Who will take on McConnell?

First Kentucky State Auditor Crit Luallen announced she won't take on Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell next year.

Now outgoing Attorney General Greg Stumbo says his political ambitions are pulling him back to a nice safe seat in the state legislature rather than into a match up with McConnell. Stumbo, a Democrat, leaves office in January and had been hinting around at a run against McConnell for months. But then he announced Wednesday he is heading back to the legislature.

McConnell, the Senate minority leader, has been talked of as a vulnerable target by some national Democrats. But that may just be wishful thinking given the refusal of two of the strongest-named Dems in the state to take him on.

There are three Democrats who have declared for the race - Iraq war veteran Andrew Horne, Louisville-area doctor Michael Cassaro and David L. Williams, a retired businessman -- none of them with the name recognition of Luallen or Stumbo.

U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler, D-Ky., another well-known possibility, said Wednesday he was sure the Democrats will field a strong challenger to McConnell. "He's the number one supporter of President Bush in the country, and President Bush is not terribly popular," Chandler said. But Chandler also said it won't be him who picks up the challenge.

So say again, why do people think McConnell is vulnerable?