Today's installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* The details are little murky, but it appears a Bernie Sanders campaign staffer gained access to the Hillary Clinton campaign's confidential voter data through the DNC's voter-data system. Sanders fired the staffer, but the DNC is punishing the Sanders campaign by blocking its system access.
* Speaking of the Democratic race, on the eve of another debate night, a Boston Herald poll shows Sanders with a narrow lead over Clinton in New Hampshire, 48% to 46%.
* The news for Clinton is far better on the national level, where a Washington Post/ABC News poll shows her leading Sanders by 31 points, 59% to 28%.
* GOP megadonor Sheldon Adelson marveled yesterday at Donald Trump's "incredible" support, which leads Adelson to believe he should wait until later in the process to invest in the primaries. This isn't good news for Marco Rubio, who's spent months wooing Adelson.
* Jeb Bush's Right to Rise super PAC, which has been reluctant to go negative, is launching a new ad targeting Donald Trump, pointing to a well-received exchange from this week's debate.
* Citing security issues, Ben Carson is cancelling a scheduled trip to Africa. The Republican candidate had planned to visit Nigeria, Kenya, and Zambia at the end of December.
* As Rachel noted on the show last night, Mike Huckabee's struggling campaign is slashing the salaries of senior staffers, which is always a very bad sign. His campaign manager (and daughter) conceded the campaign "probably won't keep going" if Huckabee fails in Iowa.
* Rep. Charles Boustany (R) is the latest Republican to enter Louisiana's open U.S. Senate race, following Rep. John Fleming and retired Air Force Col. Rob Maness. The seat is currently held by Republican David Vitter, who is retiring on the heels of a failed gubernatorial campaign.
* On a related note, outgoing Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) a failed presidential candidate, said this week he will not be a Senate candidate in 2016.