Bunning in His Own Words

Twice during Sen. Jim Bunning's conference call with reporters, an ambulance blared its siren in the background. It seemed a fitting sound effect for a campaign that does not have enough energy (or money) to get off the ground.

Bunning was quite articulate -- and genuinely conservative -- when discussing policy. That made the rest of the call even sadder: when taking questions about his own race, Bunning sounded unhinged. His logic became hard to follow and his tone became shrill and condescending.

For example, Bunning said that he won't be doing much polling not because his campaign is broke but rather because "there are a lot of free polls coming out so why should I poll?" He cited the Courier-Journal as an example of a "non-partisan poll" that he could rely on. And he did not appear to be joking or engaging in sarcasm. To be sure, whatever media outlet commissions a poll would like us to accept it as non-partisan, but that's a leap of faith no serious candidate can afford to take.

However, Bunning is not relying on the C-J to get him reelected. He's talking to a former adviser from the McCain campaign (and we know how well that turned out). Heaven help the poor man.

Bunning insisted that it was his idea for Secretary of State Trey Grayson to form an exploratory committee for statewide federal office, and that he "would have preferred Trey filed earlier." Yet Bunning maintains that the Greyson exploratory committee could be used down the road: "people don't always run in the year they file."

He conceded that Grayson's exploratory committee could be used for the 2010 Senate race but said that it also could be used for "some larger race in 2011." Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but there is no federal race in Kentucky in 2011 -- barring a special election.

He denied that the Grayson committee would dry up his own fundraising, in direct contradiction of his complaint that Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell's fundraising had precluded Bunning from raising much money by competing for scarce dollars.

Bunning's logic on McConnell was flawed in other respects. On the one hand, he complained that McConnell "wants to run everybody." On the other hand, Bunning attributed every Republican Senate seat lost to McConnell. He called McConnell "selfish," notwithstanding that it was McConnell who saved Bunning from losing his last election. Bunning's real problem is that he cannot win without McConnell once again rescuing him.

Bunning said he "won't walk into 2010 with less than $1 million," conceding that the race will cost between $7-10 million. His next financial report is due in mid July.

Thank goodness Trey Grayson is not waiting to mid July to see the inevitable -- that Bunning's 30 year career in public service, while honorable and consistently conservative, is coming to an end that's painful to watch.