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 Rachel noted on the show last night, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) has hired Jamie Johnson to serve as the senior of director of the governor's political action committee. Johnson, a former Rick Santorum aide, is perhaps best known for suggesting God does not want a woman serving as president.
* Asked to explain the hiring decision, Perry told reporters yesterday, "I'm the candidate. And my views are the ones that matter." (Note to Perry: you're not yet a "candidate." Describing yourself as one causes legal problems you'd prefer to avoid.)
* Speaking of stories from last night's show, Hillary Clinton delivered a paid speech in New Jersey yesterday to the Tri-State CAMP Conference. "I think we have a fun deficit in America," the likely presidential candidate said to applause.
* How serious is Louisiana's budget problem? At this point, Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) hasn't set aside money for the state's presidential primaries in 2016. Given that Jindal's name is likely to be on the ballot, this seems like a fairly serious problem.
* In fundraising news, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee outraised the National Republican Senatorial Committee in February, $4.3 million to $3.8 million.
* Speaking of the NRSC, the Republicans' committee continues to push robo-calls attacking Sens. Harry Reid, Michael Bennet, Richard Blumenthal, Ron Wyden, and Patty Murray in their respective states for opposing a human-trafficking bill with anti-abortion language.
* And in South Dakota, the DSCC hoped to recruit former U.S. Attorney Brendan Johnson (D) to run against Sen. John Thune (R) next year, but Johnson has declined. He is perhaps best known in political circles as former Sen. Tim Johnson's (D) son.