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 Obama campaign unveiled several new ads over the last few days, including this back-to-basics spot going after Mitt Romney over his low tax rate. (Incidentally, Romney's secret tax returns still matter.)
* For his part, Romney's new ad goes after Vice President Biden for laughing during last week's debate with Paul Ryan.
* The new Washington Post/ABC News poll shows President Obama leading Romney by three, 49% to 46%. In swing states, the president's lead is slightly larger, 51% to 46%.
* In Ohio, Public Policy Polling now shows Obama ahead by five over Romney, 51% to 46%. The same poll shows Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) leading Josh Mandel (R) by seven, 49% to 42%.
* In Florida, PPP shows Romney pulling ahead, narrowly leading the president, 49% to 48%.
* In North Carolina, PPP also shows Romney with a narrow advantage, up by two over Obama, 49% to 47%. A High Point University poll released Friday, however, found Obama up by one, 46% to 45%.
* As the race enters the final stretch, Romney and his super PAC allies are investing heavily in 11th-hour advertising: "Ad purchases in the presidential race doubled or in some cases tripled last week in swing states such as Colorado, Florida, Iowa and Virginia."
* In Colorado, a SurveyUSA on behalf of the Denver Post found Romney up by one over Obama, 48% to 47%.
* In a very-hard-to-believe poll out of Arizona, a Rocky Mountain Poll found Obama ahead, 44% to 42%. Note: the Obama campaign has not shown any indication of treating Arizona as a battleground.
* And the Obama campaign announced over the weekend that it has passed 4 million donors for the cycle -- a record for either party in any race.
