Today's installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* With early voting in the presidential race just two months away, Joe Biden's campaign yesterday announced a $15 million ad blitz targeting six battleground states: Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Each of these states supported the Republican ticket in 2016.
* Speaking of ad campaigns, an NBC News analysis found that 52% of Donald Trump's campaign cable-television advertising is going toward Fox News. For the Biden campaign, 22% of the cable-television ad buys have gone toward Fox News, while a 23% plurality is going to CNN.
* In Kansas, retiring Sen. Pat Roberts (R) has been neutral in the Republican primary to take his place, but yesterday, he threw his support behind Rep. Roger Marshall (R), who's long been seen as the favorite of the GOP establishment. Marshall will face Kris Kobach and Bob Hamilton in an Aug. 4 primary.
* The Trump campaign claimed yesterday that it took in $20 million in its first virtual fundraiser of the year. That's an extraordinary one-day haul, especially from an event that featured very little overhead.
* Bryant “Corky” Messner, a Republican U.S. Senate candidate in New Hampshire, has described himself as an Army Ranger. That's apparently almost true, but not quite.
* Speaking of New England, the Bangor Daily News reported this week that the owners of a Maine brewery were originally told that some members of the Trump campaign were going to come in for a beer while getting pizza from an adjacent restaurant. Soon after, the owners discovered the campaign was instead advertising a formal "Women for Trump" event at the brewery. Feeling misled, the owners canceled the gathering.
* And in case there were any doubts about how foolish 2020 can get, the Trump campaign unveiled a new Spanish-language ad this morning, attacking Biden over a progressive boycott of Goya products. (If you were away last week and have no idea what this boycott is about, here's some background info.)