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:
* In New Jersey's U.S. Senate special election, Rep. Rush Holt (D) is generally considered an underdog, but released a two-minute video yesterday drawing contrasts between himself and Newark Mayor Corey Booker.
* In Massachusetts' U.S. Senate special election, the Boston Globe editorial board endorsed Rep. Ed Markey (D), concluding, "[F]or voters, this election shouldn't be a close call."
* In the first evidence that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's (I) efforts are working, a Big Apple fundraiser scheduled in support of Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska), was called off this week when big-money financiers canceled the event.
* For his part, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) hopes to persuade Bloomberg to take a different approach, telling reporters that he spoke to the mayor "to remind him that a Republican-controlled Senate is a sure sign that we'll never, ever get anything done" on gun safety.
* Speaking of Alaska, the Republican primary in the race to take on Begich is heating up a bit, with Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell saying he's a safer candidate than right-wing activist Joe Miller. "I believe I don't scare people. Joe does sometimes," Treadwell said.
* Democrats had a very successful fundraising month in May, with the DSCC bringing in $4.9 million for the month -- the committee's best-ever May in a non-election year -- and the DCCC raising $6.1 million over the same period.
* Was the CNN poll showing President Obama's approval rating tanking an outlier? Perhaps -- a new Pew Research shows the president's standing weathering the recent storms and holding steady.