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Thursday's campaign round-up

<p>Today's installment of campaign-related news items that won't necessarily generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to

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 Congressional Campaign Committee launched its first television ad of the general-election season this morning, targeting Rep. Dan Benishek (R-Mich.) over entitlements. The spot doesn't explicitly reference Paul Ryan, but the DCCC does cite Benishek's vote on Ryan's budget plan.

* A new Franklin & Marshall College poll shows President Obama with a six-point lead over Mitt Romney in Pennsylvania, 44% to 38%. Two months ago, the same poll showed Obama up by 12.

* In Michigan, a Mitchell Research & Communications poll shows Obama leading Romney by five, 49% to 44%. In June, Obama's lead in the same poll was one point.

* Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is encouraging Obama to replace Joe Biden with Hillary Clinton on the Democratic ticket. And if there's one thing McCain is an expert on, it's picking running mates.

* A Boston Globe analysis published today found the Obama campaign's voter-registration efforts of late have been largely unsuccessful, and "Republican and independent [registration] gains are far outpacing those of Democrats."

* In Ohio's closely-watched U.S. Senate race, Public Policy Polling shows Sen. Sherrod Brown (D), who's scheduled to be on the show tonight, leading Josh Mandel (R) by 10 points, 47% to 37%.

* In Indiana's closely-watched U.S. Senate race, one partisan poll shows Joe Donnelly (D) up by two points, while another partisan poll shows Richard Mourdock (R) up by two points. Bottom line: this one will likely be close.

* And in Hawaii, former Gov. Linda Lingle (R) is running for the Senate, and posted a photo of her alongside President Obama on her Facebook page. Obama, a Hawaii native, remains quite popular in the state.