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
* On the superdelegate front, Barack Obama picked up three new superdelegates over the last 24 hours — Rep. Alan Mollohan of West Virginia, and Boyd Richie and Betty Richie of Texas. Hillary Clinton also received a superdelegate endorsement, with Eileen Macoll of Washington state throwing her support to the New York senator.<\/p>\n
* House Speaker Nancy Pelosi isn’t the only one prepared to intervene to prevent the Democratic race from going all the way to the convention; Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid<\/a> is on the same page.<\/p>\n * The Huffington Post had an interesting item<\/a> on some of the organizers, most of whom are women, of tomorrow’s rally at the meeting of the DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee. Organizers reportedly said they will support Obama if he’s the nominee. One asked, “You’re not going to write that we’re a bunch of hysterical women trying to create havoc, are you?”<\/p>\n * As if Scott McClellan hasn’t raised enough of a fuss, he indicated yesterday that he might vote for Barack Obama<\/a>.<\/p>\n * A new SurveyUSA poll<\/a> shows John McCain leading Obama in Michigan by four, 41% to 37%. As Ben Smith noted<\/a>, however, the internals show Obama winning only 62% of the African-American vote in the state, which is likely to change considerably by November.<\/p>\n * SurveyUSA shows McCain leading Obama in Kansas by 10 points<\/a>, 49% to 39%. At least at this early stage, adding Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to the Obama ticket would not make a significant difference. * A new Pew Forum poll<\/a> shows Obama leading McCain and Clinton with the highest favorable ratings, but Obama’s support is weighed down by resentment from Clinton supporters. Obama nevertheless narrowly leads McCain nationwide.<\/p>\n * Conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch is “open<\/a>” to supporting Obama this year, and added that McCain “has a lot of problems.” (thanks to reader R.K.)<\/p>\n * Obama is reportedly in “excellent health<\/a>.”<\/p>\n * The Rev. Michael Pfleger, a Chicago activist and Catholic priest, gave a sermon recently at Obama’s UCC congregation in which Pfleger mocked Hillary Clinton<\/a>. Pfleger has since apologized, and Obama issued a statement yesterday saying, ”As I have traveled this country, I’ve been impressed not by what divides us, but by all that that unites us. That is why I am deeply disappointed in Father Pfleger’s divisive, backward-looking rhetoric, which doesn’t reflect the country I see or the desire of people across America to come together in common cause.”<\/p>\n * Al Franken is facing all kinds of heat<\/a> for an explicit, satirical piece he wrote for Playboy several years ago. (thanks to Zeitgeist for the heads-up)<\/p>\n * In 1988, Bill Clinton encouraged presidential candidates to drop out, for the good of the party, before<\/a> Michael Dukakis had formally claimed the Democratic nomination.<\/p>\n * There’s a surprising amount of debate<\/a> over the explanation for McCain cancelling an event in Pennsylvania today. He either really has a bad cold, or he’s perfectly healthy but has a scheduling problem.<\/p>\n * Sen. Chuck Hagel may be a conservative Republican, but his wife<\/a> is nevertheless an Obama donor.<\/p>\n * How bad a year is it for the GOP? Republicans apparently have to worry about Mississippi<\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\n
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\n* Clinton won the endorsement of the Argus Leader<\/a> — the paper she spoke with last week when she talked about the 1992 and 1968 races going into June.<\/p>\n