MONDAY’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.
* Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R) had promised to leave the Senate this year to focus on her gubernatorial campaign in Texas. Over the weekend, Hutchison shifted gears, explaining that she would not step down until the GOP primary in March.
* To the disappointment of the DSCC, Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-N.C.) is not running for the Senate next year against incumbent Sen. Richard Burr (R). Secretary of State Elaine Marshall (D) is currently the leading Dem in the race.
* Following a push from the White House, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett (D) is running for governor in Wisconsin next year.
* Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D) has a new, minute-long ad up in Nevada, touting his position as “America’s most powerful senator.”
* New York Gov. David Paterson (D) continues to look like a candidate seeking another term next year, but a new Siena poll shows him trailing state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo in a hypothetical primary match-up by a whopping 59 points, 75% to 16%.
* Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) still isn’t popular — a new Washington Post/ABC News poll found that a majority of Americans wouldn’t even consider voting for her if she ran for president, and 60% said Palin isn’t qualified to be president.
* Is Rudy Giuliani (R) going to run for governor? He’s taking the idea “into consideration.”
* Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, however, is not running for governor, and wants to see the scuttlebutt end.
* And in 2012 news, right-wing activist Liz Cheney suggested her father, Dick Cheney, might consider a presidential campaign in three years. She may have been kidding; it’s hard to tell.
