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 case you missed it over the weekend, the Des Moines Register‘s new Iowa Poll shows Herman Cain leading among likely caucusgoers with 23%, followed by Mitt Romney with 22%.
* Also, while Rick Perry’s campaign floated the possibility of skipping upcoming debates, the Texas governor has agreed to participate in all of the next five scheduled events.
* Ron Paul told CNN yesterday he has no “intention” of running for president on a third-party ticket, and has “no plans” to do so, but he did not categorically rule it out, either.
* A new University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll shows Perry running second among Republicans in his own home state, trailing Herman Cain by one point, 27% to 26%. Romney is a distant fourth in Texas, with just 9% support among Republicans in the state.
* To the disappointment of the DSCC, Rep. Jim Matheson (D) of Utah announced late Friday that he will not run for the Senate next year, effectively taking Sen. Orrin Hatch’s (R) seat out of play.
* With a week to go before Kentucky’s gubernatorial election, GOP nominee David Williams has a new closing ad that doesn’t feature him at all. Incumbent Gov. Steve Beshear (D) is heavily favored to win a second term.
* In Wisconsin, the latest survey from Public Policy Polling shows President Obama leading all of his GOP challengers in hypothetical match-ups, but by modest margins. Romney, for example, trails the president by only three, 46% to 43%.
* And in Oregon, where there’s a special election coming up to replace former Rep. David Wu (D), state Sen. Suzanne Bonamici has a 34-point lead in the Democratic primary. She appears likely to take on Rob Cornilles, the GOP frontrunner.
