NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Oh this sucks, for comedy reasons: Republican Sen. Jim Bunning of Kentucky, one of the dumbest and crankiest baseball pitchers in Congress today, has announced that he will NOT SEEK re-election in 2010! No one will donate any money to his campaign since they all hate him, Jim Bunning, the incumbent Republican Senator from a very very red state. What does this mean for your Wonkette? We have lost a brilliant campaigner, forever. [TPM]

Look everybody it’s Randall “Rand” Paul, who sounds exactly like his dad, and looks a fair amount like him too except with adorable curly hair! He has officially formed an exploratory committee to look into running for Jim Bunning’s Senate seat. (Bunning says he’s absolutely running for re-election, which means come on, he’s totally not running, which leaves this Republican seat open.) Dr. Paul has a handsome web site, and he’s already raised, what, nearly $14,000. He’s basically Barack Obama plus Ron Paul divided by Christopher Reeve’s Superman. [Rand Paul 2010]

We’ve already set aside several boxes of popcorn for one of 2010’s most anticipated comedy stories, when idiot Kentucky Sen. Jim Bunning will make a fool of himself daily in the process of losing his Senate seat. And now the hilarity might start even sooner, because Ron Paul’s child, Rand (”The Son”), might primary Bunning. Rand Paul has the exact same views as his father, so it should take about two minutes of money supply babble before Bunning gets uncomfy and calls Rand a faggot. [CNN]

• SWEET SWEET BUNNING POLL PORN: Maybe this is why baseball player Jim Bunning started cursing at Jesus that time a reporter asked him about internal poll results: “Political Wire got an advance look at a new Public Policy Polling survey in Kentucky that shows Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) with a 28% favorable rating as he attempts to run for a third term. Bunning loses head-to-head match ups with all four Democrats considering a run against him.” [Political Wire]

Mark your calendars for the year 2010 everyone, because there’s going to be at least one 2006-George-Allen-level comedic midterm race. Baseball pitcher Sen. Jim Bunning is running for reelection in Kentucky and will lose, loudly. Bunning resurfaced in the media recently for telling a pancreatic cancer-stricken Ruth Bader Ginsburg that she should go die alone, soon. Now Bunning has run into some local Kentucky trouble by snapping at some reporter who asked about his internal poll results, which wouldn’t be a problem in and of itself (MSM lies anyway etc etc) except that he used the word “goddamn,” which to Kentuckians is more appalling than raping 40 young children and a grandma. MORE »

What we learned from Time Magazine’s list of the best and worst senators: MORE »

* Disapproval of Bush could drive a rejection of Republican candidates in November. GOP pollster: “Democrats will have an easier time of getting out their vote because of their intense disapproval of the president. That means we Republicans are going to have to bring our ‘A’ turnout game in November.” [WP]
* Rumsfeld’s “grip on the Defense Department is slipping as some uniformed officers increasingly chart their own course.” [W$J]
* Republicans back Rumsfeld on Sunday talk shows. [NYT, USAT]
* 48 American troops have died in Iraq so far this month. [USAT]
* If Roe were overturned, 22 states are likely to “impose significant new restrictions on abortion.” [USAT]
* Josh Bolten officially takes office today; he gave Andy Card an Egg McMuffin on his way out. [USAT]
* Time magazine names Sens. Thad Cochran, Kent Conrad, Dick Durbin, Ted Kennedy, Jon Kyl, Carl Levin, Richard Lugar, John McCain, Olympia Snowe, and Arlen Specter as the nation’s best; Sens. Daniel Akaka, Wayne Allard, Jim Bunning, Conrad Burns, and Mark Dayton considered the worst. [Time]
* Immigration rallies “have also energized those who support a crackdown on illegal immigration.” [NYT]
* Can Rep. Tom DeLay be a lobbyist next? [WP]
* Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) brings sadness to Washington state in an effort to take down Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.). [WP]
* Supreme Court justices spark laughter just from speaking funny. [USAT]