Today's installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* With only two weeks remaining in Louisiana's gubernatorial race, Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne (R), who came up short in the primary round, has thrown his support to John Bel Edwards' (D) campaign. It's the Democrat's highest-profile Republican endorsement, and it's a major setback for Sen. David Vitter's (R) campaign.
* Marco Rubio was asked yesterday which non-political figure he'd like to have a beer with. One of the names that came to his mind: Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai. (Given that Yousafzai is both under-age and a practicing Muslim, she's probably not having beers with anyone.)
* After two consecutive campaign cycles in which the Bluegrass Poll hasn't been close to correct, the Lexington Herald-Leader has ended its partnership with Survey USA. Note, in this year's gubernatorial election, the Bluegrass Poll consistently showed Matt Bevin losing, including in a statewide survey released a few days ago. Bevin won by nine points.
* Ben Carson's campaign is releasing a new 60-second radio ad on "urban radio" in eight Southern cities. The commercial features portions of Carson’s stump speech along with music from rapper Aspiring Mogul.
* In a striking statistic, NBC News has found that Republican presidential super PACs have outspent Republican presidential campaigns themselves by a 20-to-1 margin this year.
* For the first time, Jeb Bush is opening up publicly about his daughters problems with drug addiction and run-ins with the law.
* Facing some concerns about his eligibility in New Hampshire's presidential primary, Bernie Sanders told the Wall Street Journal yesterday, “I am running in the Democratic primary process. I am now a Democrat.” I'm reasonably sure he's never said that before.
* And in Florida, where court-imposed redistricting might leave Rep. Dan Webster (R) without a seat, the Republican incumbent is considering a shift to Rep. Richard Nugent's (R) nearby district, since he's retiring at the end of this Congress.