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:
* There have been all kinds of New Hampshire polls released over the last few days, and all show the same thing: Mitt Romney with significant, double-digit leads. There’s a competitive race for second place, though.
* A week from tomorrow is the South Carolina GOP primary, and Romney’s leading there, too. The latest CNN/Time/ORC poll shows Romney leading Rick Santorum by 18 points, while PPP shows Romney leading Newt Gingrich by seven points.
* And soon after South Carolina is Florida’s Republican primary, where Romney is also leading. A new Quinnipiac poll shows Romney leading with 36%, followed by Gingrich at 24%, and Santorum at 16%.
* Santorum enjoyed a massive fundraising spike after Iowa, but the funds came in too late for a major ad push in New Hampshire.
* Speaking of fundraising, Gingrich’s Super PAC is getting an extra $5 million from Sheldon Adelson.
* Ron Paul said over the weekend that he’s “essentially” ruled out running as an independent against the eventual GOP nominee. He added, however, “I don’t see why a person can’t reserve judgment and see how things turn out.”
* In a move that would be fatal in a general election, Santorum has endorsed immediate cuts to Social Security benefits.
* It’s a little late in the game, but Jon Huntsman and Santorum have each picked up their first and only endorsements from sitting members of Congress.
* And late last week, Democrat Bob Kerrey, the former Nebraska governor and senator, said he’s exploring a comeback bid, intending to run to replace Sen. Ben Nelson (D), who is retiring.
