TUESDAY’S CAMPAIGN ROUND-UP….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.
* Roland Burris will be seated as the junior senator from Illinois tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. The NRSC has already said defeating Burris in 2010 is a “top priority” for the party.
* Al Franken asked Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie to issue a certificate of election so he could be seated in the Senate. Ritchie declined.
* On a related note, Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) said Republicans will resist any effort to seat Franken until all of Norm Coleman’s lawsuits have been exhausted. He predicted this could take “a month or more.”
* Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-Fla.) kicked off his Senate campaign this morning at an event in Miami. He will likely face a crowded primary field, but Meek is the first to formally announce.
* Obama campaign manager David Plouffe is reportedly prepared to oversee “Obama’s sprawling grass-roots political operation, which boasts 13 million e-mail addresses, 4 million cellphone contacts and 2 million active volunteers.”
* Ohio Republican Party Chairman Bob Bennett got a chance to see former Ohio Secretary of State and gubernatorial nominee Kenneth Blackwell up close for several years. And now that Blackwell is seeking the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee, Bennett is supporting Mike Duncan.
* Speaking of Ohio, Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), as expected, is mulling the open-seat Senate race in the state in 2010.
* In North Carolina, a Research 2000 poll shows Sen. Richard Burr leading his likely Democratic challengers, but not by much. In a hypothetical match-up against state Attorney General Roy Cooper, Burr leads by just two points (45% to 43%), while against former state Treasurer Richard Moore, Burr leads by six (46% to 40%).
* Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.) has decided not to run for the Senate in 2010.
* Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) will seek a fifth term in 2010.
