Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* The latest national poll from Monmouth University shows Democrats with a seven-point advantage over Republicans on the generic congressional ballot, 48% to 41%.
* Speaking of surveys, the latest Gallup poll found Donald Trump’s approval rating climbing to 45% — the highest level of support since the president’s first month in office — but a new CNN poll shows Trump’s approval rating slipping to 39%, from 41% last month.
* In Wisconsin’s U.S. Senate race, Republican Leah Vukmir has a new ad in which she addresses voters from a dinner table, sitting alongside a gun, and vowing to stand with Trump. She’ll face Kevin Nicholson in a GOP primary on Aug. 14.
* Though the story hasn’t received much pickup in Missouri media, KZRG reported the other day that disgraced former Republican Gov. Eric Greitens is “entertaining the idea” of running for the U.S. Senate as an independent, setting up a possible three-way contest with Sen. Claire McCaskill (D) and state Attorney General Josh Hawley (R).
* In North Dakota, a new Mason-Dixon poll found Rep. Kevin Cramer (R) with a four-point lead over incumbent Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D), 48% to 44%. * On a related note, Cramer’s new television ad goes after Hillary Clinton, who left public office more than six years ago. * Speaking of Clinton, the former secretary of state yesterday endorsed former HHS Secretary Donna Shalala’s (D) congressional campaign in Miami. Shalala, among other things, is a former president of the Clinton Foundation. * And Stormy Daniels took her tour to Chicago the other day, where she joked with the Chicago Tribune, “I don’t know, should I run for president?” After laughing, she added, “The terrifying thing is, I might win.”
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
