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
* Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), the former chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, formally declared<\/a> this morning that he’s running for president. The 14-term conservative set up a presidential exploratory committee earlier this month, before officially kicking off his campaign in South Carolina today.<\/p>\n * In a possible boon to Barack Obama’s fundraising efforts, the DreamWorks trio of David Geffen, Steven Spielberg, and Jeffrey Katzenberg sent a letter<\/a> to 700 political donors and activists asking them to donate $2,300 per person to attend a reception for Obama in Hollywood on Feb. 20. As the LAT noted, the event “will be followed by a private dinner at Geffen’s house for people who agree to raise $46,000 for the Illinois Democrat.” Because of the roll of “Hollywood money” in the Dem primaries, this is a helpful sign for the Illinois senator. (thanks to J.B. for the tip)<\/p>\n * Rudy Giuliani’s not-quite-announced presidential campaign picked up his first non-New York congressional endorsement yesterday, when Rep. Mary Bono (R-Calif.) announced her support<\/a> for the former NYC mayor.<\/p>\n * Speaking of New Yorkers, former Gov. George Pataki (R), who has been weighing a presidential campaign in recent months, closed the New Hampshire office<\/a> of his political action committee. Unless the plan is to get a bigger office space somewhere in the state, it probably suggests Pataki isn’t going to throw his hat into the ring.<\/p>\n