By
Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Why is President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign feeling good about his State of the Union address? Between 9:00 p.m. and 10 p.m. eastern, the campaign had the best hour of fundraising this election cycle. Between 10:00 p.m. and 11 p.m. eastern, Team Biden broke the record that it set an hour earlier.
* On a related note, NBC News reported that the incumbent Democratic president “raised $1.5 million online in the 24 hours following Super Tuesday, marking one of its highest single-day hauls of the cycle so far.”
* Despite Donald Trump repeatedly saying that Biden is “not too old,” a super PAC backing the former president is launching a new attack ad, targeting the Democratic incumbent over his age.
* Speaking of the former president, Trump’s allies are reaching out to voters in minority communities with images of the Republican surrounded by smiling Black people. An Associated Press report noted, “Odd lighting and too-perfect details provide clues to the fact they were all generated using artificial intelligence.”
* Indicted Sen. Bob Menendez told CNN yesterday that he will not resign. Asked if he intended to run for re-election in the fall, the New Jersey Democrat added, “That’s a different question.”
* I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised, but disgraced former Republican Rep. George Santos has announced that he’s launching a comeback bid in New York’s 1st district.
* As the No Labels operation continues to look for a national candidate, independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has reportedly ruled out a third-party presidential campaign.
* On Capitol Hill, the race for Senate Republican whip — the #2 position in the GOP leadership — appears to be over before it starts. Current Senate Republican Conference Chair John Barrasso of Wyoming, who does not yet have a rival, believes he’s already locked up enough intraparty support to get the job.
* And as the Republican National Committee convenes its spring meeting, today is RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel’s last day at her post. Attendees are poised to elect a new RNC leadership team made up of North Carolina Republican Party Chair Michael Whatley and Lara Trump, the former president’s daughter-in-law.