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:
* In a fairly impressive display, the Obama/Biden campaign announced this morning that it and the DNC had raised a combined $70 million in the third quarter — and of the 766,000 donations that came in, 98% were $250 or less. The president continues to outraise the entirety of the Republican field combined. [corrected]
* With Nevada having moved its presidential caucuses to Jan. 14, New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner said yesterday he “cannot rule out the possibility of a December primary.” Gardner wants Nevada to move to Jan. 17 or later.
* On a related note, Jon Huntsman, desperate to curry favor with New Hampshire, is threatening to boycott Nevada unless it’s more cooperative with the nominating calendar.
* Herman Cain is now leading the GOP presidential race in some national polls, but not all. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released yesterday shows Mitt Romney leading Cain by four, 23% to 19%.
* Putting to rest any rumors, Vice President Biden said he will “absolutely, positively” be the VP nominee next year. “There’s never been a question about that,” he told NBC.
* Despite weak approval ratings, new polls from Time magazine and NBC/WSJ show President Obama leading all of his Republican challengers in hypothetical match-ups. Romney continues to come closest.
* On a related note, in Iowa, Public Policy Polling shows Obama’s approval rating down sharply, but he still leads all of his GOP opponents in hypothetical match-ups.
* New Jersey Gov. Chris Christe (R) didn’t categorically rule out running on Romney’s ticket if he wins the nomination, but the governor said there might be “other folks who, by their disposition, are more appropriately suited for vice president.”
* In Pennsylvania, Tim Burns, following a couple of failed U.S. House bids, has decided to run against Sen. Bob Casey (D) next year.
