Republican Senator Jim Bunning (KY)--who pitched a perfect game for the Phillies in 1964--has been noticeably faltering in his reelection bid, much to the chagrin of his party. In past weeks, he has hid from the media, used a teleprompter during a debate and made wild accusations against his Democratic opponent Dr. Dan Mongiardo. Today brings more news in the race.

Tom Loftus reports in this morning's Louisville Courier-Journal that Bunning did not do much to ease voters' qualms about his mental capacity, which some believe is waning. In "Bunning unaware of Iraq story", Loftus writes this:

U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning said yesterday that he was unaware of reports that a unit of Army Reserve soldiers in Iraq had refused an order to deliver fuel for reasons including that their trucks were lightly armored.

"I don't know anything about that," Bunning said during a news conference after a speech he gave to the Rotary Club of Louisville.

Bunning added that Congress had approved money to upgrade body and vehicle armor. "And I believe that has all been accomplished. And I don't know about your reservists," he said. "Unfortunately, we've had some reports, but I don't know the one you're specifically talking about."

When reporters told him that the unit's refusal was a national news story and involved a soldier from Louisville, Bunning said, "Let me explain something: I don't watch the national news, and I don't read the paper. I haven't done that for the last six weeks. I watch Fox News to get my information."

Told that Fox News broadcast the report, Bunning said, "Not the times I watched it. So the fact that somebody was from Louisville, I know about that."

There's much more in the rest of the article as well.

Some people say that it is unfair to attack Bunning along these lines. They might say, for instance, that Strom Thurmond was much less capable of being a Senator at his age, but that did not stop him.

The big difference here is that Bunning does not have seniority in the chamber despite his age. Whereas Thurmond was a Committee Chairman and wielded immense power--or at least his aides did--Bunning is a lowly first term Senator, so it is not essential to reelect him just to help Kentucky bring in pork.

I don't know how this race is going to shake out, but it appears as though Bunning is really trying to lose this race.