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:
* Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) will reportedly kick off his presidential campaign this afternoon. More on this story a little later this afternoon.
* In the new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, Jeb Bush leads his party's 2016 field at the national level with 23% support, followed by Marco Rubio with 18%, and Scott Walker at 14%.
* The NBC poll also found Hillary Clinton with the best favorability numbers of any national presidential candidate. The Democratic frontrunner also leads each of her Republican rivals in hypothetical general-election match-ups, by margins ranging from 4 points (vs. Rand Paul) to 10 points (vs. Scott Walker).
* Finally, note that President Obama's approval rating in the NBC poll ticked up to 48%, his strongest support in nearly two years. That's 13 points better than George W. Bush's standing at this point eight years ago, and it has the potential to make a big difference in the next election.
* A week after a few dozen House Republicans voted to delay protections for veterans against predatory lenders, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is launching "digital and direct mail ads" targeting some of the GOP lawmakers who sided with the banking industry.
* In Florida's open U.S. Senate race, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has already thrown its support behind Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Fla.), despite the fact that the field is not yet settled. The endorsement was unwelcome news for Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.), who's expressed an interest in the statewide campaign.
* On a related note, Grayson's girlfriend is reportedly interested in running for his U.S. House seat if the Democratic congressman runs for the Senate.
* In Kentucky, where the state's gubernatorial race is now six months away, state Agriculture Commissioner James Comer, one of the leading Republican candidates, is now facing abuse allegations from a former girlfriend.
* And at a forum last week, Jeb Bush joked, "I've been tooting my own horn about my record as governor. Since no one else is going to toot it, I've got to be the person that does it." As a rule, that's probably not the sort of thing a presidential candidate is supposed to joke about.