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:
* Rick Perry began going after Mitt Romney over health care much more aggressively yesterday, crediting Romney’s Massachusetts law for paving the way for President Obama’s Affordable Care Act. “I think it’s important that we put as our nominee someone that does not blur the lines between President Obama and the Republican Party,” Perry told about 200 Republican activists in Iowa.
* Romney reflected yesterday on the type of running mate he’d choose if he wins the Republican presidential nomination. At a town-hall meeting in Arizona yesterday, the former Massachusetts governor said he’d pick someone like Dick Cheney, whom he described as “a man of wisdom and judgment.”
* As if Arizona weren’t causing enough fits for the Republican National Committee’s presidential nominating calendar, now Michigan is looking to move its primary to late February.
* Tom Ridge, the former DHS secretary and former Pennsylvania governor, is throwing his support to Jon Huntsman’s presidential campaign. Ridge, generally considered a GOP moderate, will make the announcement today in New Hampshire.
* In Connecticut, a new Quinnipiac poll shows wrestling executive Linda McMahon (R) and Rep. Chris Murphy (D) leading their respective Senate primary races. In a hypothetical match-up, Murphy leads McMahon by 11 points.
* In California, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D) has not yet said whether she’ll seek re-election next year, but if she does, she’ll have some ground to make up. A new Field Poll shows just 41% of state voters are inclined to give her another term.
* In Virginia’s closely-watched U.S. Senate race, George Allen (R) slammed Tim Kaine (D) last week for conducting out-of-state fundraising. This week, Allen left for California to engage in some out-of-state fundraising.
* David Axelrod has a new 2012 memo out, which emphasizes, among other things, the support President Obama enjoys from the Democratic base: “According to the latest NBC-WSJ poll, Democrats approve of his performance by an 81%-14% margin. That’s stronger than President Clinton’s support among Democrats at this point in his term and, according to Gallup, stronger than any Democratic President dating back to Harry Truman through this point in their presidency.”
