Bunning bitter towords GOP establishment

[Matt Collins]

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/25479.html

In a parting shot at Senate GOP leadership, Bunning appeared to accuse fellow Kentuckian and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of freezing him out from the fundraising he would need to mount a serious Senate campaign. Bunning said that Washington Republicans had “done everything in their power” to force him out.




“To win a general election, a candidate has to be able to raise millions of dollars to get the message out to voters,” Bunning said. “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. The simple fact is that I have not raised the funds necessary to run an effective campaign for the U.S. Senate.”

McConnell’s actions “made it harder for Bunning, because he had to give in to McConnell,” said Al Cross, a state political expert at the University of Kentucky. “If McConnell didn’t take the stance he did, you wouldn’t see as many Bunning contributors giving to [Trey] Grayson.”

“Now it’s gone from going to a seat where it was a guaranteed Republican loss, and it’s now a tossup. We now have a 50 percent chance of winning,” said a senior GOP aide. “Politics is about more than convictions. It’s about being able to win.”

A recent poll by Public Policy Polling, a Democratic firm, found Conway leading Bunning 42 percent to 33 percent — but he was ahead of Grayson by only 4 points, 37 percent to 33 percent. Mongiardo led Bunning 43 percent to 36 percent and trailed Grayson 40 percent to 36 percent, according to the poll.

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“The Republican Party needs more people with strong principles and convictions that can stand up to the temptations of political power that have engulfed so many of our leaders after they arrive inside the Beltway,” Bunning said.



And that stance could carry a risk for the GOP, said John David Dyche, a political expert in Kentucky who recently authored a biography on McConnell.




“Bunning leaves the race angry at McConnell, which poses some risk of a split within a Kentucky GOP that can ill afford it,” Dyche said.
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[Matt Collins]

Wow... the McConnell team is already trying to say we need to "move to the middle" and that "it's not about principle, it's about winning"

 

[RonPaulFanInGA]

Bunning dislikes McConnell.

McConnell likes Grayson.

Do the right thing, Bunning!

 

[Matt Collins]

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/07/27/sen-jim-bunning-to-retire-blames-fellow-republicans/

In his written statement, Bunning sharply pointed to the lack of support from his fellow Republican senators as the single biggest reason for his decision not to seek re-election.

Rumors of Bunning's political demise have swirled around the senator for months, as he lobbed the kinds of attacks on his fellow Kentucky Republican, Sen. Mitch McConnell, that are usually reserved for enemies across the aisle.

Bunning called McConnell, the Senate minority leader, a "control freak" and blamed him for the party's losses in 2006 and 2008. "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?" Bunning asked rhetorically. Of the thousands of dollars in donations that McConnell has given recently to Republicans running for election in 2010, none has gone to Bunning.

 

[torchbearer]

If Bunning dislikes the GOP establishment, it wouldn't make sense for his supporters to support the establishment candidate.

 

[Matt Collins]

If Bunning dislikes the GOP establishment, it wouldn't make sense for his supporters to support the establishment candidate.

But were his supporters supporting him on name recognition / popularity, or were they supporting him on ideological grounds?

 

[torchbearer]

But were his supporters supporting him on name recognition / popularity, or were they supporting him on ideological grounds?

if they supported him even in their hopes... just say- they liked the guy and wanted him to win because they liked him (sometimes called name recognition)..... they would dislike the GOP Establishment if it seemed like they worked against the guy they liked.
I definitely wouldn't support the candidate of the people who dicked my guy over- regardless of why I like the guy.

I think Rand played his hand well the whole time.

 

[He Who Pawns]

Maybe we should all email Bunning asking him to support the one candidate with principles.

 

[Bradley in DC]

Maybe we should all email Bunning asking him to support the one candidate with principles.

Bunning is not often swayed by outside pressure.

 

[Aratus]

Thoreau's distant drummer...

Bradley in D.C... dare i ask what makes you say this?
i think Mitch McConnell thinks that the Lt. Gov is the Democrat
to beat, come November of 2010... however this tight to the vest
analysis tends to benefit Trey Grayson as it ignors Jack Conway
and Ms. Darlene Fitzgerald Price. Senator Bunning felt deeply
that he succinctly could have pulled off a third victory in full.