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 went a little off message yesterday, telling supporters<\/a> of his wife’s presidential campaign yesterday, “Well, the first thing she intends to do, because you can do this without passing a bill, the first thing she intends to do is to send me and former President Bush and a number of other people around the world to tell them that America is open for business and cooperation again.” George W. Bush’s father would travel with Bill Clinton to improve some of the diplomatic failures of his own son? It seems unlikely.<\/p>\n * John Edwards got a boost in Iowa yesterday when the state’s First Lady, Mari Culver, endorsed<\/a> the former senator’s campaign. While her husband, Democratic Gov. Chet Culver, remains neutral, Mari is backing Edwards, citing her affection for Elizabeth Edwards, his anti-poverty campaign, and Edwards’ electability.<\/p>\n * Hillary Clinton’s campaign, in an apparent effort to help demonstrate the senator’s warm side, unveiled a new project yesterday called, “The Hillary I Know<\/a>,” featuring testimonials from people “whose lives have been directly touched by Hillary.”<\/p>\n * A new national poll<\/a> from USAT\/Gallup doesn’t show too much change from November. Clinton still leads the Dems with 45%, followed by Obama at 27%, and Edwards with 15%. Giuliani leads the GOP field with 27%, followed by Huckabee with 16%, and Romney, McCain, and Thompson, each with 14%. No other candidate, in either party, had more than 3% support.<\/p>\n * Romney is taking on Huckabee with a new TV in Iowa, hitting the former Arkansas governor for being soft on crime<\/a>: “The ad, entitled ‘Choice: Judgment,’ points out that Romney did not issue a single pardon during his time as governor, compared to the 1,033 pardons and commutations Huckabee granted during his tenure…. While Romney’s ad doesn’t specifically mention the DuMond episode, it does clearly try to make the case that Romney is strong on crime and Huckabee is not.” * Speaking of Paul, he held a press conference yesterday to talk about his new fundraising success. Reporters didn’t exactly show up in droves<\/a>.<\/p>\n * Have you heard the Goonies’ theory<\/a> behind Bob Kerrey’s provocative Obama comments? Clever.<\/p>\n
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\n* Ron Paul told the AP he now has the resources to hang on<\/a> through the de facto national primary on Feb. 5, so he’ll be in the race through then no matter how poorly he fares in the early contests: “‘Nobody would understand if I faded out before Feb. 5,’ Paul said. The date makes sense as a time for Paul’s candidacy to end — as the Republican nominee will probably be decided by then, which means there won’t be any more debates or opportunities for Paul to tweak the GOP establishment from within.”<\/p>\n