When Rand Paul began to publicly consider running for the Kentucky US Senate seat now occupied by Jim Bunning, he made it clear that he would not run should Bunning choose to run for reelection.

Now after a bizarre few months, which included Bunning openly supporting another Republican candidate before he had dropped out, Bunning has finally stepped aside. He announced today that due to a lack of fund raising he has decided to retire from the United States Senate.

In the statement Bunning released today announcing his retirement he took a few thinly veiled parting shots at his fellow Kentucky Senator and Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell:
“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.”

McConnell gave Bunning the cold shoulder in his time of need, contributing no money to his campaign and denying him an endorsement. The reason for this is that Bunning was considered extremely vulnerable in the coming election to Democratic challengers. The Democrats will be running one of these two high profile candidates in 2010; either Attorney General Jack Conway who has already raised $1.3 million or Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo who gave Bunning a run for his money in 2004.

The Republican candidate that Bunning supported, and who will now likely enjoy the support of the GOP establishment, is Trey Grayson, who currently serves as Secretary of State in Kentucky. Grayson stopped short of turning his exploratory committee into an official campaign today, but indications are that the announcement is now imminent.

Grayson has already raised over $600,000, however with Rand Paul scheduled to have a money bomb (large one day donation drive) on August 20th, the two Republicans could soon be on equal footing.
The goal for Rand Paul’s money bomb is $1 million. A spokesman for the Rand Paul exploratory committee told the Kentucky Courier-Journal today that Dr. Paul plans to make an announcement, one way or the other, before August 20th.

The Rand Paul money bomb website is not run by Rand Paul or his exploratory committee, but rather by grassroots supporters. The site as of this writing already has 886 supporters pledging to give $100 on August 20th. This total was accomplished mostly due to Internet buzz. As the date draws closer and Dr. Paul does more and more interviews promoting the one day donation drive, and also as people become familiar with his message, which closely resembles the freedom message of his father Ron Paul, the number is likely to increase.
Since Rand Paul is not plugged deeply into the GOP establishment, as his likely opponent Grayson indeed is, he will have to rely primarily on grassroots support. The August 20th money bomb will be the first key indication as to how competitive this race will be.