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:
* As Republicans pull out the stops to rescue Sen. Pat Roberts' (R) career in Kansas, a small army of national GOP figures are headed for Kansas to rally the base. Among them is former half-term Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
* We haven't seen much polling out of Alaska lately, so it was of great interest to see PPP show challenger Dan Sullivan (R) with a narrow lead over Sen. Mark Begich (D), 43% to 41%.
* In Alaska's closely watched gubernatorial race, the same PPP poll shows independent Bill Walker inching past incumbent Republican Gov. Sean Parnell, 42% to 41%.
* In Iowa's extremely competitive U.S. Senate, the DSCC has invested considerable energy in absentee ballots, and as of yesterday, Democratic officials believe "73 percent of the 23,000 unaffiliated voters who had requested ballots" are likely to support Rep. Bruce Braley (D) over state Sen. Joni Ernst (R).
* Speaking of PPP surveys, the same pollster now shows Rep. Gary Peters (D) leading Terri Lynn Land (R) in Michigan's U.S. Senate race, 47% to 40%.
* The same poll shows Gov. Rick Snyder (R) hanging on against Rep. Mark Schauer (D), 46% to 44%.
* In Massachusetts' gubernatorial race, Martha Coakley (D) leads Charlie Baker (R) in the latest Boston Globe poll, 39% to 36%.
* And Pennsylvania's gubernatorial race continues to be a blowout, at least according to the latest poll from Muhlenberg College, which shows Tom Wolf (D) crushing incumbent Gov. Tom Corbett (R), 54% to 33%.