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
* Polls out of Indiana continue to point to a close Democratic presidential primary. Selzer & Co., a regional pollster, has Obama leading Clinton by three, 41% to 38%<\/a>. Research 2000 shows Obama with an even smaller lead, 48% to 47%<\/a>.<\/p>\n * Obama picked up another superdelegate yesterday, when Rep. David Wu<\/a> of Oregon endorsed the senator. Wu cited Obama’s stand against the Iraq war “from the very beginning.”<\/p>\n * Speaking of endorsements, Obama also picked up the support yesterday of 43 North Carolina mayors<\/a>, mayors pro tem, and former mayors.<\/p>\n * After John McCain suggested yesterday he was open to tearing down the Ninth Ward of New Orleans, devastated by Hurricane Katrina, Hillary Clinton slammed him<\/a> for it. “Sen. McCain said he might want to tear down the Ninth Ward instead of rebuilding it,” she said while campaigning in North Carolina. “But I went to the Ninth Ward after Katrina and met with people there and saw the destruction and I saw the resilience in their eyes and they deserve our help to rebuild and regain their lives and their homes.”<\/p>\n * McCain was asked to respond yesterday to John Hagee’s comments about Hurricane Katrina being divine retribution for a gay pride parade. McCain called his supporter’s comments “nonsense<\/a>.” In fact, he used the word eight times, apparently for emphasis.<\/p>\n * McCain may be the Republican presidential nominee, but he apparently has no influence<\/a> with state Republican party officials. (“If John McCain can’t stand up to the North Carolina GOP swift-boat freaks, how can he stand up to al Qaeda<\/a>?”) * As of next week, Obama will be running campaign ads in all of the remaining states<\/a> and Puerto Rico.<\/p>\n * Rasmussen asked Minnesotans<\/a> about their general election preferences. Obama led McCain by 15 points, while Clinton led McCain by five.<\/p>\n * The Hill reported<\/a> today, “Donors, activists and members of Congress who backed former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) are flocking to Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). This and the fact that Obama is likely to win the North Carolina primary could prompt Edwards to endorse Obama — a move that could burnish the front-runner’s credentials with blue-collar, white voters, who are part of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) base.”<\/p>\n * Fred Thompson doesn’t want<\/a> to be John McCain’s running mate.<\/p>\n
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\n* The Center for Responsive Politics reported<\/a> yesterday that the Clinton campaign’s debt “at the end of March was bigger than it appeared because she didn’t list the $5 million she loaned herself.” I guess that cash infusion on Tuesday night will come in handy.<\/p>\n