Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In New Hampshire, a newly released Monmouth poll found Pete Buttigieg leading the Democratic presidential field with 20% support, followed closely by Joe Biden at 19%, Bernie Sanders at 18%, and Elizabeth Warren at 15%. Amy Klobuchar, who had 6%, was in fifth place in the poll, and every other candidate was below 5%.
* On a related note, ahead of next week’s Democratic presidential primary debate, the Monmouth results didn’t help any candidate get closer to qualifying for the debate. The polling cutoff is tomorrow.
* Buttigieg’s Democratic presidential campaign picked up an important endorsement when Rep. Anthony Brown (D-Md.) threw his support behind the mayor and agreed to serve as a national campaign co-chairman. It’s Buttigieg’s first endorsement from a member of the Congressional Black Caucus.
* With Donald Trump’s impeachment trial looming, Cory Booker told the Associated Press the Senate proceedings could deal a “big, big blow” to his presidential campaign, especially with time running out ahead of Iowa’s Feb. 3 caucuses.
* Facebook announced this morning that it’s sticking to its current advertising policies, which allow candidates to lie to the public. * In Arizona’s closely watched U.S. Senate race, Public Policy Polling’s latest survey found astronaut Mark Kelly (D) leading appointed Sen. Martha McSally (R), 46% to 42%. If Democrats are going to have any chance of winning a Senate majority, this will be a critical contest. * And in Mississippi, where former Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy (D) hopes to become the state’s first elected African-American U.S. senator, outgoing Gov. Phil Bryant (R) raised a few eyebrows the other day when he said via Twitter, “I intend to work for [incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith] as if the fate of America depended on her single election. If Mike Espy and the liberal Democrats gain the Senate we will take that first step into a thousand years of darkness.”
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
