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:
* For months, it's looked as if the presidential race has been unusually stable, but the latest ABC News/Washington Post data found that one in four voters still considers themselves persuadable.
* Mitt Romney has talked about running the country like a business, and today, he went further, referring to the United States as a "company," instead of a "country."
* It seems hard to believe, but Public Policy Polling shows Sen. Claire McCaskill (D) leading Rep. Todd Akin (R) by only one point, 45% to 44%.
* On a related note, Karl Rove was heard at a fundraiser saying, "We should sink Todd Akin. If he's found mysteriously murdered, don't look for my whereabouts!"
* And speaking of Akin, the right-wing Senate candidate has relied on a small, amateur staff to help run his campaign, but Rick Tyler, the former spokesman for Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign, is apparently headed to Missouri to give Akin a hand.
* Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.), in a tough re-election fight in his Miami district, was asked yesterday to defend the lies Paul Ryan told in his convention speech. "That's between Paul Ryan and the speechwriters. Not me," West replied.
* Despite President Obama's rescue of the American auto industry, his lead in Michigan is quite small -- the latest EPIC-MRA poll shows the president leading Romney by only three points, 49% to 46%, down from a six-point advantage.
* National Republicans appear to be giving up on the Senate race in New Mexico, concluding that Rep. Martin Heinrich (D) is unlikely to stumble against former Rep. Heather Wilson (R).
* And in Alabama, Democrats have successfully forced Harry Lyon off the statewide ballot as their nominee for chief justice of the state Supreme Court, replacing him with Jefferson County Circuit Judge Bob Vance. Lyon is virulently anti-gay and anti-immigrant, and Alabama Dems found him offensive and embarrassing.
