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
* New Quinnipiac polls<\/a> from the three biggest battleground states show Barack Obama leading John McCain in all three. Obama leads McCain in Florida by two (46% to 44%), in Ohio by two (46% to 44%), and in Pennsylvania by seven (49% to 42%). The margins are slightly smaller than a month ago, but Nate Silver notes<\/a> that Obama’s leads are stronger in all three states than they were in the spring.<\/p>\n * Chris Cillizza<\/a>: “Barack Obama’s vice presidential vetting process has moved into a new stage in which a larger than previously reported group of candidates is being exposed to a ‘deeper dig’ into their backgrounds — in the words of a source familiar with the process.”<\/p>\n * The DNC’s new web video<\/a>, which is pretty good, goes after John McCain for being desperate, and abandoning his commitment to a “respectful” campaign.<\/p>\n * On a related note, MoveOn.org has a new TV ad<\/a>, going after McCain for his support for coastal drilling, which MoveOn labels “a gimmick,” not a “solution.”<\/p>\n * The latest CNN\/Opinion Research poll shows Obama leading McCain nationally by seven, 51% to 44%<\/a>. * I guess the McCain gang has decided to give dickishness a try<\/a>: “Staying very personal, the McCain campaign responds to Obama’s suggestion that Republicans will attack his unusual name and his race: ‘This is a typically superfluous response from Barack Obama. Like most celebrities, he reacts to fair criticism with a mix of fussiness and hysteria,’ says McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds, before trying to link the attack back to offshore drilling.”<\/p>\n * Public Policy Polling (D) shows Obama leading in Michigan<\/a> by three, 46% to 43%.<\/p>\n * Rasmussen shows McCain leading in Mississippi<\/a> by 11, 52% to 41%.<\/p>\n * Rasmussen shows McCain leading in Nebraska<\/a> by 18, 50% to 32%.<\/p>\n * This<\/a> might be a little awkward: “Governor Bill Richardson is set to announce today that he’s hosting a pair of fundraising events for Hillary Clinton in New Mexico August 17, which is being cast as one of the higher-profile installments of Obama’s effort to help Clinton retire her debt.”<\/p>\n * NYDN<\/a>: “Those 75,000 Democrats who will pack a football stadium for Barack Obama’s convention speech won’t be there just to whoop and holler on television. They’ll form the world’s largest phone bank to boost voter registration \u2014 fired-up supporters using computer targeting the campaign has spent months putting together…. ‘This convention is going to look different and feel different and be different,’ says Steve Hildebrand, the Obama adviser overseeing the effort, during a recent visit to Denver. ‘We’re here to win an election, not throw a party.'”<\/p>\n * “Vote Both” is no more<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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\n* Some of McCain’s attacks have gotten so low, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R), who wants to be McCain’s running mate, won’t defend them<\/a> — while acting in his capacity as a campaign surrogate. <\/p>\n