TUESDAY’S CAMPAIGN ROUND-UP…. Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn’t necessarily generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers:
* The process in Alaska continues to get just a little more farcical. Joe Miller (R) announced last Sunday that he would no longer fight certification of Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s (R) write-in re-election victory, but yesterday morning, he took his case to federal court, after having struck out in multiple state courts. Miller also told a local CBS affiliate he’s considering asking for another recount.
* Sen. Jim Webb (D) hasn’t announced whether he’ll seek re-election in Virginia in 2012, but he already has his first challenger: right-wing activist Jamie Radtke filed the paperwork yesterday to be part of the Republican primary.
* On a related note, a surprising number of Virginia’s Tea Party zealots have convinced themselves that former Sen. George Allen (R), who’s likely to try a comeback in 2012, just isn’t right-wing enough anymore. Allen’s lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union is 92.3%.
* Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) caused a stir earlier this year when he called for a “truce” on social issues, which drew widespread complaints from social conservatives. This week, Daniels started walking back his remarks, arguing that the “truce” was directed at liberals who are “very aggressively trying to change the definition of marriage.” (I think this means he’s running for president.)
* Republican National Committee members will elect their party chair next month, and at this point, current Chairman Michael Steele is bleeding support. California RNC committeeman Shawn Steel, a former ally of Steele, has thrown his support to one of the chairman’s rivals.
* If Florida Republicans had their choice, they’d have former Gov. Jeb Bush (R) take on Sen. Bill Nelson (D) in 2012. A new survey from Public Policy Polling shows Bush as the preferred candidate of 72% of GOP Floridians. Outgoing appointed Sen. George LeMieux (R), who clearly intends to run, received only 11% in the poll.
* Disgraced former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s (R-Ga.) daughter says her father is “much more serious than he ever has been” about running for president.
