Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* We’re supposed to hear about Sen. Bob Corker’s (R-Tenn.) campaign plans “before Friday,” so I suppose that means he’ll have an announcement sometime today about whether he’s un-retiring or not.
* Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) reportedly made some curious comments yesterday, suggesting Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign should’ve done more about Russian intervention in the campaign. Politico reported, “Sanders and his former campaign manager, Jeff Weaver, presented a series of self-serving statements that were not accurate.”
* Though Donald Trump’s approval rating has inched higher in some recent polling, Quinnipiac shows the president’s support dropping to 37%. It was 40% in the same poll in early February. Gallup’s latest report also found Trump slipping from 40% to 37%.
* Because politics can be weird, Shannon Edwards, who reportedly had an extra-marital affair that ended the career of former Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.), is now running for Congress. She intends to run as a Republican against Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.) in his Pittsburgh-area district.
* It’s not just GOP leaders who are pressuring Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant (R) to appoint himself to replace ailing Sen. Thad Cochran (R); Trump has also reportedly pressured the governor on this. * Rep. Rod Blum (R-Iowa), a top target for Democrats in this year’s midterms, has reportedly violated House ethics rules “by failing to disclose his role in a company that he formed.” * And in Arizona, Republican congressional candidate Steve Montenegro is running as a Christian minister whose campaign emphasizes his “virtue, honor and integrity.” Some newly released text messages between Montenegro and a woman on his staff, however, have raised some awkward questions for the GOP candidate.
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
