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Today's installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* The hour after Kamala Harris joined Joe Biden's ticket late yesterday was the best hour for the campaign's fundraising to date. What's more, the New York Times reported that ActBlue, the main donation-processing platform for Democrats, "reported more than $10.8 million in donations between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon."
* A great observation from Jeff Greenfield: since 1944, a sitting U.S. senator became the Democratic vice-presidential nominee in every race except one. The exception was Geraldine Ferraro in 1984. (The 1972 race should come with an asterisk, though, since then-Sen. Thomas Eagleton withdrew after initially being added to George McGovern's ticket.)
* In Minnesota yesterday, incumbent Rep. Ilhan Omar prevailed over a well-funded Democratic primary challenger in the state's 5th congressional district. She's heavily favored to win the general election.
* Speaking of yesterday's primaries, Thomas Gilmer, the Republican congressional candidate in Connecticut's 2nd district, abruptly ended his candidacy the morning of the race after he was arrested in a violent confrontation with an ex-girlfriend. As of this morning, Gilmer appears to be on track to win the primary anyway. (Many votes were cast before the candidate's arrest.)
* The latest national Monmouth poll found Biden leading Donald Trump, 51% to 41%. And while that may seem like bad news for the incumbent president, Monmouth found Biden ahead by 13 points in June, suggesting the race has narrowed a bit of late.
* In Wisconsin, which is likely to be a key 2020 battleground, the latest Marquette Law School poll found Biden leading Trump, 49% to 44%. In June, the same poll found the former vice president ahead by six points in the state.
* In Maine's closely watched U.S. Senate race, a Bangor Daily News poll released yesterday showed Sara Gideon (D) leading incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R) by eight points among registered voters, and five points among likely voters.
* As Republican operatives continue to try to get Kanye West on the presidential ballot, the entertainer reportedly met in Colorado last week with Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and a leading Trump adviser.
* Something new to bookmark: FiveThirtyEight's election forecast is now up. As of this morning, it shows Biden with a 71% chance of winning the race.
* And using the kind of rhetoric I fear will become quite common, Trump told Fox Sports Radio yesterday that "some people would say that men are insulted" by Biden's insistence on having a woman on his 2020 ticket. The Republican quickly added, however, "And some people would say it's fine. I don't know." The president made the comments several hours before the Harris announcement.