Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In his first 24 hours after kicking off his re-election campaign, Donald Trump raised more than $24 million. Most Democratic presidential hopefuls have struggled to raise anything close to that over the course of a few months.
* A USA Today/Suffolk poll released this morning found former Vice President Joe Biden (D) leading the Democratic presidential primary field with 30%, followed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) with 15% support and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) with 10%. Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D) was close behind with 9%, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) was fifth with 8%, and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), at 2%, was the only other candidate above 1%.
* Speaking of polls, a Quinnipiac poll released yesterday found Biden with a big lead in Florida, where he enjoys 41% support. Sanders was second with 14%, followed by Warren at 12%. Largely mirroring the national picture, Buttigieg was fourth with 8%, while Harris was fifth with 6%. No other candidate topped 1%.
* That same poll found each of the top Democratic contenders leading Trump in Florida in hypothetical match-ups, though Biden, with a nine-point advantage, did the best.
* In Alabama, disgraced former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore (R) will announce today whether he’s launching another U.S. Senate campaign ahead of the 2020 race. [Update: It now appears Moore’s announcement will happen tomorrow, not today.] * Brad Parscale, Trump’s 2020 campaign manager, told CBS News yesterday that polls are less reliable now because the electorate is so “complex.” As a rule, that’s not a message campaign managers share when the polls look good for their candidates. * In unfortunate comments, Biden yesterday cited his experience with segregationist-era senators as an example of the “civility” that used to exist in the Senate. * And as hard as this may seem to believe, outgoing White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is reportedly “seriously considering” a gubernatorial campaign in Arkansas. Her last day in the West Wing is next week; the Arkansas race isn’t until 2022.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past." Recommended
