she wasn’t at the top of her game during the most recent Democratic debate. “I wasn’t at my best the other night,” Clinton said. “We’ve had a bunch of debates and I wouldn’t rank that up in my very top list…. But I’ve answered probably, I don’t know, more than 5,000 questions over the last 10 months and I have been very clear about where I stand and what I want to do for the country.”<\/p>\n * In a surprise move, Fred Thompson is going to make some campaign appearances<\/a> this week. The former senator, who mysteriously vanishes from the campaign trail for days on end, has apparently decided to pick up the pace: “Thompson plans to campaign in Iowa next week after undertaking an unusually busy week that included a day in New Hampshire, two days in South Carolina and an event at the Country Music Association Awards in Tennessee.” Why, it’s almost as if he were a real presidential candidate or something.<\/p>\n * Speaking of Thompson, the GOP presidential hopeful was overheard chatting with Fox News’ Carl Cameron before an interview the other day: Trying to encourage his studio to hurry up so an interview could start, Cameron said, “The next president of the United States has a schedule to keep.” Standing beside him, Thompson added, “And so do I<\/a>.” It was just a joke, but comments like these only reinforce doubts about Thompson’s commitment. * Joe Biden is quietly racking up quite a few endorsements in Iowa. Yesterday, State Sen. Herman Quirmbach, an Iowa State professor who represents the city of Ames, threw his support<\/a> to Biden, the 12th legislative endorsement in Iowa for the senator.<\/p>\n * McCain was opposed to ethanol subsidies. Then he supported them. Now he’s against them again<\/a>. Remember, he’s the principled candidate of the GOP bunch.<\/p>\n
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\n* And in still more Thompson news, the former senator is poised to unveil his first TV ads this week. The spot is called, “Consistent Conservative<\/a>,” and will come in 30- and 60-second varieties. Creating a distinction between himself and his rivals, Thompson emphasizes in the ad, “I’ve been a conservative my whole life.” He concludes, “Free people. Free markets and a government that doesn’t tax and regulate us to death, but defends us and protects our borders.”<\/p>\n