Bunning drops bid for re-election

[alfredo]

Source: Lexington Herald Leader/bluegrass Politics


Republican U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning has decided not to seek another term, saying he has not raised the necessary funds to run an effective campaign.
Bunning, who was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1999 and has been considered vulnerable in a rel-election bid, issued this statement Monday afternoon:

I have the same conservative principles in 2009 as I had when I was first elected to Congress in 1986. Over the past twenty-two years I have always done what I thought was right for Kentucky even if that meant taking positions that were not popular with the media or even leaders of my own party. Speaking out against bailouts and wasteful spending supported by the Republican leadership in the Senate and a Republican President last year angered many of my colleagues in my own party, but I didn’t run for public office for fame or public acclaim.

Read more: http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2009/07/27/bunning-drops-bid-for-re-election/

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I knew he'd drop.

[MADem]

1. That deserves a cheery K and R! nt

[SteppingRazor]

5. I gotta disagree actually.

I was really hoping he'd try to run for re-election. Kentucky just went from a tossup to a likely Republican safe seat.

[MADem]

7. I didn't think he had a chance of staying in the race.

Your point is well taken, though. Who's our candidate? Do we have one, yet?

[SteppingRazor]

9. We've got two.

Lt. Gov. Dan Mangiardo and state attorney general Jack Conway. I think Conway should win, but it'll be a pretty bruising primary.

Now that Bunning's out, I'd expect the state SoS to hop in the race. Forget his name, but I read that he was the likely choice if Bunning dropped out.

[alfredo]

14. Trey Grayson (R-assholeville)

[MADem]

18. Let the oppo research begin..... nt

[Bleacher Creature]

2. NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

I really thought we could take that seat as he was toast, and he knew it. Now we'll actually have run against a viable GOP candidate.

[LouKYDem]

8. Yeah, but...

even though there will be a viable GOP candidate (most likely Trey Grayson), this race looks good for Jack Conway. There is always a positive way to look at this--it gives Democrats a chance to put an active campaign together and prove that Kentucky is winnable. It would have just been kind of a giveaway if Bunning stayed in.

[alfredo]

10. Here's the guy I'd like to see as our senator

David O'Neill

He's a Good guy and hard worker for Democratic causes. He's not a blue dog. He's currently Fayette PVA.

[SteppingRazor]

11. On the other hand...

Grayson will probably run unopposed into the general election, while Mangiardo and Conway pick each other to pieces in the primary. So, even that's got it's downside.

[LouKYDem]

16. Mongiardo's campaign

I feel like he knows that his campaign is somewhat falling apart and think he'll probably step out of the race before the primary. But I could be way off on that too.

[alfredo]

20. Manjiardo has name recognition, but Conway is, as my sister says:

"A certified hunk." Dr Dan is too conservative for me. Bunning beat him by claiming Dan was gay and looked like a terrorist.

Jack Conway


"Dr Dan"

[LouKYDem]

21. Name recongition

I think Conway has more name recognition than Mongiardo, but then again, I may just be showing my Louisville biases here. I remember some Northup operatives started some false robocall rumors about Conway's own sexuality when she was running against him for KY-3 back in 2002...

[alfredo]

25. they always play the gay card.

[LouKYDem]

3. I was hoping he would stay in though...

having him in the race was one of the greatest blessings to the race, not only did he make a fool of himself and practically guarantee a loss, but he was also creating a blood bath among his fellow Republicans.

I think this race looks good for Conway going all the way to November of next year, but it would have been nice to have some entertainment along the way.

[David__77]

4. Very regretful.

I would like to see him continue.

[CherokeeDem]

6. Thank Goodness...

Now...we Kentucky Democrats need to get to work...the Attorney General and the Lt. Gov are running and surely we can get one of them elected! This nut case Bunning should have been gone a long time ago.

[rocktivity]

12. CUE THE VONAGE THEME!

He couldn't raise the necessary CREDIBILITY to run an effective campaign!

:woohoo:
rocktivity

[alfredo]

15. thanks to McConnell. Mitch holds the purse strings, and he wants Jim out.

[Jack Rabbit]

13. Well, there goes the best US Senator ever to pitch two no-hitters in the major leagues

No matter what else he is, he is that.

Hey, one was a perfect game.

[SteppingRazor]

17. Of course, he's also the worst US Senator to pitch two no-hitters in the major leagues.

;)

[Jack Rabbit]

22. Let's keep it positive

It's not everyday we have an opportunity to damn with faint praise such as that.

[JohnnyLib2]

19. Adios.

Not running is the most sensible thing he's done in several years.

[Vidar]

23. One less psychotic for the GOP.

[asksam]

24. WOO-HOO!! Another one drops on our way to 67!!

Another ReThug GONE!!

We're on our way to the magic number of 67 seats!

[alfredo]

26. Explain the significance of 67.

[asksam]

30. With 67...

... you can begin expelling ReThug senators. You can also start removing ReThug justices from the Supreme Court via impeachment.

[alfredo]

31. A super duper, super secret majority

[Truth2Tell]

27. Sen. Bunning says he will retire, won't seek third term

Source: Louisville Courier-Journal

Embattled U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning has announced that he will not seek re-election to a third term in 2010.

His decision ends months of speculation that he would drop out of the Senate race because of his inability to raise money, poor poll numbers and lack of support from top Republican officials.

Despite accepting contributions to his campaign since 2005, Bunning had less than $600,000 in the bank at the end of the second quarter, which ended in June.

Bunning has said that U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told him in December that he was too old to be re-elected


Read more: http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20090727/NEWS0106/907270346/1008/NEWS01/Sen.+Bunning+says+he+will+retire++won+t+seek+third+term

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Good. Fucking. Riddance.

[proReality]

28. Now if we could only get rid of McConnell the world would be a better place. n/t

[Captain Hilts]

29. Mitch McConnell won that one. nt

[alfredo]

32. I just wrote Bunning urging him to support the public option. As an aside

I mentioned it would piss off McConnell.

[Somawas]

33. Bunning (R. Ky) will not seek third term

Source: Washington Post

Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) announced Monday that he would not run for a third term in 2010, unhappily bowing to pressure from Republican leaders who had urged him to retire.

After a decade in the Senate, Bunning, a baseball Hall of Fame member, had seen his political star fade in the Bluegrass State, to the point that Republicans feared his seat would fall to Democrats next November if he remained on the ballot. Led by fellow Kentuckian and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, GOP leaders mounted an unsubtle campaign in recent months to persuade Bunning to hang up his spikes.

Bunning, 77, gave in to their entreaties Monday, but not before making sure to assign some blame, particularly for his anemic campaign war chest.

"Over the past year, some of the leaders of the Republican Party in the Senate have done everything in their power to dry up my fundraising," Bunning said in a statement. "The simple fact is that I have not raised the funds necessary to run an effective campaign for the U.S. Senate. For this reason, I will not be a candidate for re-election in 2010."


Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/27/AR2009072703026.html?hpid=politics

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Good riddance!

[lindisfarne]

34. dupe

[kestrel91316]

35. Wasn't he involved in some stupidity or hanky panky recently?

I seem to recall something.....

[gratuitous]

36. If it's Bunning, it's stupidity

There were persistent reports all through campaign 2004 that Bunning had lost not just a few mph off his fastball, but a few dozen points off his IQ. Fortunately, as the likes of Strom Thurmond proved, a man just has to have a mere moiety of his marbles to be a Republican Senator, so those stories mostly went away in the last five years. But I'd guess that if Bunning made the news at all in the last 12 months, it was probably for something eye-rollingly stupid.

[Name removed]

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