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Web site tries to give Paul a fund-raising boost FRANKFORT — Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rand Paul and a mysterious supporter are attempting to paint GOP front-runner Trey Grayson as a Washington, D.C., insider. Supporter Josh Manuel, whom Paul Campaign Manager David Adams said he doesn't know, has launched a Web site promoting a "Kentucky Fight" between Paul and Grayson on Sept. 23. The site, titled "Rand 'We the People' vs. Trey 'The DC Insiders,'" notes that 23 Republican U.S. senators, including Kentucky's Mitch McConnell, are to hold a $500-per-plate fund-raiser for Grayson's 2010 U.S. Senate campaign in Washington on...

^ Rand Paul speech in Nicholasville, Kentucky [Click Here]

TAKE BACK THE GOP! On September 23rd, twenty three Republican US Senators are holding a $500 per plate fundraiser in Washington DC for Trey Grayson - Rand Paul's opponent. This deck stacking favoritism in a highly contested GOP primary is unacceptable! Join in the fight and help Rand Paul deliver a knock out punch to establishment candidate Trey Grayson with a pledge to donate $100 on the same date! Read about the DC establishment's fundraiser for one of their own here. Our goal is to bring together 5,000 common people to donate $100 each creating a one day donation total...

Rand Paul, the son of Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), is touting the first public poll on the GOP primary for next year’s U.S. Senate race. According to the survey, conducted for WHAS11, Paul trails GOP frontrunner Trey Grayson by only 11 points, 37-26. Among “conservative” Republican voters, he only trails by 7 points. And Paul only trails the two potential Democratic nominees by single digits. (Grayson leads both candidates, Attorney General Jack Conway and Lieutenant Governor Daniel Mongiardo.) “Great news for Rand Paul ahead of his scheduled ‘moneybomb’ internet fundraiser on August 20,” writes Joe Arnold in an analysis of...

On the primary contest vs. Sec. of State Trey Grayson: "I think he'll be a challenge." Paul says Grayson is "harder to pigeonhole" because he's in a non-partisan positon. "A large percentage of the time, he's been out shaking hands to run for the next office." "He really wants to stay in government and he will do, I think, what it takes But I don't think he has the fire in his belly that I have to change things. I don't really care to go up there forever. I want to go up there and throttle a few people and...

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- A Kentucky ophthalmologist who has been eyeing a U.S. Senate campaign says he will run for the seat now held by Jim Bunning. Republican Rand Paul of Bowling Green ended months of speculation Wednesday when he told The Associated Press in an interview that he is entering the race. Paul told the AP of his decision in advance of a series of planned media events, including an appearance on national television Wednesday evening. Paul had been considering running even before the 77-year-old Bunning announced last week that he intends to retire when his second term ends next...

With Bunning out, the stage is set for a classic confrontation between the establishment: Grayson with McConnell’s backing, either overtly or covertly -- and Dr. Rand Paul of Bowling Green, son of Rep. Ron Paul (R.-Tex.). Young Paul is a cinch to have the backing of his father’s nationwide network of donors who were the force behind Paul, Sr.’s abortive bid for the Republican presidential nomination last year. In addition, a number of party workers who loved Jim Bunning are likely to roll up their sleeves on behalf of first-time candidate Paul.

Though the Washington punditocracy was relieved with the retirement announcement by Sen. Jim Bunning (R.-Ky.) earlier this week, Republicans in the onetime major league star’s homestate may not feel the same. And it certainly is not the case among the Republican activists in the Bluegrass State. “Among folks who lick envelopes, work on phone banks and go to precinct committee meetings, Jim was a star,” one longtime party activist who requested anonymity told me, “He opposed all of the Wall Street bailouts, the Obama stimulus package, and was even critical of [former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan] Greenspan before it...

Cantankerous Kentucky Republican Sen. Jim Bunning has officially dropped out of next year's reelection campaign -- citing his paltry fundraising efforts.

Two-term Sen. Jim Bunning announced Monday that he won't seek re-election. Bunning had been facing an uphill battle, falling behind in fundraising against his main primary challenger and having lost support from fellow Kentucky Republican and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

When it comes to next year's primaries, three senators probably are feeling a lot like Rodney Dangerfield: They can't get any respect. As veteran lawmakers, Sens. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., and Jim Bunning, R-Ky., should be coasting, under normal circumstances, to the general election. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., appointed in January as Hillary Rodham Clinton's successor, has the White House's backing. Yet each has party challengers clamoring for a primary fight in 2010. That's unusual in the Senate, where incumbents typically sail smoothly into the November vote. It's created awkwardness and tension for party leaders who like to avoid contentious and...

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Friday that he'll oppose Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, lending his voice to a chorus of conservatives who've vowed to vote no on making the appellate judge the court's first Hispanic justice. McConnell's announcement followed several days of Sotomayor testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, during which several panel members tried to unravel Sotomayor's views on race and determine if ethnic loyalty rather than judicial oath would influence her rulings. A day earlier, Kentucky's junior senator, Republican Jim Bunning, said he also found the jurist "unsuitable to be a member...

A possible bid for the 2010 Republican Senate nomination in Kentucky certainly won't enable eye surgeon Rand Paul to rake in the mega-millions in campaign donations procured by his much better-known father -- Texas Republican Rep. Ron Paul -- when he campaigned for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination on his strongly libertarian-tinged platform.

WASHINGTON — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell may have a tepid relationship with fellow Kentucky Republican Sen. Jim Bunning, but he's giving GOP rising star and 2010 Senate candidate Florida Gov. Charlie Crist a thumbs up. According to Crist's Web site, McConnell gave the governor a full-throated endorsement. "Decisions are being made every day in Washington that have a direct impact upon the lives of all Americans and we need Charlie Crist in the U.S. Senate to ensure that those decisions will benefit the citizens of Florida.” Crist, McConnell and other party luminaries are slated to attend a campaign fundraising...

WASHINGTON — Sen. Jim Bunning acknowledged Tuesday that during a meeting in December, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told him that "I was too old and I couldn't win" a re-election battle in 2010. Bunning, 77, went on to call McConnell a "control freak." He also said he'll fare well in Kentucky without McConnell's endorsement in the Republican primary, since during the senior senator's tenure as a member of the GOP leadership the Republicans have lost several seats and could lose more in 2010. "If Mitch McConnell doesn't endorse me that may be the best thing that could happen to...

During an appearance in Paducah on Friday evening, Dr. Rand Paul told a crowd of about 50 people that they could expect to hear something definitive regarding his candidacy for the US Senate by this Thursday, May 14th. Moments later, Paul used langauge that was a bit more straighforward:"I'm going to give this a go...It's a long shot at this piont, but I wouldn't do this unless I think it was a possibility."  After Paul's speech, Christopher Hightower, Paul's right-hand man, confirmed that national media coverage has already been scheduled for next Thursday. Paul, who considers himself an "outsider" from...

Rand Paul, son of Congressman Ron Paul, gauges support for Senate run in Bowling Green & Paducah! Some politicians feel the need to travel to Washington, DC to ask permission to run for office or to obtain some regal blessing. Rand Paul, this week, will travel to Teresa's Diner at 509 Gordon Ave Bowling Green to gauge support for a possible US Senate Run. Dr. Paul will be there for breakfast at 7AM Thursday May 7th.

When it comes to Kentucky Sen. Jim Bunning, everyone’s a critic. With the formation of Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson’s exploratory committee, national media has started a “Bunning Campaign Death Watch” of sorts: outlets everywhere have cranked up the speculation on when Bunning will drop out of the race, even though the Senator says he has no plans to retire. Now, the snarky political blog Wonkette has weighed in. The editors are no fan of Ron Paul, and the story focuses on the possible candidacy of the Texas Congressman and former Republican Presidential Candidate’s son, Bowling Green eye doctor...

FRANKFORT, Ky. – Kentucky's embattled junior senator is blaming GOP leader Mitch McConnell for losing Arlen Specter to the Democrats and costing the party Senate seats. Sen. Jim Bunning has been at odds lately with McConnell, Kentucky's senior senator. McConnell hasn't publicly asked Bunning to retire but hasn't endorsed him for re-election next year. Bunning says he's still in the race but Republican leaders have been sending not-so-subtle messages that he should retire rather than face a strong Democratic challenge.

Rand Paul, son of former Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, says he is poised to enter the race for U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning's seat. Paul, who has been stumping across Kentucky, told The Associated Press that "every bone in my body says there is going to be a race." But the Bowling Green physician said he won't run unless Bunning opts out. Paul is a fan of Bunning's conservative fiscal philosophy and said he simply wants to be ready to jump into the race quickly if the 77-year-old senator decides to retire instead of seeking re-election next year. Bunning has...