Bunning NOT running for reelection

[BM]

It's finally official.

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

[minionofmidas]

I urge Mr Bunning to reconsider.

[Хahar 🤔]

Wait, damn it. R hold?

[BM]

Hopefully this will help Rand Paul's candidacy get more attention.

[Rowan]

Thank you lordy.

[Meeker]

Very unfortunate. Jack Conway's still running a very respectable campaign though.

[Sewer]

Hopefully this will help Rand Paul's candidacy get more attention.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

I urge Mr Bunning to reconsider.

Damn!

[Ronnie]

YESSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Safe R.

[Lief 🗽]

Safe R.

er... no?

[Ronnie]

Safe R.

er... no?

I have trouble thinking that a Dem could beat someone who is untainted, like Trey Grayson.  Plus, he has been raising large amounts of money and would certainly get the endorsements of all the major GOP politicos.

[SPC]

Hopefully this will help Rand Paul's candidacy get more attention.

[Lunar]

Today's been the worst day ever.

[Ronnie]

Today's been the worst day ever.

Other than this, why?

[Ronnie]

By the way, an official campaign announcement from Trey Grayson:

http://blog.treygrayson.com/2009/07/27/statement-from-secretary-of-state-trey-grayson-on-the-retirement-of-senator-jim-bunning/

[BM]

I agree - safe R.  Grayson raised something like $700,000 with just an exploratory committee, right?  And it's Kentucky.  And it's not 2006.

Sorry for the disappointment.  It'll still be an interesting race though.

[Lunar]

Conway's raised more money than everyone else combined, and he is fairly popular... if he can localize himself, I see no reason why he's not competitive.  Grayson will need to make a couple small mistakes, but I think that'd be enough.

[Ronnie]

Conway's raised more money than everyone else combined, and he is fairly popular... if he can localize himself, I see no reason why he's not competitive.  Grayson will need to make a couple small mistakes, but I think that'd be enough.

Well, Conway has his campaign up and running, while Grayson just has his exploratory committee website up.  I'm sure that makes at least a little bit of a difference..

[Lunar]

Sure, but my point was that Conway isn't something to sneeze at.  It's certainly tilting Republican, but...just like Brad Henry would have had a shot at Oklahoma's seat if Coburn retired, this still has to unfold.

Conway is, of course, much more liberal than Kentucky is willing to elect and if Mongiardo stays in the race and forces Conway to advertise his more liberal positions on stopping mountaintop removal and not stoning gay people, perhaps Conway could end up in the pooper.  Conway seems to have his act together, so I expect him to campaign as a hardcore blue dog.  If he wins, I wouldn't be too surprised if he voted liberally and ran for president instead of reelection like Edwards, haha.

Are you saying you wouldn't vote for this dreamer with a ridiculously angophile name?



Anyway, Conway can point to some of his stuff he's done that has Kentucky-appeal, as Conway's been planning this campaign for some time and has gone after sex predators and that sort of stuff.

[Ronnie]

Of course he is nothing to sneeze at.  He won his AG race by 21 points.  Grayson didn't do half bad either, winning his secretary of state race by 14.2 points.

I'm thinking that this will ultimately be a political environment race, with factors such as Obama's popularity, economy, health care, etc. all playing major roles.  If Grayson can successfully convey that Conway will be an Obama lap dog, then the race is his.  This is a no brainer of course.

The GOP better not take the race for granted and I acknowledged this for some time.

[Lunar]

I was mostly disagreeing with Becca's "Safe R."  I consider this more of a tossup than, say, Illinois or Louisiana, and both of those have smart politicians betting their career on the race as well.

Conway will attempt to make headlines by criticizing the president on some key issues, most likely.  Grayson will never run an ad without the words "liberal" and "Obama" in them, haha.

[Aizen]

Great. How are we supposed to get to 70 seats now?

[BM]

Yeah, "Safe R" is probably an exaggeration. Republicans will to still have to fight and devote attention/resources to the race in order to hold the seat, but I still wouldn't bet much on a takeover. I am disappointed we won't get any crazy Bunning antics though.  The man brought a teleprompter to a debate in 2004. Who knows what he'd do with 6 more years of senility.

[Holmes]

Is anyone else happy that all the older senators are being replaced by younger ones though?