Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* As Nikki Haley prepared to hold her first public event as a Republican presidential candidate, South Carolina Democrats circled the Charleston Visitors Center with a mobile billboard, highlighting Haley’s previous praise for her 2024 primary rival, Donald Trump.
* On a related note, Haley has already picked up her first — and so far, only — congressional endorsement: Rep. Ralph Norman, a fellow South Carolina Republican and a highly controversial election denier, threw his support behind the former ambassador and former governor this morning.
* Speaking of endorsements, Republican Rep. Harriet Hageman enjoyed Donald Trump’s backing in her Wyoming primary campaign against former Rep. Liz Cheney, and now the congresswoman is returning the favor, endorsing the former president’s 2024 comeback bid.
* In West Virginia, the good news for Sen. Joe Manchin is that a new poll from the Senate Leadership Fund, the top Republican super PAC with close ties to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, showed the Democratic incumbent with comfortable leads over two potential Republican opponents: Rep. Alex Mooney and state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey. The bad news for Manchin is that the same poll showed him trailing Gov. Jim Justice in a hypothetical matchup. * Ahead of his likely presidential campaign, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is effectively bragging about his indifference to the Jan. 6 attack. Reminded this week that in his 400-page book there’s just one sentence on the Capitol riot, the Kansas Republican responded, “Yep. I’d do it exactly the same way again.” * And in case there were any lingering doubts about Sen. Ted Cruz’s electoral plans next year, the Texas Republican told a group of supporters this week that he’s skipping the 2024 presidential race and seeking a third term to the Senate.
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."
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