Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* The next primary debate for the remaining Republican presidential candidates is scheduled for Thursday — just two days from today — but it now appears the event is in doubt: Former Ambassador Nikki Haley’s new position is that she won’t participate in any primary debates unless Donald Trump also agrees to appear on the stage.
* In keeping with his usual approach to reality, Trump boasted before the Iowa caucuses that he’d won the nominating contest twice before, and after the results were announced, the Republican boasted anew that he’d won the caucuses three times. In reality, Sen. Ted Cruz defeated Trump in Iowa in 2016, but the former president likes to pretend the race was “rigged.”
* In California’s open U.S. Senate race, the latest UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll, co-sponsored by The Los Angeles Times, found Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff leading the crowded field with 21% support, followed by Democratic Rep. Katie Porter with 17%. In the multi-party primary, Republican Steve Garvey, a former baseball player, was third in the poll with 13%, followed by Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee with 9%.
* In related news, Schiff last week unveiled a blueprint designed to bolster our democracy. The congressman’s plan, among other things, calls for an end to Senate filibusters and the electoral college.
* American Bridge 21st Century, a super PAC aligned with Democratic politics, announced a few days ago that it intends to spend $140 million in this year’s election cycle, investing in broadcast ads and direct mail in battleground states. * Sen. Rand Paul hasn’t yet made an official endorsement in his party’s presidential race, but the Kentucky Republican has apparently decided to invest his energies in trying to undermine Haley. Whether anyone will care about Paul’s efforts remains to be seen. * And Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia hosted a “listening session“ at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics over the weekend, as part of his ongoing flirtation with a possible third-party presidential campaign that Trump allies are desperate to see.
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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