The man needs his own TV show.
The latest Bunning hilarity: Kentucky's junior Senator is at war with GOP el jefe Mitch McConnell, fellow Kentuckian and Senate Minority Leader.
He notes (rather aptly, it must be said) that McConnell's leadership has been a huge factor in decimating the GOP Senate caucus, and compares his selfishness to that of the Republicans' new "traitor".
"It is the fact that Arlen Specter is probably as selfish as our leader is in trying to survive, that’s the only way he thought he would survive in the U.S. Senate," Bunning said.
"Do you know Arlen Specter will be 80, has had four bouts with cancer and he still wants to run for the U.S. Senate?" Bunning continued. "And I’m being criticized at 77 and healthy for wanting to run for the U.S. Senate by certain leadership people in my party. Give me a break."
Asked if the leadership he was referring to was McConnell, Bunning answered: "Obviously. Do you want me to spell it out for you?"
He said: "Do you realize that under our dynamic leadership of our leader, we have gone from 55 and probably to 40 (Senate seats) in two election cycles, and if the tea leaves that I read are correct, we will wind up with about 36 after this election cycle. So if leadership means anything, it means you don’t lose ... approximately 19 seats in three election cycles with good leadership."
Well!
Bunning may be right about the GOP losing four more seats, although it must be said that if that happens, his own seat would almost certainly be one of them.
He makes it so easy for us, after all...that is, assuming he's the nominee. Which is no safe assumption, as Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson is exploring the race as well:
Bunning told Kentucky reporters on his weekly conference call that the only way he would abandon his re-election effort would be if he did not meet his fundraising goals later this year. [...]
As for Grayson's exploratory committee, Bunning said he recommended it so Grayson could raise money for a future political race.
"He's a dear friend, and I thought this would be a way for him not to have to travel around the state and still gather up some money for any federal office he chooses to run for," Bunning said on the call, according to WFPL news radio.
Mark Nickolas opines:
MY ANALYSIS: Bunning's comment in the NPR story about only considering "abandoning the race" if he failed to meet his fundraising goals is the most lucid comment made this year by someone who's not considered very lucid to begin with. Keep in mind that Bunning's publicly-stated first quarter fundraising goal was $2 million but he raised just $262,000, and that was before Grayson entered the race. Bunning's second quarter is likely to be equally dismal for him, while Grayson will probably report $1 million to $2 million in contrast since McConnell must do everything he can (as does NRSC Chairman John Cornyn) to show that Grayson has the heft to knock-off Bunning and hold on to this seat, which remains easily the most vulnerable in this cycle if Bunning remains their nominee.
It seems as though Bunning realizes his fundraising prospects are toast but he's determined to go out on his own terms and not be seen as someone who got pushed out of the race by McConnell, who he clearly loathes these days. I suspect Bunning will more likely fade out of the picture as the year develops and becomes an after-thought for Republicans as they continue to rally around Grayson, who will probably have $5 million or more in the bank by year's end. The end seems near for Bunning, despite our hopes that he would be the 2010 version of Rick Santorum. McConnell is not going to allow himself to be embarrassed by losing the other seat in his own state.
Bunning actually makes quite a bit of sense for once. He can't run with no money, and surely his own polling numbers tell him he's cooked. Everyone knows it, too.
He's right that Senate losses over the past two cycles (though McConnell was not Leader in the 2006 cycle) have taken much of the luster off of his leadership.
In all likelihood, we're not going to have Bunning to kick around in 2010. He's going to run for as long as he can: the money won't be there, and he'll quit by the beginning of next year.
