By
Today's installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* With an NBC News op-ed and a new campaign video, Joe Biden tried to offer a more hopeful and unifying counterpart to Donald Trump on the 4th of July.
* On the heels of the debacle in Tulsa, the president's campaign team announced yesterday that it will hold a rally this Saturday, July 11, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. As part of the announcement, Team Trump noted that “there will be ample access to hand sanitizer and all attendees will be provided a face mask that they are strongly encouraged to wear.”
* In Maine's closely watched U.S. Senate race, Public Policy Polling's latest survey found Sara Gideon (D) leading incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R), 46% to 42%. The same results showed Biden leading Trump statewide, 53% to 42%.
* It's Primary Day in New Jersey and Delaware tomorrow, and there are some notable Garden State contests worth keeping an eye on.
* Three NBA teams -- and counting -- have volunteered to have local election officials use their facilities as voting sites in the fall. The organization More Than A Vote, led in part by LeBron James, is encouraging other teams to follow suit, asking, "Who's got next?"
* According to a New York Times report published over the holiday weekend, private GOP polling has found Trump trailing Biden "in Georgia and even Kansas," while in Montana, the president's lead is down to "less than five points."
* In what appears to be an unfortunate cut-and-paste mishap, Vice President Mike Pence sent out a fundraising appeal on Friday that referred to Trump as “my father.” Pence's pitch, which apparently went to prospective donors who haven't contributed, read in part, “I convinced my father to give you another chance, which is why he’s decided to EXTEND your PERSONAL 500%-MATCH OFFER FOR 1 MORE HOUR."