THURSDAY’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.
* As of early this morning, Vicky Kennedy’s “Let’s Do It For Ted” email appeal for Martha Coakley’s Senate campaign in Massachusetts had raised over $520,000 in less than a day. By mid-morning, sources tell me the total cleared $600,000.
* On a related note, Coakley won six endorsements yesterday from newspaper editorial boards in Massachusetts, including the Boston Globe, the state’s largest paper.
* Also in Massachusetts, Republican Scott Brown has positioned himself as a regular guy, driving a truck with 200,000 miles on it, but we learned yesterday that he has nearly as many homes as John McCain.
* Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) doesn’t sound especially intimidated by former Rep. Harold Ford’s (D-Tenn.) interest in a primary challenge. “If Harold Ford wants to move from Tennessee and run in New York, he is welcome to do so,” she said yesterday. “His record of being anti-choice, anti-marriage equality and now opposed to President Obama’s health care legislation may be right for Tennessee” but not New York, she added.
* In Ohio, a new Rasmussen poll shows former Bush budget director Rob Portman (R) leading both of his Democratic opponents in this year’s Senate race. While Lee Fisher (D) is expected to win the Democratic nod over Jennifer Brunner (D), at this point, Portman leads Fisher by seven and Brunner by three.
* Republican hopes of flipping Connecticut’s Senate seat after Sen. Chris Dodd’s (D) retirement appear to be fading fast — Quinnipiac shows state AG Richard Blumenthal (D) crushing the GOP field in general election match-ups.
* In New Hampshire, a new Rasmussen poll shows Rep. Paul Hodes (D) trailing former state Attorney General Kelly Ayotte (R) in a hypothetical match-up, but leading the other Republicans facing Ayotte in a primary.
* The gubernatorial race in Minnesota is still in flux, but a Rasmussen poll shows a couple of former senators — Norm Coleman (R) and Mark Dayton (D) — leading their respective fields.
