Published: July 02, 2009 11:42 pm      

RONNIE ELLIS Senate race watchers wait for fundraising reports 7/6/09

FRANKFORT — Now that the special session is over attention begins to turn toward fundraising in the 2010 U.S. Senate race and Fancy Farm.

Bowling Green eye surgeon Rand Paul sent out an e-mail announcement that he’s topped the $100,000 mark in just one month and without any fundraisers, collecting most of it online. Rand, a libertarian Republican, has said he will make the race if incumbent Jim Bunning doesn’t run. So has Secretary of State Trey Grayson, who is raising money through his own exploratory committee. He’s expected to report somewhere in the neighborhood of $500,000.

The big question is how much Bunning will report. He previously has said he doesn’t intend to be outspent, but his first quarter total was about only $263,000. He recently said fundraising was going better, but there are signs it’s not going well enough. A Monday night event sponsored by coal, oil and gas interests was cancelled. And some names associated in the past with Bunning campaigns showed up on invitations to Grayson fundraisers in northern Kentucky. In Republican strongholds in the Fifth District, key Republican names again sponsored Grayson fundraisers – people who might have been expected to side with an incumbent Republican whose voting record reflects their conservative positions.

If Grayson outraises Bunning, what will Bunning do? Adding to the pressure on Bunning will be Democratic candidates’ fundraising. Talk in political circles is that Attorney General Jack Conway will report more than $1 million in the second quarter, the only quarter in which he has openly been raising money. Critics and opponents will say his fundraising was front-loaded, much of the money lined up during the first quarter before he announced. But it’s a lot of money either way.

Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo outraised Bunning in the first quarter and he might do it again in the second, although it’s unlikely he’ll come anywhere close to the numbers Conway is expected to report. But there’s no indication that Mongiardo will be scared out of the race by Conway’s numbers any more than Bunning can be driven out by the lack of support from Republicans like Sen. Mitch McConnell.

Everyone will be waiting to see those Federal Election Commission reports which are due in the mail by July 15.

People are also beginning to talk about Fancy Farm, the political free-for-all and barbecue in far western Kentucky on Aug. 1. It’s not Bunning’s favorite venue. He famously complains about the treatment he and his wife got there in 2004 from Mongiardo supporters and reporters. But he was there last year and says he’s going this year. Mongiardo and Grayson are scheduled to speak. (Conway’s wife is expecting a child around that time, which could complicate his schedule, but he has said he’d like to be there.) It’s shaping up to be fairly interesting, especially for a non-election year.

It’s always hot and it’s always fun at Fancy Farm. The food is great. The hospitality of organizers and the festiveness of the event are difficult to top. And usually the political rhetoric matches the temperature and humidity. Bunning, Conway and Grayson aren’t at their best in those settings. Mongiardo is no Alben Barkley or Wendell Ford, although he’s better on the stump and at retail politics than the other three.

Those who love politics and political theater – especially those who’ve never been to Fancy Farm – could find worse ways to spend the first weekend in August.

RONNIE ELLIS writes for CNHI News Service and is based in Frankfort. Reach him at rellis@cnhi.com.