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:
* Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) conceded yesterday that he is giving a presidential race “some serious thought.”
* On a related note, Perry traveled to New York yesterday with longtime aide Dave Carney, who just happens to have left Newt Gingrich’s staff.
* Mitt Romney is starting to strut with overconfidence, telling a New Hampshire store owner yesterday he’d come back in four years, and “I’ll probably have Secret Service with me.” New Hampshire’s largest newspaper noted this morning, “Granite Staters prefer hard-working and humble to high-falutin’ and haughty. It would serve [Romney] well to remember.”
* In Pennsylvania, a new Quinnipiac poll shows President Obama leading Romney in a hypothetical match-up, 47% to 40%,
* The same poll, by the way, shows Sen. Bob Casey (D) looking like a safe bet for re-election. In a hypothetical match-up against a Republican opponent, Casey leads 47% to 32%.
* If Newt Gingrich were still a serious candidate, this new controversy surrounding misuse of non-profit resources would probably be pretty damaging.
* New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) once again made clear that he will not be a presidential candidate in 2012, despite efforts to recruit him into the race. “I’m 100 percent certain I’m not going to run,” the governor told CNN last night.
* The special election in California’s 36th features one of the most offensive ads in recent memory, created by the new Turn Right USA PAC, and targeting Angeles Councilwoman Janice Hahn (D). Voters will choose the district’s new lawmaker on July 12.
