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
* The NYT notes<\/a> that Barack Obama “asked his leading fund-raisers in a conference call [yesterday] to lend a hand to retire the campaign debt of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.” Clinton issued a statement expressing her appreciation<\/a> for Obama’s assistance.<\/p>\n * Indiana has voted Republican in 16 of the last 17 presidential elections, dating back nearly seven decades. Indiana even voted against FDR in ’40. But according to a new SurveyUSA poll, Obama actually leads McCain in Indiana<\/a>, at least for now, 48% to 47%.<\/p>\n * The Obama campaign welcomed Bill Clinton’s offer of support and said he will have a “big role<\/a>” in the general election. “A unified Democratic Party is going to be a powerful force for change this year, and we’re confident President Clinton will play a big role in that,” Obama spokesperson Jen Psaki said. <\/p>\n * The AFL-CIO, the nation’s largest labor organization, is poised to throw its support to Obama<\/a>. The AFL-CIO had remained neutral during the primaries.<\/p>\n * As if Ralph Nader hasn’t done enough to destroy his reputation, he suggested yesterday that Obama isn’t talking about poverty enough, perhaps because the senator “wants to talk white<\/a>.” I can’t imagine what this guy is thinking. * Sen. Gordon Smith (R) is so worried about re-election in Oregon that he’s promoting the work he’s done with Barack Obama<\/a> in the Senate. The Obama campaign issued a statement reiterating Obama’s support for Smith’s Democratic opponent, Jeff Merkley.<\/p>\n * Speaker Pelosi suggested Rep. Chet Edwards<\/a> (D-Texas) might make a good running mate for Obama. I actually like Edwards — who happens to be Bush’s congressman in Crawford — back from my days at Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Edwards was one of only a handful of lawmakers who really “got it.” (Edwards said he’d accept<\/a> the gig if it were offered.)<\/p>\n * Rep. Chris Cannon (R-Utah), one of Congress’ nuttier members, lost a Republican primary<\/a> yesterday to former gubernatorial aide Jason Chaffetz. They were both far-right candidates, but Chaffetz benefited from an aggressive anti-immigration message.<\/p>\n
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\n* Ordinarily, governors become the automatic chairs of their party’s presidential campaigns, but in Nevada, McCain doesn’t want anything to do with<\/a> scandal-plagued Gov. Jim Gibbons (R). Instead, McCain has tapped Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki (R) to serve as the Nevada campaign chairman. The only problem — Krolicki has embarrassing scandals<\/a>, too.<\/p>\n