Today's installment of campaign-related news items that won't necessarily generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers:
* In Iowa, a new NBC/Marist poll shows a very competitive race for the Republican presidential nomination, with former Gov. Mike Huckabee at 17, former Gov. Jeb Bush at 16%, and Gov. Scott Walker at 15%. No other candidate reaches double digits.
* In New Hampshire, the same NBC/Marist poll shows a four-way contest in the GOP presidential primary, with Bush at 18%, Walker at 15%. Sen. Rand Paul at 14%, and Gov. Chris Christie fourth with 13%.
* In South Carolina, the same poll showed home-state Sen. Lindsey Graham leading in the presidential primary with 17%, followed by Bush at 15%, Walker at 12%, and Huckabee and Ben Carson tied for fourth with 10% each.
* On the Democratic side, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton enjoys one-sided support in all three early nominating states in the NBC/Marist poll.
* Digging through the NBC/Marist poll, an interesting Senate tidbit jumped out: if New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan (D) challenges Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R) next year, the Democrat would stand a pretty good chance -- she leads by four, 48% to 44%, in a hypothetical match-up.
* In honor of Valentine's Day, Rand Paul created a fake Pinterest page to mock Hillary Clinton. The senator apparently thought Benghazi jokes would be funny in this context.
* On a related note, the Kentucky senator twice claimed last week to have a biology degree. That's not quite true. [He has a medical degree, but no Bachelor's degree.]
* Chris Christie, who reportedly had to "make a round of calls to assure [supporters] that he does support vaccinations," is facing "growing skepticism from influential Republicans about his likely presidential run."
* And former First Lady Barbara Bush said last year that there had been "enough Bushes" in the White House and she hoped her son Jeb wouldn't run. "If we can't find more than two or three families to run for higher office, that's silly," she said at the time. Late last week, Barbara Bush announced, "I changed my mind!"