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
* Barack Obama announced yesterday that he intends to visit Iraq and Afghanistan before the election in November<\/a>. John McCain predicted that Obama would embrace the Bush\/McCain policy on Iraq after seeing the facts on the ground. I don’t think that’s true.<\/p>\n * McCain was pressed a bit yesterday on his Clayton ‘Claytie’ Williams fundraiser. “My people were not aware of the statement that he made 16 or 18 years ago,” McCain told<\/a> CNN’s Dana Bash. “So when we found out that this was planned there we said ‘Nope, we’ll reschedule it and do it someplace else,’ and I understand that he’s not attending. That’s pretty much the sum of it all.” McCain added that he would not return any of the money Williams raised on his behalf.<\/p>\n * We’ve all heard the talk about Virginia being competitive this year, and now we’re starting to see evidence to bolster the speculation. A new Rasmussen poll shows Obama leading McCain in the commonwealth, 45% to 44%<\/a>.<\/p>\n * Perhaps more importantly, a new poll out of Ohio from Public Policy Polling — which, incidentally, got the presidential primary in Ohio almost exactly right — shows Obama leading McCain in the Buckeye State by 11 points, 50% to 39%<\/a>.<\/p>\n * Reports of Obama’s Hispanic problem have been greatly exaggerated<\/a>.<\/p>\n * A couple of new polls show Obama looking strong in New York. An NYT poll<\/a> shows Obama leading McCain by 19 points, 51% to 32%. Similarly, a Siena poll<\/a> pegs Obama’s lead at 18. * Rasmussen also shows Obama leading McCain in Oregon by eight points, 46% to 38%<\/a>.<\/p>\n * Interesting analysis<\/a> of the electoral-college map — the networks are characterizing the race as far more competitive than outlets like Rasmussen, RCP, and FiveThirtyEight.<\/p>\n * Obama isn’t about to let anyone forget that McCain doesn’t know what Google is<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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\n* Kansas is unlikely to throw its support to Obama, but a new Rasmussen poll shows the state a little more competitive than one might ordinarily expect. A Rasmussen poll<\/a> shows McCain up, 47% to 37%. The 10-point lead for McCain is down from a 21-point lead over Obama in May.<\/p>\n