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
* Despite the new opening in Colorado’s 2008 Senate race, Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), a virulent opponent of immigration, announced yesterday that he will form<\/a> a presidential exploratory committee. Noting the reaction he received from some activists in Iowa over the weekend, Tancredo said, “They believe that there is a void in this race that none of the other candidates are willing or able to fill.”<\/p>\n * Former Majority Leader Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) is reportedly eyeing Tennessee’s 2010 gubernatorial race<\/a>, apparently with the hopes that being a state’s chief executive will help Americans forget what an awful Senate Majority Leader he was. The Hill reported, “Sources in Washington and Tennessee say Frist, who will turn 55 next month, is leaning heavily toward a run for the governor’s office, where he could gain executive experience that might position him to try for the presidency in either 2012 or 2016. ‘It’s a done deal,’ said a source with knowledge of Frist’s plans.”<\/p>\n * Ernie Fletcher may be the incumbent Republican governor of Kentucky, but that didn’t stop former Rep. Anne Northup (R) from announcing that she, too, will run<\/a> for governor. Fletcher, one of the nation’s least popular governors, has not yet said whether he’ll seek a second term.<\/p>\n * Just when you thought the idea of a flat tax was long gone, Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) indicated yesterday that it might be a centerpiece<\/a> of his presidential campaign. “We need a flat tax instead of the dreadful, incomprehensible tax code we now have,” Brownback wrote in the letter that announced the creation of his presidential exploratory committee.<\/p>\n * Colorado Republicans seem very interested in recruiting<\/a> retired football player John Elway to run for the state’s open Senate seat in 2008. An Elway representative said yesterday that former Denver Bronco “has no intentions of running.”<\/p>\n