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
* In an encouraging sign of party unity, [tag]Paul Hackett[\/tag] (D) will extend his formal endorsement<\/a> to [tag]Sherrod Brown[\/tag]’s (D) Senate campaign in Ohio today at a “unity rally” in Cincinnati.<\/p>\n * In Washington state, [tag]Mark Wilson[\/tag] (D) has agreed to give up his primary campaign<\/a> against Sen. [tag]Maria Cantwell[\/tag] (D). On Sunday, Wilson endorsed Cantwell and took a paid job with the Democrat’s re-election campaign. At a news conference at Cantwell’s Seattle campaign office, Wilson said that after “deep and personal one-on-one conversations with Senator Cantwell, I came away convinced we are on the same path when it comes to solving the crisis in Iraq and the potential crisis in Iran.”<\/p>\n * Missouri’s Senate race continues to be one of the most competitive in the nation, according to a new Rasmussen poll<\/a>. While Sen. [tag]Jim Talent[\/tag] (R) led state Auditor [tag]Claire McCaskill[\/tag] (D) in last month’s Rasmussen poll, 43% to 40%, the firm now shows the two tied at 42% each. As the pollster noted, “The closeness that has become the hallmark of this race has been evident from the start: only once in eight polls have the candidates been more than three percentage points apart.”<\/p>\n * After ambiguous comments last Thursday, state Sen. [tag]Jake Knotts[\/tag] (R) began circulating petitions for an independent gubernatorial campaign in South Carolina on Friday. “I’m running<\/a>,” Knotts said. “I’m going.” The would-be candidate faces a serious time crunch: he needs to turn in 10,000 signatures of registered voters to the State Election Commission one week from today.<\/p>\n