| If you've ever wondered why or how John Cornyn has managed to earn negative approval ratings without seeming to do anything wrong, this story is just another example of how that happens.
Elevated to the position of chairman of the National Republican Senate Committee, John Cornyn is now charged with trying not to make his minority party even more irrelevant than it already is in the upper chamber. Over in Kentucky, he has to deal with a cantankerous Senator that (ideally) should get the hint and retire lest he become a top tier target for the DSCC to defeat. While Sen. Mitch McConnell was slightly vulnerable last fall, Sen. Jim Bunning is much less popular and a weak incumbent that many in the GOP had figured would retire quietly into the night (he nearly 80 years old).
Well, Sen. Bunning doesn't want to retire and didn't take kindly to rumors that Sen. Cornyn and others were working behind the scenes to pressure him to do so, going to far as to float the possibility of a primary. As the local papers in KY are reporting, it's not exactly a love affair right now.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, confirmed to The Washington Post Monday that Kentucky Senate President David Williams had met with officials at the committee last week. Cornyn called it "a courtesy visit." ed. note: that is the potential primary challenger
"Just to clear up any potential confusion, the NRSC supports Sen. Bunning," Cornyn said.
Asked if he was happy with Cornyn's comments, Bunning said today: "I don't believe anything John Cornyn says. I've had miscommunications with John Cornyn from, I guess, the first week of this current session of the Senate. He either doesn't understand English or he doesn't understand direct: 'I'm going to run,' which I said to him in the cloakroom of our chamber."
Bunning also said that if a candidate was recruited by the committee to run against him in a primary, he would file a lawsuit.
"I would have a suit against the NRSC if they did that," he warned.
I guess this is the silver lining in John Cornyn getting re-elected. We get to be entertained with the hilarity of watching him preside over an incompetent minority caucus. Yes, John Cornyn, You're Doing it Wrong! but don't let us stop you. (Explained.) |
