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:
* The Democratic National Committee is launching a new initiative intended to combat voter-suppression policies at the state level. As part of the effort, the DNC released this video on the subject, starring former President Clinton.
* Rep. Ed Pastor (D) of Arizona announced yesterday he'll retire at the end of the year, wrapping up 11 terms in Congress. Democrats are not concerned about keeping the seat -- President Obama won this district by a whopping 45 points.
* Planned Parenthood's political arm announced this week it expects to invest $18 million in this year's midterm elections. [Disclosure: my wife works for Planned Parenthood, but played no role in this blog post.]
* In Michigan, Senate Majority PAC is coming to Rep. Gary Peters' (D) defense after Americans for Prosperity launched attack ads targeting his U.S. Senate campaign.
* And speaking of Michigan, the latest statewide poll shows both Peters and Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Mark Schauer with modest leads in their respective 2014 races.
* The Republican National Committee yesterday named its finalists for hosting the party's 2016 convention. The list features Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dallas, Denver, Kansas City, Las Vegas, and Phoenix.
* Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), apparently unconcerned about enraging his colleagues, said yesterday he might yet intervene in Republican primaries this year.
* And in California, Gov. Jerry Brown (D) told reporters yesterday he's "ready to go" in his campaign for another term.