Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that won’t necessarily generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers:
* With so many other contenders having dropped out, Mitt Romney leads the GOP presidential field in Iowa according to a new survey from Public Policy Polling. The former Massachusetts governor leads the pack with 21%, followed by Sarah Palin and Herman Cain who are tied for second with 15% each. Newt Gingrich is fourth, followed by Michele Bachmann, and Tim Pawlenty, who’s running sixth with 10%.
* The same poll, by the way, shows Jon Huntsman running last with one supporter. I don’t meant 1%; I mean PPP found literally one individual person who backs the former Utah governor.
* It’s official: six Wisconsin Republican state senators will face recall elections this year. And about targeted Democratic state senators? At this point, the petition signatures have not yet been approved, and there are allegations of GOP fraud.
* Rep. Todd Akin (R) is planning to run for the Senate in Missouri, but first has to overcome a new controversy — he’s been living in one district, but voting in another. “I don’t think there is a crime,” Akin said yesterday, which isn’t exactly a strong line to take.
* Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) said yesterday he’d consider running for president, despite previous assurances he would not. Today, DeMint’s office walked this back, and his spokesperson said he’s not running.
* New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) insists he’s still not running for president, but he will be in Iowa next month to participate in an education-related event.
* GOP presidential hopeful Tim Pawlenty supports “performance pay” for health providers as part of health care reform. Oddly enough, President Obama is already on board with the idea.
* In Wisconsin, PPP shows Obama leading all of his likely GOP challengers, including a 12-point lead over Romney.
* Herman Cain claims to have been a Fox News contributor. By any common definition of the word, that’s not true.
